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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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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.

    Continue reading Regional football review

Week 10 review

It was simply a glorious couple of nights for football.  While I enjoy catching a game indoors, I think football should be played outside.  The elements are part of the game.  And Thursday night was a football cathedral.  Wind & rain.  Mud & muck.  Slipping, sliding, sloshing.  It was beautiful man.  A perfect end to a great regular season.  Yes, some teams lost that wouldn’t have if the weather had cooperated.  But that’s just another nuance that we all love.  Unless it’s your team that loses.

Last year I picked the playoff games and did really freaking good.  But, I’m not doing it again.  I’m going to sit back and enjoy them myself instead of rooting for someone because I picked them.  You’ll still get a preview before each round so you’ll know what to look for.  But I’m shutting down the prediction machine until next year.  I’m done channeling my inner Carnac.  The crystal ball has left the building.

Shed no tears my friends as we say good bye to this year’s last…

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The Good

Week 8 review

What a week.  Class 3 #1 Monett goes down hard.  As does #6 Mountain Grove.  A team wins on a safety.  A running back averages almost 34 yards a carry.  Class 4 #1 Webb City and class 1 #5 Thayer make big statements about their intentions.  And 200 yard rushing games abound this week with at least 6 different runners hitting the mark.  Now here’s your piping hot version of…

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The Good

Week 8 picks

Wow!  I mean wow!  If you look at the state rankings, and remember that we’re in districts now, the Ozarks has the possibility of 4 meetings between state ranked team.  One in class 4 with three teams there, two in class 3 with 4 teams ranked, and one more in class 1 with the three ranked teams there.  That’s the best we could do.  Well guess what, that’s exactly what we’ve got.  Four matchups between state ranked squads tonight. Not only are we gonna have a big time in the Ozarks, we’re gonna shake up the state.  Get ready to go, here’s the…

Week 8 Picks

Game of the Week

  • Monett (7-0) (#1 class 3) at Cassville (6-1) (#5 class 3)
    • Two top 5 teams in class 3, two great rivals, an important district matchup, and all the built up drama from last year.  Let’s face it, this is the game most folks have been looking forward to this year and neither team has disappointed.  After an opening week loss to Branson, the Wildcats retooled defense has been getting better & better.  They haven’t allowed more than 19 points since, and haven’t allowed more than 7 in the last four games.  RB Joseph Gouvion leads the team in scoring.  But like last year, the defense is where it’s at and they’re lead by linebackers Trenton Tanner and Devin Linenbrink.  They’ll need to be sharp to shut down Monett RB Christian Privett, the heart and soul of the Cub offense.  QB Tyler Green needs to find some yards through the air to allow Privett some running room.  Spencer Witt is his favorite target.
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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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Continue reading Week 7 review

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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The Good Continue reading Week 6 review

Week 2 picks

It’s a week to get some questions answered.  Such as “Just how good is (Branson, Carthage, Rogersville, Nixa)?”.  Or “Was the win by (Jasper, Cabool, Parkview) a fluke or are they ready for breakout seasons?”.  How about the ever popular “Surely (Camdenton, Hillcrest, Cassville, Ozark) is better than they looked in week one arent’ they?”.  I don’t know if we’ll have all the answers after tonight, but we’ll have more.  Some great games on tap tonight.  Nixa & Carthage clash to see who will be Webb City’s main challenger in the COC Large division.  Speaking of the Cardinals, I’ll be making the journey south of the border to watch them take on the Rogers Mounties while a few blocks over Parkview will be clashing with Heritage.  Thayer & Mountain Grove will be doing battle.  And Rogersville takes the drive down to Branson to take on the Pirates.  Here they are with no preservatives added…

Week 2 Picks

Game of the Week

Continue reading Week 2 picks

Week 1 picks

And we’re off.  We’ll review the picks on Monday each week to see if I’m a genius or a moron.  The truth is out there.  Early conference matchups dot the landscape.  And a clash of titans highlights the night.

WEEK 1 PICKS

Game of the Week

  • Harrisonville (#6, Class 4) at Webb City (#1, Class 4)
    • As if we need anything else to make this game more interesting, the Cardinals have suffered a rash of injuries to linemen.  Harrisonville has a couple of key injuries also but returns their biggest threat on both offense & defense.  QB Sam Cooper who passed for almost 1,500 yards and rushed for over a 1,000 last year, and LB Sam Dahman who is just a beast of a tackler.  Braxton Baker should be able to carry the mail on the ground, but Patrick Drake will have to have some success in the air for Webb to move the ball.  The key for the Cardinal defense is to contain Cooper.  If they can make him try to beat them with his arm instead of his legs, Boo Rodgers and the other Cardinal DBs should clean up.
    • Continue reading Week 1 picks