The Webb City Cardinals will look to bounce back from a Week 1 loss when they host the Neosho Wildcats on Friday night in a Central Ozark Conference football clash.
Kickoff for the home opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Cardinal Stadium.
After his team dropped a hard-fought 41-40 decision at Joplin last Friday, Webb City coach John Roderique noted the Cardinals have responded well in practice this week.
The veteran coach added a film session provided the team with evidence of what areas need to improve.
“We watched the film, and the film tells you everything you need to know about what you did or what you didn’t do,” Roderique said. “Now we understand what direction we need to go as far as getting better. The first game is always a good indicator of where you’re at and that’s how we’ve approached it.”
Roderique said he’s confident his team has cleaned up some areas of concern.
“Conditioning-wise, I didn’t think we handled the heat very well on Friday,” he said. “We’ve certainly put an emphasis on conditioning this week. We had some missed alignments and missed tackles on the defensive side. And we had some missed assignments offensively.”
Offensively, the Cardinals racked up 385 rushing yards in Week 1, and senior running back Devrin Weathers had four touchdowns.
Webb City’s defense gave up more than 40 points for the first time since 2013 when Springdale Har-Ber defeated the Cardinals 42-35.
Neosho is coming off a 21-0 home loss to Republic.
The Wildcats managed just 146 yards of total offense, with 131 on the ground and 15 through the air. Drayke Perry ran for 63 yards on 15 carries, while Talon Mitchell contributed 40 rushing yards.
Neosho quarterback Evan Haskins left the game with an injury and did not return. His status for Friday’s game is up in the air.
The Wildcats couldn’t generate much offense and the hosts committed two costly turnovers.
Republic totaled 298 yards of offense, with 197 rushing and 101 passing.
The Tigers used two quarterbacks, Avery Moody and Gavyn Beckner. Moody ran for all three touchdowns, while Beckner accounted for all of the passing yards.
Republic led 14-0 at the half and the Tigers added a score in the fourth quarter.
Roderique expects Leon Miller’s Wildcats to be an improved squad in Week 2.
“Everybody has things they look at from the first game and realize they need to do better,” Roderique said. “They (Neosho) had some missed opportunities. You can’t always take a lot from the first game as far as an indication of what type of team somebody has. We know they’re physical and they have some speed.”
Roderique noticed something else while watching film of the Wildcats.
“Their new turf made a great background for their game,” Roderique said. “Hat’s off to their administration, their school and their community for getting that done. It’s really nice.”
THIS ‘N THAT
The Cardinals won last year’s meeting with the Wildcats 34-6, also one week after a loss to Joplin. Neosho hasn’t beaten Webb City since 1999.
HOW TO WATCH: Webb City School District
