SENECA, Mo. — The two bullies of the Big 8 West Conference prevailed during their Class 2 state quarterfinal games on Saturday afternoon.
The Seneca Indians took care of business with a 28-14 win over the visiting MV-BT Liberty Eagles at Tom Hodge Field at Earl Campbell Stadium, and they will play fellow Big 8 West bully Lamar in the semifinals on Nov. 26 at Lamar.
Seneca and Lamar, who defeated Holden 54-0 on Saturday, enter with 11-1 overall records.
“We play in the Big 8 West,” Seneca coach Cody Hilburn said, “which may be one of the more physical small-school conferences in the state. We talked about that at halftime (Saturday). We’re going to come out and rely on our inside run game, then I think it took its toll on them.
“I think it speaks volumes for our conference. To meet a conference foe in a semifinal game, it’s a neat deal.”
Seneca defeated Lamar 36-33 back on Sept. 16 in Seneca.
“We played so early in the season,” Hilburn said. “I don’t know how much you can reference that game. Both teams have changed some. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board. Both teams are going to make adjustments. We’ll go up there and see what happens.”
Half of the story Saturday: Seneca held previously unbeaten Liberty to a season-low 14 points and the Indians grounded the high-flying Eagles in the first half early on their way to a 14-0 halftime lead.
“They’ve got some athletes,” Hilburn said. “They get into space, and they got us a few times. I’m so proud of our defense. Our key was to get 11 hats to the football, because they were so good at making one miss and making two miss, we had to have three and four there. I thought we ran to the football all afternoon. So, credit Coach (Matt) Crane, our defensive coordinator, and credit our whole entire defensive staff for getting those guys prepared and ready to go.”
Liberty’s explosive offense entered Saturday averaging 47 points per game with four games of at least 60 points, five more games in the 40s, and their lowest scoring game 27 points in Week 6 against Mountain Grove.
The Eagles (11-1) did not score on Seneca until 2 minutes, 25 seconds remained in the third.
The other half of the story Saturday: Seneca’s offense punched Library’s defense right in the mouth, especially in the Indians’ first two drives after halftime.
Their first two second-half drives: 25 plays, 150 yards, and 11:45 off the clock, both capped off by outstanding junior running back Jackson Marrs 11-yard touchdown runs.
The Indians ran all 25 of those plays steady and strong behind their blockers, including offensive linemen Logan Barwick, Christopher Alexander, Lane Scribner, Nicholas Stephens, Jacob Gravener and Brian Bigbee, as well as backs Morgan Vaughn, Lincoln Renfro and tight end Hagen Ginger.
Seneca had no penalties on either drive and 24 of the 25 plays resulted in positive yardage. None were negative yardage.
“That’s Southwest Missouri football right there,” Hilburn said. “Credit our guys upfront. I’m so proud of those guys. They had a great night.”
Marrs and junior quarterback Gavyn Hoover proved to be the ball-carrying beneficiaries, and the Eagles had absolutely no answer for either one in the second half.
“They’re workhorses,” Hilburn said. “Both of them worked their tail off in the weight room to get their bodies right to carry a load like that. We just went back-and-forth in that second half and kept them fresh. They were ready to take the load on.”
Seneca’s opening drive of the second half — 80 yards in 14 plays and 6:21 — gave the Indians a commanding 21-0 lead.
The Indians established tone early Saturday, as Liberty’s first drive produced seven yards and a punt and Seneca drove 73 yards in nine plays and 3:55.
On a fourth-and-5 at the Liberty 39, Hoover found 6-foot-2 sophomore tight end Ginger matched up with a smaller defender in single coverage and they connected on a 39-yard scoring pass at 6:16 of the first.
Seneca’s second possession resulted in a Liberty interception near the end zone, but officials ruled defensive back Adrien Pendegraft down at the 1-yard line.
The Eagles’ subsequent possession resulted in a punt blocked and recovered by Seneca’s Roman Miller deep inside Liberty territory early in the second quarter.
One play, 3 yards, and four seconds later, Marrs scored the first of his three rushing touchdowns and Seneca led 14-0.
Seneca’s fourth possession resulted in a second interception, but that would turn out to be the last pass thrown by the Indians on Saturday.
The Indians reached the Class 3 state quarterfinals last season and they lost 20-7 at home against Mexico, an experience that undoubtedly motivated this season’s Indians during all those long months leading up to the next season.
“Last year’s group meant so much,” Hilburn said. “They expedited this process and they bought into everything and found a way in my first year to put us in this game. It was so big for our football program. We carried that momentum into the offseason and the guys worked their tails off in the offseason to get back to this spot. We found a way to win today.”
The Indians have reached the state semifinals for the first time since 2013, where they defeated John Burroughs 31-7 on their way to a runner-up finish in Class 3.
