Worth County's Tigers advanced past Northwest of Hughesville in the first round of the playoffs 72-20, setting up a rematch with Stanberry. The Bulldogs fell behind early against Hardin-Central, but came back to win 32-20 to set up the rematch. The game will be played at Worth County Friday at 7:00. The winner will go on to St. Louis to play either Mound City or St. Joseph Christian. Mound City had a surprisingly hard time putting away Southwest Livingston before they won 62-38 while Christian, coming off their first regular unbeaten season in school history, easily took care of South Holt 55-0 at halftime.
Hughesville featured a conventional defensive front, but they had multiple offensive formations, including the swinging gate. That forced Worth County to use new players and play others out of position; for instance, freshman Cole Parman and sophomore Andrew Mullock both saw their first extended varsity playing time of the year. Kevin Stoll, normally on the line, had to play pass coverage at times. They had to drop back so many in pass coverage that the challenge was to find enough people to generate pressure on standout quarterback Cortlen Austin. Austin, who is only a sophomore, will undoubtedly be back for the Mustangs, which made the playoffs for the first time in school history. But they had nobody who could match up with Eli Mullock and they struggled in the red zone like many other teams playing the Tigers this year. Worth County has bent all year, even against the tailenders; however, they have not broken.
The Mustangs kicked off and Eli Mullock ran through three defenders down the left side and outran everyone for a 79 yard score as Worth County struck first. Dallas Greenland caught a pass in the back of the end zone for the extra points. Jordan Harding picked up an interception on Hughesville's first play of the game, but fumbled it right back. Northwest, which stymied itself by penalties all night, got in a hole thanks to a holding penalty and was forced to punt as Worth County went three and out. The ensuing kick was shanked out of bounds and Worth County had a short field to work with at the Mustang 30. Bryce Ross took a draw and belted a defender on his way to 10 yards to the 20. On the next play, a Hughesville defender shot through and apparently stopped Eli for a loss, but he broke the tackle and ran in untouched for the score. Dallas Greenland ran through a big hole opened by the left side of the line to make it 16-0 with 9:37 left.
Northwest went to their short passing game out of the gate as Worth County was still figuring out how to cover it and marched to the Tiger 29 on the next series. But then Quincy Wicker slipped and fell on first down for a loss. Hughesville tried to air it out, but misfired and Jordan Harding broke up the next pass to set up fourth down. Bryson Scott rung Austin's bell and Worth County took over on downs at their own 27.
The middle was solid for Hughesville, but the edges were a liability as Worth County was able to go outside on them all night long. Worth County was faced with third and seven, but then Aaron Patton caught a bubble screen and outran some defenders for 19 yards to the Mustang 31. Eli then broke several tackles as he made his way to the 24 and then an offsides penalty gave Worth County a first down on the 19. Eli picked up seven more to the 12 and then Dallas Greenland took a trap play to the house from 12 yards out with 5:51 left to make it 22-0.
Hughesville buried themselves at their own 10 on the ensuing kickoff and were backed up to their own 2 by a pair of false starts, but then they aired it out to Tristen Reece for 59 yards to the Tiger 19 to set up their lone score against the varsity. A pair of scrambles by Austin got them another first down at the 10 and then Jordan Harding slipped and fell as Zach Miller caught a pass in the end zone from 8 yards out to make it 22-6 with 3:22 left.
Worth County was faced with third and five on their next series and a three and out would have given Northwest a chance to change the character of the game and make it a one possession game with a score. But then Eli outran everyone on a sweep and scored from 46 yards out with 2:03 left to make it 28-6 to kill their momentum.
Austin scrambled for a first down at the Tiger 38 to rescue a third and 10, but four straight incompletions followed. Dalton Welch knocked him down on the first play and Lane Craven, Eli Mullock, and Jordan Harding all had pass breakups on the next three plays as they gave up the ball on downs.
Aaron Patton got blocks from Kevin Stoll and Jordan Harding on a bubble screen for 14 yards to the Hughesville 28 and then Eli Mullock ran right through some would-be tacklers for a touchdown on the final play of the first quarter. Eli picked up blocks from Logan Ridge and Dallas Greenland for the extra points to make it 36-6.
The game snowballed from there as Hughesville buried themselves on their own 10 on the ensuing kickoff and then a mixup on the handoff resulted in a fumble recovered by Kevin Stoll at the Northwest 11. Worth County backed themselves up with a false start and a 3-yard loss, but then Aaron Patton's catch and run for 19 yards put Worth County on the board again with 10:20 left in the half. Dallas Greenland ran in the extra points to make it 44-6.
Hughesville got a long pass to Zach Miller to the Tiger 37, but on the very next play, Dalton Welch hit Austin, who threw a strike to Dallas Greenland for a pick. Bryce Ross ran through a big hole for 31 yards to the 14 and then Dallas Greenland picked up a fumble and ran it for positive yardage down to the 10. Eli Mullock caught a short pass for seven yards to the three and then scored with 8 minutes left. Eli then spun his way into the end zone for the extra points to make it 52-6.
Northwest wanted to score one more time before halftime and kill the running clock and got a 44-yard run from Wally Nicholson to get into Tiger territory at the 26. But the Tigers would make a goal line stand. A pass interference penalty placed the ball on the 12 and Austin scrambled for two to the 10 and Andrew Underwood caught a 9-yard pass to the 1. But then Dalton Welch stopped Underwood short of the goal line and then Bryson Scott broke up a pass to set up third and goal. Dallas Greenland, Tyler Schmitz, and Lane Craven gang-tackled Austin and knocked him out of the game briefly and Tyler Schmitz stopped a shovel pass to Underwood for no gain to give the Tigers the ball on downs at their own three. They only needed one play to score as Eli juked two defenders and was gone for a 77-yard run to make it 60-6.
The Mustangs drove against Worth County's JV right before the half and scored with 13 yards left on a 10-yard pass to Underwood to make it 60-12. Hughesville, obviously trying to score a bunch of points against the Tiger JV, elected to play on in the second half and left their starters in; however, the JV was up to the task, outplaying them in the frame and picking up a couple of scores of their own. The first was set up when Andrew Mullock scooped up a short punt in traffic and returned it all the way to the Hughesville 31. Cole Parman aired it out to Aaron Patton for 22 yards and the Tigers were on the board. The Mustangs drove to the Tiger 9 on the next series, but they stalled and long runs from Cole Parman of 17 yards and Andrew Faustlin for 24 set up Worth County's final score as Faustlin got blocks from Dakota Owsley and Andrew Mullock to score from 7 yards out with 9:01 left in the game.
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