Many times at the end of the season, the team that ends up #1 has people question them.  Usually by using ‘IFs’.  For example, statements like this were made about last Cassville state title run last year.  IF they hadn’t changed the playoff system, they wouldn’t have even made it.  IF Harrisonville was still in class 3 they wouldn’t have won.  IF Chillicothe hadn’t missed that extra point, they would have won instead.  Some people might say that IF Centrailia hadn’t lost to Brentwood, they would have beat Maryville in the championship.  Sometimes the ‘IFs’ are true statements, but they’ alsore in the past and can’t be changed.  But to some people, they will always leave a question mark on a teams accomplishments.

As for the 2009 Cassville Wildcats, they eliminated every ‘IF’ that you could even think to throw at them.  The closest you could come was to say “IF they hadn’t blocked that extra point against Rogersville.”  But that wasn’t something that just happened to them.  That was the result of their effort & execution.  They won their district.  Defeated two teams that were ranked #1 in the sportswriters poll.  Downed the team with more talent than any other class 3 team.  Beat four teams that didn’t lose to any other class 3 team this year.  And took down the last undefeated class 3 team in the state in the championship.  For this year at least, I can’t see how anyone would doubt who the true #1 football team in class 3 is this year.  And here’s how it happened.

REVIEW

Great atmosphere at the Dome.  Both teams brought big crowds with them and the place was rockin’.  Bowling Green took the opening kickoff and got a nice return as Zach Pease brought it out to the 33.  The Bobcats took over and proceeded to march 67 yards in 13 plays to grab the lead.  Zach Pease ended the drive also as he caught an 11 yard TD pass from QB Ryan Cox.  It took 13 plays to move downfield for Bowling Green and they had to convert two fourth downs on the drive.  They had to grind it out of flying down field.  This would be a sign of things to come.  But things couldn’t have looked better for the Bobcats as they held Cassville to a three and out on their first drive and got the ball back.  They continued to impress mixing passes & rushes effectively as the moved from their own 37 to the Cassville 27.  Seven plays each for positive yardage and picking up three first downs.  Then, on second and eight, Cox was flushed from the pocket to his right.  As he scrambled, he spotted a Bobcat receiver in the end zone and fired.  But Cassville DB Trey Rose made a beautiful leaping interception to end the threat.  Bowling Green would only seriously threaten to score once more.  And it would be in the fourth quarter.

Cassville began a decent drive, moving the ball on the ground to the Bowling Green 49.  Cassville QB Trevor Tanner would complete a pass to wideout Travis Northern, but Northern was stripped of the ball and the Bobcats recovered to end the threat.  Bowling Green went three and out as the game moved into the second period.  The ball was punted back to the Wildcats on their 14.  And after Tanner picked up 1 yard on first down, Joseph Gouvion took a quick pitch around the left side of the line, blew past four Bobcat defenders, and ran 85 yards for a touchdown to tie the score.  The Bobcats tried to answer back as they converted a first and 20 after a holding penalty, then picked up two more first downs.  But the Wildcats began to take charge.  LB Trenton Tanner came untouched on a blitz and delivered a hard hit on Cox as he sacked him.  Defenders Tanner, Bo Blisard, Josh Lewright, and Devin Linenbrink started to deliver some punishing hits.  And Wildcat front four of Garrett Mahurin, Matt Stockton, Tyler Skinner, and Adam Prier began to take control of the line of scrimmage.

Bowling Green again punted to the Wildcats and almost received new life as Trevor Tanner mishandled the ball and was ultimately brought down at the two yard line.  But the Wildcats began to dig out.  Runs by Gouvion, Zach Vititoe, and Trevor Tanner resulted in a first down at their 18.  Out of the shadow of their goal post, Coach David Large went for the throat with what the Wildcats call ‘Turkey’.  A double reverse that ultimately puts the ball back in Tanner’s hands.  As he received the handoff, Tanner fired downfield for Northern who made the catch, and fought of a Bobcat defender for a gain of 63 yards to the Bowling Green 19.  Tanner picked up another first down to the 8.  Vititoe, Tanner, and Gouvion each carried the ball as they moved to the one.  And on fourth down from there, Tanner faked the handoff to Gouvion, and scampered into the endzone around the left end for a 14-7 Cassville lead with 3:56 left in the half.

The Wildcats weren’t done yet as they received the ball back with a short field after another Bobcat three and out, and a personal foul on the runback during the punt gave them a starting position of the Bowling Green 25.  Gouvion picked up 14 yards on two rushes, but a handoff was fumbled by the Wildcats, and Bobcat Geoff Correnti recovered to allow them to kill of the remaining 51 seconds of the half.

The second half started with both teams going three and out.  But Bowling Green was forced to punt from their own seven and Cassville started their drive the Bobcat 38 yard line.  Cassville took only two plays to cover the distance as Tanner tacked on his second TD of the night on a 35 yard run.  Matt Angel’s extra point made the score 21-7 Cassville.  From that point on, it was Cassville doing what Cassville does best.  Pound their opponents into oblivion on both sides of the ball.  Cox was getting hit frequently when he passed, the Bowling Green receivers were absorbing punishment on just about every attempt, and the Cassville offensive line turned into a steamroller.  On their next possession, the Wildcats rushed for 46 yards on 6 attempts, and picked up 16 yards on two pass completions, but after two penalties, ultimately had to settle for a 38 yard field goal from Angel to make the score 24-7.

Bowling Green did challenge one more time driving to the Cassville 4.  But Cox’s pass to the flat was read perfectly & picked off by Chris Smith who took it the distance only to see a penalty bring it back to the Cassville 44.  From there, it was academic as the clock relentlessly ran down, and the Cassville faithful were rewarded with another state championship.  24-7 the final.  Cassville finishes with a 14-1 record.

ANALYSIS

Cassville

It would be easy to say Cassville’s depth wore down Bowling Green.  And it did.  But there was more to their victory than that.  The Wildcat defense didn’t look panicked all day.  They were able to make substitutions, change formations and fronts, and keep up with the Bobcats all day.  They were prepared, and as they have been all year, disciplined.  They were brutally physical and it quickly took it’s toll on Bowling Green.  Offensively, the Wildcats actually made a number of mistakes.  Two turnovers that almost certainly took points off the board, one penalty that brought back a touchdown, and two other penalties that took them out of the red zone and probably keep 11 points from being scored.  But the blocking was superb, Travis Northern was electric with a couple of great catches, and Gouvion and Tanner used the space they were given.  And they threw in a couple of wrinkles that really threw Bowling Green for a loop.  The kicking game was fantastic.  Matt Angel had 4 touchbacks on 5 kickoffs, was perfect on extra points, and drilled the door slamming 38 yard field goal.  Northern averaged 41.7 yards on his three punts with two being downed inside the 20, including the one killed on the one yard line that set up the Wildcats second score.

Bowling Green

Let’s be clear, their offense worked against the Cassville defense.  They took what was given to them and moved the ball very well when they were fresh.  But that just didn’t last for long.  Cox is a very good QB, smart, doesn’t make mistakes, plays within himself.  His first interception was the result of a fantastic play by Rose and on most occasions would have been a TD or an incompletion.  Their Wildcat formation was ineffective as Cassville seemed to have their number.  But RBs Roger Walkley and Zach Pease both looked dangerous taking handoffs on the move.  Their receivers did a good job of finding gaps and getting open, but paid a price for almost every catch.  Defensively, the Bobcats seemed just a little bit off from the second Cassville drive until the game was no longer in doubt.  Cassville threw a couple of new things at them and from that point on, they just couldn’t seem to come up with the big stop.  Devan Cobb had a great game though as both he and Brown showed off their speed to prevent further damage.  Cox did an excellent job punting and was a dangerous weapon in that role.  He also was serviceable on kickoffs getting decent hang time.

Let’s review my keys to the game for each team.

Keys for Cassville

1. No big plays allowed – Cassville is expert at wearing their opponents down with superior numbers and strength.  That will be a challenge here, but it gives them their best chance to win.  Even if Bowling Green scores, they have to make them take time to do it and wear down the boys up front.
2. Get a hat on Geoff Correnti – Much easier said than done.  But the Wildcats need to limit his impact on their running game as much as possible.
3. Seal the corners – The Wildcats are capable of running between the tackles, but good things happen when they give Joseph Gouvion, Trevor Tanner, and Josh Lewright room to operate outside.  They need to control Neimeyer and Leverenz and make the LBs & DBs stop them.

The Wildcats executed all three of these to perfection.  The longest play on the day for Bowling Green was a 21 yard pass on their next to last possession.  The Cassville defense kept everything in front of them.  Correnti was held to just 6 tackles on the day with no tackles for loss.  And both Gouvion and Tanner were able to get outside the tackles and use their speed and elusiveness to make things happen.

Keys for Bowling Green

1. Let lightning strike – The Bobcats would benefit greatly from getting some quick points early.  It would take Cassville out of their comfort zone, and give them some breathing room to work with.
2. Take to the air – With Cassville’s front line strength and pursuit speed, Bowling Green has to establish the passing game.  Their play selection this year has been 61% run, 39% pass.  They need to at least even those numbers out or even reverse them.
3. Leave it all on the field – With their numbers that play both ways and how the Wildcats hit on every down, Bowling Green is in for the fight of their life.  It’s a total cliche but if the Bobcats don’t give everything they have they cannot win.

No on number 1.  They got some early points, but they were hardly quick and it took a toll.  They did pass more than run, but only 54% to 46%.  And in the first half it was 57% run, 43% pass.  It sapped them.  You could see the Bowling Green offensive line starting to struggle in the second quarter.  But they did leave it all on the field.  They played hard and fair and gave it their all.

Statistics

Just a few of the stats I found interesting.  Obviously the rushing stats stand out, but look at the passing.  Yes, almost half of Cassville’s yard came from one play.  But take that away and they still almost double Bowling Green’s yards per completion.  The turnovers wash as both took points away.  And look at the time of possession and number of offensive plays.  That’s the reverse of what you would normally think for Cassville.  But if you look at the offensive numbers, they’ve been underrated all year.  The kicking numbers are important in that they kept the Bobcats from having a chance to break a big play.

Summary

Overall it was a good, but not great, game.  As I said, Cassville made a number of mistakes that took points off the board.  And I still think Bowling Green could have extended their offensive performance if they had emphasized the passing game early on.  I said the key matchup would be coaching, and I think that was true.  Cassville seemed prepared for whatever Bowling Green brought at them.  The Bobcats were on track offensively, but wore down.  And defensively never seemed sure of themselves.  Cassville gave a championship performance, winning even without their best game.  Bowling Green was a worthy opponent.  Definitely a top 5 team in the state.  And a great season for Coach Jimmy Tucker and the Bobcats.  Fantastic job by Coach Large and his staff.  Wonderful execution by the Wildcats.  And a very deserved state title for Cassville.  No ‘IFs’ about it.