Worth County shook off a ragged start that included nine penalties and typical first-game jitters as they beat West Nodaway 52-6 Friday night behind the running of Barrett Baker and Eli Mullock and the passing of Zach Harmening. Coach Chuck Borey said after the game that they needed to work on reading their keys as well as keeping away from penalites. "Everyone has a part on this team," he said. He told the players they needed to push it harder in practice, saying that getting in 1/2 hour of all-out conditioning would be worth more to them than five hours of conditioning at half effort. He said that they needed to start out quicker in next week's game at Nodaway-Holt, saying that the Trojans were much stronger this year and that they had everyone back from last year's team. "The year we went back to state, they led us at half," he said. He said that the longer they kept any team in the game, the better chance that team would have of winning the game.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Tigers overcame a holding penalty following a long return from Barrett Baker that put them at their own 37. The penalty wiped out a 43-yard touchdown run from Baker and set them second and 15 at their own 32. But Josh Wagner caught a flat pass for eight yards and then Baker's 10-yard run to the Rocket 30 off a Wyatt McClain block got them out of the hole. Baker then started off right and then cut back left for a gain of 14 down to the 16; Wagner took a quick hitter up the middle for 6 down to the 10 as the Tigers caught the Rockets overreaching on defense. Barrett Baker then took a power sweep for a gain of 5 as he got a block from Josh Wagner and then followed a surge by the line up the middle for the touchdown with 9:14 left in the first quarter. Baker took a dive play and jumped to the outside for the extra points to make it 8-0.
But West Nodaway came right back following a long return to the Tiger 39 and used the favorable field position to score. They used an eight play 39 yard drive and mixed up sweeps and short passes to get in. But Mitch Andrews broke up the extra point pass, which left the Tigers up 8-6 with 6:13 left in the first quarter. The sloppy play continued on the kickoff as Baker apparently returned it for a touchdown, only to have it called back when someone who was not even part of the play held on the return. That moved the Tigers back to their own 16. Worth County went to the air to get down the field as Eli Mullock took a short pass and ran with it for 30 yards down to the West Nodaway 30. Two plays later on third and seven, Barrett Baker's nine yard dive play took it down to the 18 and then Zach Harmening aired it out to Mullock, who was all alone for the score. On the extra point pass, Harmening faked right and threw to the left corner of the end zone, where Alex Harmening caught it for the score to make it 16-6 with 3:34 left.
The next series was much better for the Tigers as Dallas Greenland flew down the field to bury the Rocket return man at their own 9. West Nodaway only gained five yards in three plays and were forced to punt. The ensuing punt was a short kick that gave Worth County good field position at the Rocket 37. Baker shot through a big hole up the middle for a gain of 15 yards down to the 22, but a holding on the next play brought it back to the 32. Baker took a sweep and weaved in and out of traffic for a gain of 11 to the 21; two plays later at the beginning of the second quarter, Zach Harmening aired it out to Alex Harmening for a strike that made it 22-6.
The hard hitting continued on the next defensive series as Jordan Harding was the next Tiger to lay the hurt on the Rocket return man. Two plays later, Josh Wagner intercepted a tipped pass and returned it four yards to the Rocket 19. Wagner then took a counter play and juked and faked his way down to the five for first and goal. Two running plays only netted two yards and a false start brought it back to the 8 for third and goal. But Zach Harmening threw a play action pass to Alex, who broke a tackle and made it into the end zone for Worth County's fourth score of the evening to make it 28-8 with 9:20 left.
West Nodaway used a 30-yard sweep thanks to some poor tackling to threaten again as they moved the ball down to the Tiger 28. But after a three yard gain, Josh Wagner shot through and got the initial hit as the Tigers ganged up on a running play to force third and long. Then, Barrett Baker shot up the middle and got a sack to force fourth and 20. A substitution infraction penalty made it fourth and 20 at the 38 and a short pass could only net six yards, giving the Tigers the ball back on their own 32.
Barrett Baker dove through and ran into a wall after picking up five and the Josh Wagner took a counter sweep for 12 and then the ref tacked on a five-yard facemask penalty own to the Rocket 25. Two plays later, Coach Chuck Borey inserted Eli Mullock in at runningback and he responded by outrunning everyone for a 26-yard touchdown. Mullock ran in the extra points as well to make it 36-6 with 5:02 left.
West Nodaway started off at their own seven thanks to a fumbled kickoff, but then they got their option game going and started clicking, moving down the field. They marched down the field to the Worth County 10, where they had first and goal. But then a false start moved them back to the 15 and then the West Nodaway quarterback fumbled thanks to pressure up the middle. Brian Hall caught the ball in midair and returned it 65 yards the other way for the score as Worth County thwarted any comeback aspirations from West Nodaway; that made it 44-6. With time running out in the half, West Nodaway could not mount a drive and the Tigers went into halftime with a 44-6 lead.
The Rockets went three and out to start the second half and then a short kick gave the Tigers good field position on their own 35. Two penalties and a busted play moved the ball back to their own 20 but then Eli Mullock took a pitchout and outran everyone for the score. Barrett Baker caught the extra point pass to make it 52-6 with 9:03 left in the third and end the game on the 45-point rule.
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