It was a case of history repeating at Rock Port as Worth County fell to the Blue Jays 36-26 in the opening game of their 2012 campaign. Worth County last played Rock Port in 1984 and dropped a 42-0 decision in the state playoffs, back when they were still playing 11-man football. In that game, everything that could have went wrong did as Worth County lost their best runningback, James Hardy, to a broken collarbone in the previous game. Rock Port dominated that game from start to finish in sub-zero weather and one of the buses broke down on the way home, forcing everyone to hitch rides home. Things were a little bit different this time around as Worth County nearly found a way to come back after falling in a hole the first half, the weather was warm and humid, and the bus didn't break down this time. But the Tigers will have to get better in a hurry between now and week three as Mound City will come to town.
The game was about whoever set the tone for the first game of the season. Rock Port only won two games last year, but returned nearly everyone from last year's team, meaning that they have played together for a while now. On the other hand, Worth County has a lot of holes to fill from last year's squad. The backfield stepped right up as Cole Parman aired out a strike to Dallas Greenland on Worth County's first possession as they overcame two penalties for a 58-yard strike. That gave Worth County its only lead at 6-0. Freshman Shadow Briner had one of the few big hits in the half for the Tigers on the ensuing kickoff as he pinned Rock Port deep in their own end. Rock Port went three and out and Worth County moved into Rock Port territory again as Dallas Greenland broke a host of tackles down to the 29. But the Tigers picked up their third and fourth penalties to kill the drive, far too many to have in the first quarter, and the blocking disappeared as Rock Port took over on downs. They wasted little time in scoring as a pair of missed defensive assignments allowed Jayden McMahon to break away for a 41 yard score to tie it at 6 with 5:27 left.
The blocking continued to be non-existent and Worth County was forced to punt on their next series. From there, Rock Port dictated the play for the rest of the game; the Tigers knew exactly what Rock Port was going to do, but they still could not stop it. Rock Port pounded the ball to Jayden McMahon for eight straight times, setting up a 21-yard score by Eric Duncan with 8:40 left in the second quarter to make it 12-6. Duncan is every bit as fast as Eli Mullock was last year; Rock Port, however, used him as a decoy as they used McMahon to set him up; Worth County used Eli as their main back to set everything else up.
Just as it looked like Worth County would get going, Cole Parman tripped over his own center and fumbled a snap and had to fall on it and the Tigers were once again forced to go three and out. The punt was shanked and Rock Port started off in Worth County territory. They got a blocking below the waist penalty, but Duncan got a 17-yard run to overcome that and set up third and eight at the Tiger 26. From there, Worth County knew exactly what Rock Port was going to do and once again they couldn't stop it as McMahon was in the end zone again with 2:29 left in the half. Mitchell Minter ran in the extra points to make it 20-6.
Worth County tried a screen pass, but Rock Port's team speed was so quick that they got to Cole Parman before he could even get set in the pocket as Worth County was forced to punt again before the half. And nothing changed at first for the first six minutes of the third quarter. Worth County knew what Rock Port was going to do offensively and it didn't matter as Rock Port continued to pound the ball with McMahon as they moved into Tiger territory at the 18. But when relying on a power running attack, a single penalty can kill the drive and Rock Port picked up a blocking below the waist penalty as they could not capitalize on their chance to make it a three-possession game. Worth County finally got untracked on offense as Cole Parman carried the Tigers as he showed that he could run as well as throw. Cole had a 10-yard bootleg that rescued the Tigers from third and long, sophomore center Austin Carlson stepped up and knocked a defender down as Dallas Greenland picked up seven, and Cole got a quick hitter for 16 yards on the drive. Another quick hitter put Cole into the end zone to make it 20-12 with 1:06 left in the third.
It looked at that point like the game would follow the script of the softball team as they got a long ways down to North Nodaway, made a lot of mistakes in the process, but found a way to win. But the score did not wake up the team as they promptly gave it back as the kickoff team fell asleep and gave up a kickoff return to Duncan to make it 28-12 with 52.6 seconds left in the third. Then, they followed it up with another mental mistake as the ensuing kickoff got loose and was rolling around on the ground. Like baseball and softball on a popup, you have to talk and take charge in that sort of situation and nobody did as Rock Port shot through and recovered it on the Tiger 21. But Rock Port could not capitalize on their golden opportunity to make it a three-possession game and gave it up on downs.
The teams exchanged punts and finally, Cole Parman got enough protection to find Dallas Greenland behind the defense for a 33-yarder to convert a fourth and long to the Rock Port 14. Dallas was shaken up on the play and had to come out and the Tigers faced fourth and two at the Rock Port six and Cole Parman, under heavy pressure, threw away a pass. But Rock Port picked up a dumb penalty as a player who was on the opposite side of the field and was not part of the play drew a defensive holding penalty and Worth County got the ball first and goal at the three. Dallas came back in and scored with 3:43 left and converted the extra points to make it a one possession game at 28-20.
Worth County got the onsides kick as Aaron Patton was there for the recovery; they got it even though they picked up a penalty on their first attempt and gave it away. They only needed one play to score from 43 yards out as Dallas took a sweep down the right side to make it 28-26 with 3:30 left. But Dallas ran into a wall of blue shirts on the extra points and Rock Port continued to lead. This time, Worth County elected to kick deep and play for the stop, but once again kickoff coverage was seen as a major area in need of improvement. Once again, there were too many defensive breakdowns and once again, Eric Duncan was off to the races. McMahon ran in the extra points to make it a two possession game at 36-26 and Cole Parman's desperation pass was picked off, allowing Rock Port to run out the clock.
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