Worth County's Junior High Tigers won an 8-0 thriller against previously unbeaten Stanberry to clinch their first unbeaten season since four years ago. It seems that the team needs a presidential election to get the breaks they need for that since the last time they went unbeaten was also a presidential election year.
Worth County's lone score came in the first quarter following a Stanberry fumble. The Tigers drove into Stanberry territory behind the running of Wade Rush and Jayden Mancuso down to the Stanberry 27 before giving up the ball on downs. But Stanberry fumbled the ball right back and Mason Hawk recovered for the Tigers at the Stanberry 32 to put the Tigers back in business. Five plays later, Jayden Mancuso broke free around the right end and walked the tightrope into the end zone for a 17-yard score with 11.1 seconds left in the first quarter. Wade Rush ran in the extra points to make it 8-0.
Stanberry got a break as they went for a dangerous gamble on fourth and 11 from their own 31, but it paid off as Thomas Harsh caught a 16-yard pass to keep the drive alive to the Worth County 33. They then went to an unorthodox formation with runningback Clayton Stoll at quarterback and the other two backs lined up at the point of attack right behind the linemen. That moved them right down the field to the Tiger eight for a third and three, but a fumbled handoff set them back fourth and seven at the Tiger 12. They attempted a screen pass to Stoll, but Thomas Coalson made the first of two critical one on one open field tackles when he dropped Stoll for a loss of four to end the threat. Worth County went three and out and had to punt from deep in their own territory at their own 15, but Andrew Freemyer made a booming punt of 58 yards all the way down to the Stanberry 7 right before half to flip the field and Stanberry could do little more than run out the rest of the clock.
Worth County dug themselves a hole at the start of the third quarter with consecutive yard losses back to the 10, but a 19-yard sweep from Wade Rush and a 25-yard carry by Coalson got the Tigers out of trouble and into Stanberry territory. An offsides penalty moved the ball as far as the Stanberry 16, but the Tigers could not capitalize thanks to a false start and some losses back to the 30. Stanberry drove the ball to the 39, but Wade Rush tipped a screen pass and then made a shoestring tackle of Cory Luke to stop Stanberry from going any further as they gave up the ball on downs at the start of the fourth quarter.
Worth County gave up the ball on downs at midfield, but on third and six, Coalson made another critical tackle when he stopped Tyler Hunter on a reverse that might have otherwise gone a long ways. Ryan McClellan then broke up a pass on fourth and four and the Tigers got the ball back on downs and ran out the clock the rest of the way.
The reserves got in some excellent gains as Dylan Mildfeldt ripped off a 60-yard touchdown and another run of 25 yards while Ryan McClellan had another 25-yarder.
The JV fell to Stanberry 44-20 as Brevyn Ross scored three early long touchdowns in a shootout that left the Tigers down 22-20 in what looked like a shootout. But then Stanberry pounded the ball relentlessly for the final three quarters and kept the Tiger offense off the field and went on to win by three scores.
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