Worth County's Tigers blanked South Nodaway 54-0 in a breather Friday night as they will now tune up for showdowns with North Nodaway and Stanberry. North Nodaway could play a spoiler; as Coach Chuck Borey observed to his players after the game, they took Worth County to overtime in 1995 despite having some players suspended for disciplinary reasons and took them to overtime again in 2004.
The Longhorns showed a lot more spirit than they normally have in the past in games against the Tigers and it showed on the opening play of the game as Cody Burden went for 24 yards right up the middle behind a line consisting of 285, 268, and 320 pounders. The drive stalled there, however, as Josh Wagner shot through on the next play and dropped Burden for a loss. On third down, Burden went on a play that looked like a sweep but he pulled up and threw a pass; however, that went astray. Wagner shot through again on third and long and dropped Burden for a loss of seven and South Nodaway was forced to punt.
Eli Mullock took a sweep 10 yards up to the 25 after Worth County got the ball at their own 15. Barrett Baker followed with a pitchout for another 13 up to the 37, and a pass interference call gave the Tigers first and 10 at the South Nodaway 27. On the next play, Barrett Baker took a sweep on a play that was designed to go left. He saw nothing was there and reversed his field back to the right, picked up a block from Brian Hall, and made it all the way down to the 8 for a 19-yard gain. Josh Wagner picked up the final eight yards, blowing right by the 268-pounders of the front line and going untouched for a 6-0 lead with 9:18 left in the first quarter.
Burden found a little daylight on the next series for South Nodaway, getting six yards in the first two plays, but a delay of game penalty made it third and 9 at their own 26. Burden tried a draw on third and 9 but was met by a curtain of Tiger defenders led by Brian Hall and Dylan Kinsella to set up fourth down. South Nodaway was setting up what looked like a possible fake punt, but a false start penalty spoiled the play and they were forced to punt to the Tigers, who started on their own 26. On their first play from scrimmage, Worth County emptied the backfield and Zach Harmening aired it out to Eli Mullock for a 54-yard pass to make it 12-0 with 6:44 left in the first quarter.
South Nodaway had some more tricks up their sleeve as one of their upbacks, the 6'7" 285 pound Zach Hilsabeck, returned the ensuing kickoff as the Longhorns were hoping to create some problems with open-field tackling. But Eli Mullock led a swarm of Tigers who brought him down at the 31. The Longhorns got an offsides penalty on first down, but still couldn't get the first down. They went with Tom Fletchall at quarterback this time and his run only netted two yards. His next run lost three as Josh Wagner and Brian Hall met him and dropped him for a loss to set up third and six. Fletchall's next carry could only net one yard and then South Nodaway elected to go for it on fourth and five from deep inside their own territory, but Brian Hall pressured Fletchall into a hurried throw and Barrett Baker was there to break it up.
For the second consecutive play, Worth County only needed one play to get into the end zone. Barrett Baker took a dive play, bounced his way to the outside, and outran everyone for a 36-yard score with 4:27 left. Josh Wagner ran in the extra points as he leveled a defender at the 2 and made it in to make it 20-0.
This time, South Nodaway tried Mitch Hilsabeck at quarterback for a play, but a holding penalty moved them back to the 16. Josh Wagner made a perfect open field tackle on Fletchall on the next play and then Dallas Greenland and Barrett Baker contained Cody Burden perfectly to set up third and 17. But then South Nodaway went to a spread formation with an empty backfield and put Tom Fletchall at quarterback; he ran for 14 to the 33 and for five more to the 38 to pick up the first down. The Longhorns continued to utilize the play and picked up another first down to the Tiger 26, but then Brian Hall and Josh Wagner met him and dropped him for a loss back to the 30 and an incomplete pass made it third and 14. Fletchall went back to pass again but this time, Eli Mullock jumped the route, bounced to the rightside, outran two tacklers, and returned it for the pick-6 with 11:41 left in the second quarter. J.J. Mullock caught the extra point pass on the guard eligible play to make it 28-0.
Zach Hilsabeck tried to return it again, but this time, Josh Wagner met him with a summersault tackle and the Longhorns set up shop at their own 28. Ethan Chesnut caught a short pass for 5 as South Nodaway tried to go to their passing game to get on the board. But Cody Green tipped the next pass and then Chesnut got open for a deep pass, but the Tigers came with a heavy rush and the pass went astray and South Nodaway was forced to punt.
For the third consecutive play, Worth County only needed one play to score. This time, Eli Mullock took a sweep down the right side, picked up blocks from Brian Hall and Josh Wagner, and was off to the races for a 64-yard run. Cody Green ran in the extra points with 10:35 left to make it 36-0.
Tom Fletchall tried a quick pass over the middle this time, but Jordan Harding and Josh Wagner were there to break it up. Two consecutive runs by the Longhorns went nowhere and they were forced to punt. But this time, they held Worth County thanks to two fumbles, a holding penalty, and an incomplete pass. Zach Harmening's spread draw on fourth and five from their own 26 fooled nobody and Harmening was tackled a yard short of the first down to give the Longhorns the ball on downs at the Tiger 31.
Cody Burden caught a short pass and turned it into a nine-yard gain thanks to poor tackling. But the Longhorns threw an incomplete pass and then a holding penalty wiped out a long run and forced third and 16. The Longhorns went back to their spread draw formation but this time, Coach Borey had made some adjustments, going with a four-man line and putting Barrett Baker on Fletchall. Baker met Fletchall for no gain and the Longhorns were forced to punt.
Barrett Baker caught a 10-yard pass to the Longhorn 26 and then took a sweep to the 32 for a six-yard gain. The ref tacked on a 15-yard facemask to the Tiger 33. Worth County seemingly stalled there as three plays only netted them two yards. But this time, Zach Harmening ran the spread draw perfectly for a first down to the Longhorn 20. Two plays later, he threw a strike to Eli Mullock for a score to make it 42-0 with 4:23 left in the half.
J.J. Mullock met Cody Burden for a one-yard gain and then Josh Wagner did a perfect stunt from his tackle position and ran down Burden after a two-yard gain. Wagner did the same thing to the other side and this time put on a heavy rush on Burden who barely got off the throw before being dropped behind the 5. On the ensuing punt, Jordan Harding ran down the right side, put a move on one of South Nodaway's big men, and ran down the tightrope for a touchdown with 2:48 left in the half to put Worth County over the 45-point limit.
South Nodaway went with Fletchall at quarterback this time, but he only picked up one yard on first down. After an incomplete pass, Dylan Kinsella stopped him after a two-yard gain and then Dallas Greenland played South Nodaway's fourth down pass perfectly and broke it up as the Longhorns elected to go for it rather than risk another touchdown return.
Coach Borey began subbing freely and Adam Summers, inserted at quarterback, took a sweep down the right side, leveled a would-be tackler, and bounced back to the middle for Worth County's final score of the evening with 1:10 left in the half to make it 54-0.
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