The Webb City Cardinals put together a stellar 2020 football season.
With the coronavirus pandemic lingering over the fall campaign, Webb City finished 11-2 and reached the state semifinals.
The Cardinals, who bumped up to Class 5, captured a district championship for the 21st straight season and reached the state semifinals for the 19th time in 24 years.
“It’s hard to think about the 2020 season without thinking about the pandemic and all the challenges that everybody faced,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “We’re thankful we had the opportunity to play. That’s the main thing. There were so many questions going into the season. Looking around the country and even in some areas of our own state, teams weren’t playing or had limited opportunities to play. I feel like we were fortunate here.
“I’m really thankful for our kids, our parents and everybody involved in our program,” Roderique added. “It wasn’t perfect, but we did the things we needed to do to give us the opportunity to play.”
The Cardinals dropped the season opener at Joplin 41-40 but then got on a roll, winning 11 straight games.
Along the way, Webb City handed Class 6 Nixa its first loss, 28-0, and later won the district championship by beating defending Class 5 state champion and previously undefeated Carthage 42-21.
A 42-14 quarterfinal win over Lebanon put the Cardinals one win away from playing for a championship. But it wasn’t meant to be, as Platte County handed Webb City a 24-21 loss in the semifinals.
Webb City’s two losses came by a combined four points. Overall, the Cardinals outscored their opponents 520-200.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Roderique said. “We had a lot of question marks going into the season in terms of replacing so many guys. We lost the 41-40 game at Joplin to start the season, and it could have gone two ways. You can get to work and try to get better or you could go the other way. I was really proud of where we got to as a team and how much we progressed as a football team. We battled injuries, quarantine and weekly and daily things, but we were still able to win a district title. I wouldn’t say we played our best game in the semifinal. But we grew into a really good football team this year.”
Webb City averaged 40 points per game. The Cardinals averaged 267 rushing yards and 61 passing yards per game.
Senior running back Devrin Weathers was named the COC Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,782 yards with 29 total touchdowns. A Kansas State recruit, Weathers averaged nearly 10 yards per carry. A three-year starter, Weathers finished with 2,069 all-purpose yards this fall.
Junior Cade Wilson started the season in the backfield and ran for 305 yards and six scores in six games before an injury cut his season short. Junior Dupree Jackson replaced Wilson in the lineup and rushed for 836 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Cole Gayman passed for 875 yards on 45 completions with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Gayman, a Missouri Southern baseball recruit, also rushed for 542 yards with eight touchdowns.
Gayman completed passes to nine different players. Junior Cohl Vaden was the team’s leading receiver, as he hauled in 11 passes for 294 yards and five touchdowns.
Senior tight end Gary Clinton, an Arkansas State recruit, had 12 catches for 224 yards and senior Mekhi Garrard had 218 receiving yards on 12 receptions.
Webb City’s defense allowed just 15 points per game.
Senior safety Treghan Parker was named the COC Defensive Player of the Year after he recorded 106 tackles and four interceptions.
Other leaders in tackles were Matt McDaniel (78), Brayden Hollingsworth (75), Jaystin Smith (59), Lucas Ott (56), Brentan Wilson (52), Cooper Crouch (48), Roger Carranco (41), Jacob Ott (36), Cale Stephens (35), Eli Goddard (34), Gavin Stowell (30), Kaylor Darnell (29), Billy Wolfe (25), Shane Noel (24), Christian Kinney (23) and Brody German (21).
McDaniel had four sacks, while Hollingsworth had three. The Cardinals had 15 interceptions, with Parker, Noel and Goddard grabbing four apiece. Stephens had two and Crouch had one.
This year’s senior class played a big role on last year’s Class 4 championship squad. Webb City went 53-4 the last four seasons, with titles in both ’19 and ’17 and semifinal appearances in ’18 and ’20.
“We had a lot of kids who were three-year starters and just great players,” said Roderique, this year’s COC Coach of the Year.
With the entire season in mind, and the challenges that were faced along the way, Roderique had one final thought.
“There’s a lot of things to celebrate this year,” he said.
