Worth County prevailed in a 76-44 shootout with Nodaway-Holt Friday in a wild encounter. The Trojans showed that their 4-1 mark was no accident, but the Tigers took a game that they had to have in order to catch Rock Port in the district standings. The game had it all, including bizarre plays, sloppy officiating, and defensive breakdowns.
It looked like it would be an easy game for the Tigers at first as they jumped out to a 20-0 lead. First, Dallas Greenland scored from 17 yards out following blocks from Kevin Stoll and Wyatt Rush to make it 6-0 with 10:31 left. That was set up by a long pass from Bryce Ross to Wyatt Rush. They followed that up with a 22-yard sweep to Wyatt Rush, following the block of Aaron Patton into the end zone with 9:16 left in the first. That was set up by a 19-yard scramble from Bryce Ross. After Nodaway-Holt could get nowhere on their next series, Dallas Greenland broke a pair of tackles and shot past everyone for another touchdown to make it 20-0 with 6:38 left.
But the only reason that the Trojans had gotten in the hole was because of a ton of dropped passes on their part. Once they started catching passes from prize quarterback Nick Patterson, they finally started to get into the end zone. Some of it was the fact that Nodaway-Holt was a good team; some of Worth County's troubles were self-inflicted and the referees made some bizarre calls all night.
Nodaway-Holt got on the board as Nick Patterson threw a short pass to Wade Saxton that he turned into a 32-yard catch and run to make it 20-6 with 4:12 left. Worth County fumbled the ball right back to Nodaway-Holt and they had a chance to make it a one-possession game but Worth County held on downs thanks to sacks by Dylan Kinsella and Kevin Stoll on one play and by Stoll on another play as Nodaway-Holt was forced to punt. But that was the sort of play that let Nodaway-Holt think that they were still a part of the game.
A guard eligible pass from Bryce Ross to Dylan Kinsella, where Bryce eluded the rush and threw a shot put to Dylan, turned into a 46-yard gain to the 15. That set up a six yard run from Dallas Greenland, behind the blocks of Dylan Kinsella and Austin Carlson. Bryce Ross ran in the extra points, ringing the bell of a much bigger defender for the final yard to make it 28-6 with 1:06 left.
But the kickoff return woes that have hurt Worth County all year came back to bite again and then the referees started to get in on the act. Nodaway-Holt got a long kickoff return to the Worth County 37, giving them a short field to work with; they would have a short field for much of the second quarter. Kevin Stoll got his third sack of the day to set up third and 18, but Derek Lemon caught an 18-yard pass to the 15 to set up fourth and inches. Nick Patterson seemingly fumbled the ball, but a referee who was completely out of position to make the call ruled he was down. A pass interference call put the ball on the 7 and Lemon's pass and two point conversion made it 28-14 with 10:06 left.
Worth County played deer in the headlights football on its next series as they went three and out and punter Aaron Patton got a bad snap and only got to the 30, giving Nodaway-Holt another short field to work with. They were backed up fourth and 15 at the 35, but a pass interference call gave the Trojans a first down at the 18. That was Worth County's fifth penalty of the quarter. Once again, Nodaway-Holt was backed up fourth and goal at the six, but the referees allowed the Nodaway-Holt coaches to talk them out of a false start penalty as Brian Lance caught a pass for a score. Brice Shamberger's extra point pass made it 28-22.
That seemed to wake up Worth County; they took advantage of a short kickoff and a short field to get back on track. The ball was kicked off to Aaron Patton, who is one of the up-men on kickoff return and he ran it back to midfield. From there, they only needed one play to score as Dallas Greenland shot up the middle, broke a host of tackles, and bounced outside to score with 7:29 to make it 36-22. Even there, the referees were not doing their jobs; as the play was happening, Bryce Ross got hammered by one of the Nodaway-Holt players while the referee was not watching. It was not a legal hit because he was not part of the play any longer and was not faking carrying the ball. It is the referee's job to protect the quarterback from unnecessary hits in these sorts of situations.
Nodaway-Holt went three and out thanks to a dropped pass and an intentional grounding call that backed them up to their own three. Worth County got a short field once again at the Trojan 38, but could not capitalize as Wyatt Rush was wide open but Ross overthrew him on fourth down. But Nodaway-Holt backed themselves up with a holding penalty and was forced to punt. Andrew Mullock had a long punt return, but the Tigers picked up their sixth penalty of the quarter as a player who was on the opposite side of the field and was not part of the play picked up a holding penalty to wipe out a touchdown. But Worth County was able to use a horsecollar penalty to get back on track and Dallas Greenland bounced to the outside for a 25-yard score as Nodaway-Holt unsuccessfully tried to send all eight players in an effort to stop the run. That made it 42-22. The referees missed yet another call on the extra point as the official called Wyatt Rush for offensive pass interference even though it was the Nodaway-Holt player who shoved Wyatt in the back as he was trying to go for the extra point pass.
Worth County continued to shoot itself in the foot, picking up a horsecollar penalty to move Nodaway-Holt into Tiger territory at the 35, but Dallas Greenland picked up a sack to stop them in their tracks and they were forced to punt. Andrew Mullock weaved his way through traffic for a long punt return for a touchdown, breaking a host of tackles along the way. The referees were going to call it back with a block in the back penalty, but in an obvious makeup for earlier in the quarter when the Nodaway-Holt coaches talked them out of a penalty, waved off the penalty and the touchdown stood. That made it 48-22.
But the fireworks continued as Worth County played the rest of the half like they were down 26 instead of up 26. Nodaway-Holt was simply trying to run out the clock, but Wade Saxton broke away for a 50 yard touchdown with 13.4 seconds left to make it 48-28. The deer in the headlights play continued on Worth County's part and they could not blame the referees for this one as everyone stood around and watched Nodaway-Holt scoop up an onsides kick. Then, they gave up a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brian Lance even though they knew what the play was going to be, making it 48-36.
The bad thing about that sequence was that Nodaway-Holt got the ball with a chance to make it a one possession game to start the second half. The deer in the headlights football continued as Worth County picked up a roughing the passer penalty to move it to the 37, but then they finally woke up and played some of their best defense of the year the rest of the half. They held on downs and then Dallas broke a host of tackles for a 40-yard score to make it 54-36 with 10:48 left in the third. Nodaway-Holt continued to move the ball as Patterson's scramble for 33 yards set up first and goal at the Tiger 10 as the referees missed a holding penalty that sprung him loose. But Worth County made a goal line stand as Aaron Patton broke up a pass in the end zone, Kevin Stoll blew up a pitch play, Lance's pass only netted five yards, and Tyler Schmitz and Wyatt Rush combined on a sack to give the ball back to the Tigers on downs at their own 10.
Worth County overcame a false start as Andrew Mullock ripped off gains of 19 and 21 to move it out of danger into Trojan territory at the 35. Worth County stalled with fourth and seven at the 32, but The General came through as Aaron Patton made a leaping catch at the 10 to keep the drive alive. The Tigers were once again backed up third and goal at the 10, but Dallas Greenland got a sweep and got open for the score and ran in the extra points to make it 62-36 with 2:05 left in the third.
The fourth quarter was dominated by Nodaway-Holt's frantic attempts to get back in the game through the air unsuccessfully. Finally, Wyatt Rush caught a 25-yard pass from Bryce Ross with 2:17 left to set off another round of scoring. Saxton countered with a 43-yard run but Wyatt Rush got a series of long runs for Worth County's final score of the night to make it 76-44. Saxton caught a 49-yard pass down to the Tiger 1 in the closing seconds, but the Trojans were denied as Cole Parman caught him from behind and then Nodaway-Holt subsequently fumbled the ball back to the Tigers.
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