CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Joplin and Carl Junction traded scores early before the Eagles pulled away to snap a two-game losing skid with a 49-28 win over the Bulldogs on Friday at Bulldog Stadium.
“For our guys, to be able to sing the fight song after a win, it means a lot,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “We had a really hard week of practice. And I told them, it is going to take that every week. … I think proof is in the pudding. If you come out and work your tails off, good things are going to happen.”
Carl Junction (1-3) and Joplin (2-2) traded long scoring drives to start the game before the Bulldogs took a 14-7 lead into the second quarter after an 18-yard touchdown from quarterback Alex Baker to tight end Noah Southern with 1:09 left in the opening frame.
“Offensively, we did some really outstanding things in the first quarter,” Carl Junction coach Doug Buckmaster said. “Then the game turned into a track meet. We had a very difficult time of stopping Mr. Glades for Joplin, who is an outstanding running back.
“Once you don’t score in a game like this, when you don’t finish a drive, and they go and score, it kind of changes the mindset. It makes us try to score faster to maintain the track-meet pace that is going on. We moved the ball well the entire night, but we just had turnovers and penalties.”
Joplin answered early in the second quarter when running back Nathan Glades ripped off a 25-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with 11:26 to play.
Joplin’s defense pitched a shutout in the second quarter to allow the offense a chance to gain the advantage on the scoreboard.
“Really, the past two weeks, we haven’t been giving a strong enough effort and we have been playing selfishly,” Joplin defensive end Jacob Prosser said. “We had a really good week of practice, running around and having fun. I guess that just allowed us to do what we needed to do. We were having fun, hitting people hard and it carried over into the second half.”
After forcing the Bulldogs to punt on their first possession, Joplin took the lead on a 1-yard touchdown from Glades, who took the snap on first-down-and-goal in the wildcat formation before Superman diving over the trench battle for the score, to give the Eagles a 21-14 advantage with 6:25 to play in the half.
Prosser sacked Baker on third-down-and-5 on the ensuing Carl Junction drive to force another Bulldog punt. After Joplin turned it over on the following drive, JHS’ Donovyn Fowler picked off a tipped pass from Baker for another defensive stop, sending the Eagles into the locker room with a lead for the first time this season.
“Once Prosser started getting home on some of his stuff, or at least making them uncomfortable, that helped the defense tremendously,” Jasper said. “That was the first time this year we were able to (have a lead at the half), so it sure felt different. As a coach, you are paranoid about a second-half letdown, but our kids didn’t. They came out and played hard from beginning to end.”
Getting the ball out of the intermission, Joplin wasted no time stretching its lead to two scores. Quarterback Always Wright hooked up with wideout Keaton Renfro for a 51-yard connection, setting up a 5-yard touchdown run from Glades to make the score 28-14 with 11:26 to play.
“We felt like if we could go out and score on the first possession of the second half, it would really put the pressure on Carl Junction and help us defensively,” Jasper said. “I felt like it did that. Offensive, defense and special teams played really well tonight.”
Carl Junction answered with a scoring drive that culminated in a 41-yard touchdown pass from Baker to Cole Stewart with 9:07 left in the third to trim Joplin’s lead to 28-21.
On the ensuing kickoff, Glades fielded the ball at the 18-yard line before cutting his way through to daylight, sprinting his way past everyone on the way to an 82-yard kick return touchdown, his second of the season, to put Joplin back up two possessions, 35-27.
Glades added a 5-yard touchdown with 5:59 to play in the third quarter to make the score 42-21.
“I think a lot of our (offensive efficiency success) goes to the offensive line, and the perimeter blocking was a lot better,” Jasper said. “Trayshawn and Keaton had really good nights out there. … It feels like we are starting to do more of the little things correctly.”
On the final play of the third quarter, Joplin’s Scott Lowe came up with an interception of Baker with the Bulldogs in the red zone to stall the 10-plus play drive.
Wright found Landen Atherton on a 55-yard completion on the first play of the fourth quarter to get Joplin in Carl Junction territory. Later in the drive, running back Trayquan Peavler ripped off a gain of 27 yards on the ground to set up his first touchdown of the season, a 3-yard rush on first down with goal to go, to give Joplin a 49-21 lead with 10:02 to play.
“This was great, and there are going to be a lot of smiling faces in that locker room tonight,” Peavler said. “Hopefully, we can get back to Joplin football and get some more wins like we know how.”
“I have to give credit to the offensive line for giving me those holes,” Peavler added when talking about his success on the ground in the fourth quarter. “It was just me doing the work after that. My first touchdown was a great feeling.”
Carl Junction’s Kyler Perry added a 12-yard score inside the final minute to get to the final margin.
STAT SHEET
Wright completed 10-of-14 passes for 288 yards and had a 12-yard rushing score, while Glades finished the night with 25 carries for 176 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with an 82-yard kick return touchdown. Trayshawn Thomas led Joplin with five receptions for 140 receiving yards.
Baker completed 27-of-44 passes for 336 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Southern led the Bulldogs in receiving with nine grabs for 103 yards and a touchdown. Brady Sims, who opened the game with a 4-yard rushing score, tallied 72 yards on 17 carries.
UP NEXT
Joplin travels to Willard (0-4).
Carl Junction travels to Webb City (3-1)
