Chris Mathews « OzarksSports.Net

Sectional Football Preview

Monday night is rematch night. Seven of the ten games feature teams playing each other for the second time this year. Six of those being replays of district games. Two of the remaining three are repeats of games from last year. Some things are quite different, some are exactly the same. Here’s what to look for.

CLASS 1

Miller (9-2) at Thayer (9-1)
- The big question here is did Lockwood find a chink in Thayer’s armor with the passing game? Or was it just one of those nights? In week 8 Thayer brought the heat on Miller QB Justin Jack in his first game back & battered him on their way to a 54-14 trouncing of the Cardinals. As usual, the Bobcats found major yards on the ground rushing for almost 500 yards. Miller has changed up their defense since then with good results, but can they shut down that Thayer rushing attack? Before you answer, consider this. Last year’s district game between these two at Miller, Thayer wins 43-7. When they met in the second round at Thayer, the Bobcats won but only by a score of 28-21.
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Week 9 review

Some teams rise up when the stakes are high. Others fall flatter than a Kansas wheat field. Seeing a team make the transition from one who falls to one who stands strong can be exhilarating. Watching a team go the other way can be painful beyond all measure. Friday’s action showed off some of both. And for many of you, you don’t have to search your memory very much to find those teams who have changed lately.

A couple examples of teams that have changed for the better? Cassville. 0-10 a few short years ago and a team that won only 1 district title from ’05 to ’07 despite losing only three games during that stretch. Now, the defending state champs have consecutive wins over excellent teams to win their district title. How about Lebanon? After breaking a 14 year losing streak to Camdenton last year, they put a huge crimp in the Lakers playoff fortunes by starting their own winning streak in the series. I won’t point out teams that have changed for the worse. I’m sure you can come up with those on your own.

Remember to slow down and savor your next to last helping of…

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Live! From the Ozarks! It’s week 9!!

OK folks, I’m wrapping this up for now. I’ll post the full scoreboard later. And if I ever suggest doing this again, somebody kindly shoot me. Thanks.

9:37 – Lockwood 39, Sarcoxie 13 – final. Jasper 55, McAuley 0. Bolivar 55, Hillcrest 14.

9:33 – It’s a final, Fair Grove 38, Strafford 30. Other finals. Lamar 35, Pierce City 0. Stockton 35, Diamond 18. And just for everyone’s interest, the #1 class 3 team in the state Potosi is tied 36-36 with St. Genevieve late in the fourth.

9:16 – Mt. Vernon 29, Reeds Spring 19 in the fourth.

9:13 – Final, Cassville wins their district with a 24-13 win over Seneca. Bolivar leads Hillcrest 48-14. Rolla defeats Waynesville 14-0. And a final from KC. Glendale 41, East KC 6. A final from Sullivan, Salem 29, Sullivan 26.

9:07 – And the record TD may make district champions out of Fair Grove. 38-30 Eagles over Strafford with less than 7 minutes left.
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Week 7 review

I think it’s safe to say we had the upset of the year this weekend. I had Greenfield/Lockwood on my ‘Games to keep an eye on’ list, but only thought it would be closer than expected. Lebanon has found the power switch after a slow start to the season. They’ll need it going into a district that features undefeated Rolla, a Camdenton team that is lethal when on, and a Waynesville squad that has one two of their last three. Webb City & Cassville look to be in great form to defend their titles, Mountain Grove may have found the springboard they need to get them to the Dome, and our favorite Eagle continues to soar. All in this weeks hermetically sealed version of…

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Week 6 review

When did basketball season start? Seriously. 54-41? 60-41? 69-63? 7-6? Oh wait, that’s more like it. Yes it was an offense happy week 6. But the defense was still out there. Nixa & Camdenton played a 7-6 headknocker. Pierce City & Miller only put up 25 points combined, and even #1 Monett only managed 14 points in their 14-7 win over Aurora. Ava & Mt. View-Liberty setup a big matchup next week. Osceola got a little help from the team they need to beat Friday. And Ozark & Kickapoo got their district campaigns off to good starts. Read all about it.

Because I’m still not happy, until all the ugly is eliminated from…

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Week 6 picks

A super week of action this week. Huge matchups with Mountain Grove traveling to Bolivar, Greenfield going to Jasper, and Branson taking on Carthage. Huge conference games with Salem at Mt. View-Liberty, Neosho at Webb City, Pierce City at Miller, Hillcrest at Lebanon, and Camdenton at Nixa. And the huge district gets underway with class 5 district 7 action between Ozark and Parkview, and Kickapoo and Glendale.

No jokes this week folks. Here’s the…

Week 6 Picks

Game of the Week

Mountain Grove (4-1) (#8 class 3) at Bolivar (5-0) (#3 class 4)
- On the surface, this appears to be a matchup of offensive powers. The Panthers average just over 30 ppg, while Bolivar goes for over 40. The names are on the offensive side. Evan Williams and Chris Mathews for Mountain Grove. Josh Moffett, Alex Talley, and Kolton Peavy for Bolivar. And it may ultimately be. If neither defense asserts itself, this could be a shootout. Bolivar is so balanced run to pass that no defense can key on any one area. The Panthers have shown they can take charge of the ground and run all day. But I think it’s more likely that one of the defenses does take control and generates a substantial second half lead for their team. But who? Mountain Grove is yielding just over 10 ppg and has two straight shutouts. But gave up 36 to the best passing team they’ve seen so far, Mt. View-Liberty. Bolivar’s D is averaging just over 14 ppg and seems to be improving. But gave up an inexplicable 28 to Republic earlier this year.

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Week 5 picks

We’ll be at the halfway point after tonight. That means the weekly rankings, undefeated list, & winless list will debut this season next week. Both lists have been shrinking each week & I think the same happens tonight. At least two winless teams will get their first W as we have two 0-4 matchups. And I think one of the remaining 4-0 teams will drop a game tonight. We go to Rolla for our game of the week as the Bulldogs look to move into the class 5 state rankings. To do so, they’ll have to lay a second straight Ozark Conference loss on Joplin. Nixa & Webb City battle for the top spot in the COC Large division. Other teams looking to rebound from their first loss include Mt. View-Liberty against Strafford, Neosho against Carthage, Carl Junction against #1 Monett, Catholic against Marshfield, & Jasper against Liberal. It’s week 5 baby. When the contenders step forward, & the pretenders walk away.

Week 5 Picks

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Week 4 review

Well, it wasn’t a perfect week like I hoped for, but it wasn’t bad either. One of those coming totally out of the blue. Joplin & Camdenton staged a shootout for the ages with Rolla & Parkview not far behind. Ava & Seneca proved they are teams to watch out for. Waynesville continued their free fall. Buffalo put one in the win column. And someone outscored most teams all by himself.

You’ll find all this and more when you spread sunshine all over the place, and just put on…

The Good

Miller (2-1) (#8 class 1) at Jasper (3-0)
- Prediction: Miller is still beat up, but with their pride on the line, I think they win.
- Result: Miller 33, Jasper 20. Tyler Hinshaw was a one man team for the Cardinals. Rushing for 150 yards & 2 TDs, passing for 66 and a TD, and snagging 2 interceptions.
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Regional football review

Great start to the playoffs last night. We’ll know where all the winners are bound after tonight. Big shockers were Versailles knocking off Mountain Grove 14-10. The Panthers were arguably playing as well as anyone in SW Mo the last 8 weeks of the season. Neosho beating Carthage wasn’t a surprise, but the ease with which they did it was. Dominated with the running game. I’ll have the sectional schedule posted after the completion of play tonight.

CLASS 1

McAuley, 4-6 at Thayer, 8-1
- Prediction: Thayer wins easily.
- Result: Thayer 74, McAuley 20. I didn’t think it would be quite that easy. 54-0 before McAuley could get on the board. 6 different players scored for the Bobcats who ran up 427 yards rushing. McAuley’s Austin Metts threw for 402 yards and 4 TDs, but was also intercepted 4 times. Thayer returned one of those for a TD, had 3 big kickoff returns, and were hitting on all cylinders all night. Josh Huckabee ran for 164 yards to lead Thayer.
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OS.Net Poll of the Week

Topics

Sectional Football Preview

Week 9 review

Live! From the Ozarks! It’s week 9!!

Week 7 review

Week 6 review

Week 6 picks

Week 5 picks

Week 4 review

Regional football review

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