Regional football review

It was almost a perfect night to be an eagle on the gridiron.  4 out of 5 Eagle teams playing won including Pierce City knocking off undefeated Warsaw.  Fair Grove, Mt. View-Liberty, and Nixa also soared to wins.  Only Jasper falls from the feathered football ranks.

Enough with the bird puns.  A great night of football for Ozarks teams.  Some last minute finishes, huge performances, a big upset, 11 teams say goodbye to another football season, and 19 are still alive.

CLASS 1

• Thayer 36, Lockwood 21
  • This game was 22-21 with just over 4 minutes left and would have been tied but for a missed Lockwood XP.  But a score, an interception, and another TD secured the win.  Cameron Carey was the wrecking ball for the Bobcats rushing for 232 yards and three TDs.  Josh Huckabee added 100+ rushing yards also.  Reports put Lockwood QB Blake Abbiatti at over 350 yards passing.  I’ll update this when I can verify.

• Miller 36, Jasper 12
  • Justin Jack passed for 274 yards and three touchdowns.  Meanwhile Daniel Parscal, filling in for an injured Darin Clark, rushed for 228 yards and two touchdowns in the third period as Miller scored 29 straight points to put the game out of reach.  Miller struck first but a Matt Newman TD pulled Jasper to within 7-6.  From there it was all Miller as they advance.  Luke Nunez had 5 catches for 117 yards and 3 TDs for Miller.
• Greenfield 61, Archie 13
  • John Riley scored three times in the first half for the Wildcats as they rolled to a 53-0 halftime lead and eliminated an over matched Archie squad.  Riley’s TD runs covered 35, 51, & 60 yards for Greenfield who also got long TD runs of 64 yards from Austin Emery, and 74 yards from Tyler Boyd.  Jordan Bryant threw for a TD, ran for a TD, and returned an interception for a TD as he finished 6 of 10 for 199 yards.
• Adrian 48, Liberal 13
  • • Liberal got on the board first on a 77 yard Jordan Meadows touchdown run.  But by they time they scored again, it was 35-7 Adrian in the fourth quarter.  The game was closer than it appeared as Liberal actually rushed for 339 yards and turned the ball over twice on downs inside the 10 yard line.  But the Blackhawk defense bent without breaking too much, and Liberal’s season ends with a 6-5 record.

CLASS 2

• Mt. View-Liberty 52, Ash Grove 8
  • Just a thoroughly dominating performance from the Eagles.  Three TD passes from Kole Gastineau and two rushing TDs from Daniel Porter in the first half as they built up a 41-0 lead.  Porter would finish with 158 yards on only 15 carries.  But as good as the offense was, the defense was even better allowing only 82 total yards to the Pirates for the game.  Most of that coming against the JV after the game was no longer in doubt.
• Fair Grove 42, Willow Springs 12
  • Fair Grove lead 14-0 at the half on touchdown runs by Alec Hackett in the first period, and Caleb Schaffitzel in the second.  They each scored again in the third period to break the game open.  First Hackett going in from 41 yards, then Schaffitzel from 54.  The Bears finally got on the board to make it 28-7.  But Schaffitzel got his third of the night to salt it away.  The Fitz would finish with 218 yards on 22 carries and three TDs.  Hackett also threw a TD pass on the night.
• Lamar 28, El Dorado Springs 0
  • Just the way Lamar likes it.  290 yards rushing, 33 minutes of possession, 149 yards allowed on defense.  The Bulldogs never got closer to scoring than the Lamar 19 yard line.  Other than that, their best drive ended at the Lamar 39.  Markell White had 130 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead the Tigers who only passed the ball once in the game.  Meanwhile the Lamar defense punctuated their dominating performance by forcing 3 Bulldogs turnovers.
• Pierce City 14, Warsaw 12
  • WOW!  Huge upset and an enormous win for the Eagles.  Wayne Sooter to Mitchell Gibson twice in the first half, first from 32 yards then from 41, gave Pierce City a 14-0 lead.  It could have been even more but they turned the ball over twice inside the 5.  Warsaw scored on a 1 yard John Ward run before the half to make it 14-6.  Then Ward would score again with just over 9 minutes left in the game to bring them within 14-12 when the try for 2 failed.  The Wildcats got the ball back and drove to the Pierce City 20, but turned the ball over on downs.  The Eagles ran out the clock and move on.  Sooter passed for 191 yards for the game.

CLASS 3

• Fulton 14, Salem 13
  • Heartbreak for the Tigers as they miss an extra point, and have a game winning field goal blocked as time expired.  No stats available on the game yet.  Salem took the initial lead 7-0 with Fulton scoring also in the first period.  The conversion was no good and the score stood at 7-6 until 6:16 in the third period.  Fulton scored again and got the 2 point conversion to take a 14-7 lead only to see Salem pull back within one as they got the TD but missed the extra point.  That turned out to be the critical spot in the game as neither team could score in the final period setting up the final play.  The Tigers had driven the ball to the 3 yard line but had fourth down.  They let the clock run down to 5 seconds before calling time out.  But the FG try was blocked ending the Tigers season.
• Mountain Grove 28, Versailles 20
  • The Panthers had this well in hand before Versailles rallied in the fourth.  Scoring, recovering an onside kick, & finding the endzone again.  Mountain Grove toughened & held them from there to get the win.  Evan Williams scores three times in the first half, catching a 16 yard TD before halftime, and rushing for 2 TDs from 24 & 56 yards out.  Williams would finish with 238 yards on 23 carries for the Panthers.  Chris Shannon also caught a 50 yard TD pass.
• Rogersville 35, Osage 14
  • The Wildcats took a 21-0 halftime lead on TD runs from Dylan Cole, Colton Dill, and Matt Reuter.  The first one coming after Osage fumbled the opening kickoff.  They would tack on two more touchdowns in the third period before Osage got on the board.  Dill lead the way rushing for 112 yards and 2 scores, while passing for 98 and a TD.
• Seneca 42, Catholic 21
  • Dillon Webb made sure the Indians got their rematch with Cassville running 34 times for 250 yards and 3 TDs.  Catholic scored first, but Seneca put up 28 straight points before the Irish found the endzone again in the third quarter to make it 28-14.  By then, the Indian front line had established themselves and Webb found big chunks of real estate over & over.
• Cassville 56, Aurora 14
  • This one was over early as Cassville scored twice in their first three offensive plays and ran out to a 49-0 lead in the second quarter.  Joseph Gouvion rushed for 5 touchdowns in that first half as the Wildcats looked like a team capable in every way to making another run to the Dome.  Cassville picked up 411 rushing yards with Gouvion getting 122 on 11 carries.

CLASS 4

• Hillcrest 42, Pacific 16
  • The Hornets struck first when Tim McShane blocked a punt, recovered it, and returned it down to the Pacific 16.  Michael McShane would run it in two plays later for the lead.  Then Pacific got a first hand look at the Doriel Green show.  Green caught a 35 yard TD to make it 14-0, then answered a Pacific score with a 75 yard TD off a screen pass to make it 22-7.  Green would get one more TD catch in the third and Hillcrest picks up their first playoff victory ever.
• Bolivar 60, Union 29
  • Union got on the board first, but Bolivar answered quickly with Kolton Peavey finding Alex Talley from 41 yards out.  Josh Moffett and Justin Ellis each added a pair of TD runs in the first half to make it 32-13 Bolivar at the break.  After the teams traded scores in the third, Moffett added another pair of TDs, and Ellis found the endzone once more in the fourth to seal the win for the Liberators.
• Carthage 39, Neosho 36
  • Best game of the night, hands down.  Three lead changes, two ties, big defensive plays, huge offensivie performances on each side of the ball, and a TD pass with 2 seconds left to win it for the Tigers.  Derek Peterson found Trevor Hole on the edge of the endzone from 14 yards out to win it for Carthage.  Brian Poston carried the ball for 235 yards for the Tigers.  Alex Wise outdid him by getting 240 for Neosho.  But it’s the Tigers who march on.
• Webb City 40, Branson 21
  • The two teams took turns with the lead in the first half.  Webb got on the board first with a Maddy Johnson TD run.  Branson first answered with a drive kept alive by a fake punt, and then took the lead when Cameron Chancey hit Michael Spain from 7 yards out.  But the Cardinals would score again to tie it 14-14 at the half.  Branson took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched down the field to take a 21-14 lead.  But that was it for the Pirates.  Scott Roderique scored twice, Maddy Johnson added another TD run, and Jamison Cady added a TD of his own as Webb City controlled the second half and advanced.  Patrick Drake passed for 135 yards and a TD, and rushed for 76.  Maddy Johnson had 131 yards rushing to go along with his 2 TDs.

CLASS 5

• Rolla 28, Washington 21
  • Great win for the Bulldogs as Jonny Canhos gets to play the hero.  Rolla took a 14-7 lead on a 46 yard Jake Morris TD run and the first of Canhos’ three touchdowns.  But Washington struck on the ensuing kickoff returning it to tie the game at 14 at the half.  It was still 14-14 with five and a half minutes left in the game when Washington took the lead 21-14.  That set the stage for Rolla.  They took only a minute and half to score on their next possession as Canhos went in from 27 yards out.  On the ensuing kickoff, Washington coughed up the football and the Bulldogs recovered.  Another 90 second drive ensued with Canhos punching into the endzone from 6 yards out to give Rolla the lead they would not lose.
• Nixa 48, Raytown 12
  • Just about the best game the Eagles could hope for as they dominated both sides of the ball and ran away with a regional win.  Jordan Keeney lead the way rushing for 134 yards and scoring on TD runs of 11, 22, and 35 yards.  He almost outgained Raytown by himself as the Bluejays only gained 144 yards on the night.  The Nixa defense didn’t allow Raytown into their half of the field until the 3rd quarter.  By then the score was 42-0 and the Eagles were on their way.