Your online home for Joplin area sports coverage.

STATE FOOTBALL: Francis Howell stymies Carthage in state semifinals

By:
Brock Sisney

CARTHAGE, Mo. — The Francis Howell Vikings held the Carthage Tigers nearly 28 points under their scoring average and their offense scored a season-high number of points against Carthage’s defense during their 35-13 win Saturday afternoon in the Class 5 semifinals at David J. Haffner Stadium.

Turnovers often play a major role in determining the outcome of a football game, and that definitely proved to be the case Saturday.

Francis Howell built a 21-0 advantage late in the first half by scoring on three of their first six possessions with their second and third scores following Carthage turnovers.

Carthage finished with six turnovers, while Francis Howell committed none and produced 21 points off turnovers.

“It was huge,” Carthage coach Jon Guidie said. “We ended up with six of them. Some were forced, some were unforced, but certainly they had a lot to do with that. It was uncharacteristic of us to turn the ball over like that. That part of it’s disappointing, but there’s a lot to be proud of even today with our defense playing as well as they did. Turn the ball over six times and lose by three scores, still, I don’t know, that part of it stings a little bit.”

Carthage senior Luke Gall runs past the Francis Howell defense for a touchdown during the Class 5 semifinal on Saturday at David Haffner Stadium. Photo by Jessica Greninger.

Francis Howell recovered three fumbles and intercepted three passes, and the Vikings forced the Tigers out of their comfort zone relatively early on.

“There’s no weaknesses over there,” Guidie said. “You try to exploit some things and think you might have an advantage here and then all of a sudden, they’ve got that Cover-2. Big credit to those guys. They’re very talented and they have a lot of really good players.

“We had to get out of some stuff. They’re a big part of that. They stopped some of the things we do well and forced us to do some other things we didn’t so well. We made some critical mistakes, especially when we had a nice drive going at one point and fumbled it.”

Carthage finished 11-2 overall on the season and the Tigers went 42-6 (.875 winning percentage) over the past four seasons with their current senior group in high school.

“I don’t want this day to take away from the season that they put together,” Guidie said. “They did some really special things this year. We’re proud of them. Obviously, it hurts, but those 21 seniors that stayed with us throughout the four years, it’s been a great ride with those guys.

“I certainly want them to feel a sense of pride … I know they won 39 of their last 43 games. You think about that and 39-4, that’s remarkable. I think they’ve set the bar as high as you can set it for the next few years.”

The Tigers are 91-20 overall (.820 winning percentage) since 2014.

Francis Howell, traditionally a Class 6 school until this season, improved to 13-0 entering the state championship game against Fort Osage (11-2).

Francis Howell junior wide receiver Kendall Gurley scored twice in the first quarter — on a 37-yard run only 1 minute, 27 seconds into the game and on a 15-yard run just one play after senior defensive lineman Ethan Bryles recovered outstanding Carthage senior running back Luke Gall’s fumble at the Carthage 15.

Carthage QB Cooper Jadwin is brought down by the Francis Howell defense.

Carthage started to show promise early in the second quarter with a 10-yard pass from senior Cooper Jadwin to senior Hudson Moore and a 15-yard Jadwin run on consecutive plays giving Carthage possession in Francis Howell territory for the first time.

Three plays after Jadwin’s 15-yard run, however, Francis Howell senior linebacker Bryant Thomas intercepted his first of two passes on the day.

Francis Howell then jumped ahead three scores with a 11-yard TD pass from junior quarterback Adam Shipley to senior tight end Brett Norfleet in the corner of the end zone.

Carthage would not go into halftime without a score, though, as Gall broke free for a 51-yard TD run 1:41 before the half.

To start the second half, Francis Howell forced a Carthage three-and-out and then went ahead 28-7 with a 1-yard TD run by senior running back Brady Hultman.

The Tigers answered on their next possession and Hudson Moore’s 66-yard reception set up a Gall 4-yard TD run that cut it to 28-13.

Carthage’s last four possessions all ended on turnovers.

 

CLASS 5 SEMIFINAL

FRANCIS HOWELL 35, CARTHAGE 13

Howell        14    7     7   7 — 35

Carthage     0     7    6   0  — 13

FH: Gurley 37-yard run (Deal kick)

FH: Gurley 15 run (Deal kick)

FH: Norfleet 11 pass from Shipley (Deal kick)

CAR: Gall 51 run (Mejia kick)

FH: Hultman 1 run (Deal kick)

CAR: Gall 4 run (Kick failed)

FH: Hultman 3 run (Deal kick)

 

Carthage’s Hudson Moore hauls in a pass against Francis Howell on Saturday. Photos by Jessica Greninger.

Share:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on pinterest
Pinterest
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Table of Contents

On Key

Related Posts