Torrential rains poured down on the field Friday night for the district semifinal game between Worth County and North-West Nodaway. The question for the Muskets was whether the rains would ground the vaunted passing attack of Koby Reynolds, who topped 10,000 career yards earlier this year. The question for the Tigers was whether they would defy history and win a game in the mud and rain. Coach Andrew Webster of the Muskets said he had every reason to be pleased with his Muskets' effort. "That was just a great football game," he said. "We put some new things in, and our players responded." Webster's Muskets are not going anywhere despite the graduation of Reynolds as next year, sophomore Korbin Koch, a duel run-pass threat, will likely take over the reigns at quarterback. But while North-West Nodaway gave it their best shot on the field, Worth County overcame history and beat the Muskets 68-44 in the steady downpour in a climate that only Dan Collins could have loved. The Tigers have historically struggled in bad weather, but Friday night's game was an exception, and there have been a few teams that have thrived in the adverse conditions as well.
It looked like history would repeat for Worth County at first. North-West Nodaway marched right down the field, first on the ground and then through the air. They picked up one first down off a Reynolds scramble and then another off a 9 yard pass to Jakob Cordell into Tiger territory at the 34. Finally, Reynolds aired one out to Dakota Smyser for 34 yards for a score to make it 6-0 with 8:56 left.
There was a heartstopping moment for Worth County when Josh McGinness drilled the ensuing kick off Jacob Hardy and into the hands of the Muskets, forcing Worth County to play defense again. North-West set up shop on the 40 and kept right on driving, getting a first down on fourth and inches thanks to an offsides penalty on Worth County at the 25. Isaac Alarcon broke up two passes for Cordell, nearly picking one off and then dropping Reynolds on a blitz for a three yard loss to set up another fourth and long. But Reynolds aired one out long to Cordell in the rain, and he came up with it at the 12. Sweeps by McIntyre brought the ball down to the 3, and the Muskets were on the verge of taking a two possession lead. But in a factor that was to repeat itself all night, Reynolds couldn't hold a bad snap in the rain and the mud as Drake Kinsella shot through unblocked to get a tackle the set up fourth and five at the Tiger seven. Reynolds' ensuing pass into the end zone was broken up by Ryan McClellan, and Worth County had held on downs.
Worth County finally got untracked and its offense was able to take the field. Coach Chris Healy's offense consisted of numerous plays involving Ben Badell, who emerged in the East Atchison game as a running threat as well as a passing threat. It gave them an advantage since it limited the number of handoffs in the rain and mud, and possibilities for fumbling the ball. He ripped off 17 yards on his first play, getting the Tigers out of the hole and up to the 24; Brevyn Ross still got his yards, but he also functioned as a lead blocker for Ben. Worth County picked up a false start, which bailed them out of a bad snap and huge loss on the next play. Brevyn Ross took a direct snap and got a block from Nate Pointer for seven, and then Ben Badell took a sweep and reversed his field over to the right side and picked up 27 more into Musket territory at the 27. Brevyn, who lined up in the Wildkat formation in another wrinkle put in this week by Worth County, pulled down a high snap and stiffarmed his way down to the 18. A false start backed them up, but runs by Ben Badell and Nate Pointer picked up another first down at the 17. Finally, Badell took a keeper and made it look effortless as he cruised his way into the end zone from 12 yards out with one minute left in the first to put Worth County up for good at 8-6.
Once again, North Nodaway threatened and once again they were denied. A 14 yard reverse to Smyser and a 15 yard scramble by Reynolds put them in Tiger territory again. A guard eligible play to Blake Farnan that went for 9 set up another first down at the Tiger 23. But a scramble on second down by Reynolds came up inches short of the first down at the 13, and then a bad snap, their second in the last two possessions, left them with fourth and one at the 14. Reynolds threw a short pass to Smyser, but Brevyn Ross made a perfect one on one tackle on him to deny the Muskets a first down. It was the first of two such tackles by Ross on fourth down. Worth County could not take advantage as Brevyn Ross had a long touchdown run wiped out by a holding penalty and a reverse to Tevin Cameron was wiped out by another, forcing Worth County to punt for one of just two times that evening.
North-West Nodaway got one first down, and then elected to go for it on fourth and nine at the Tiger 33. They tried to isolate the speedy Korbin Koch on a short pass play, but for the second straight series, Brevyn made a perfect one on one tackle to deny them a first down five yards short and give Worth County the ball at the 29. This time they took advantage as Brevyn shot through a big hole to pick up 12 and move the ball into Musket territory. An offsides penalty moved it to the 34 and then Ben Badell picked up six more for another first down at the 27. From there, Ross shot through a big hole up the middle and scored with 2:08 left. Ben Badell ran in the extra points behind the blocking of Brevyn Ross to put Worth County up 16-6 and put them two possessions ahead.
Worth County got one more score before half and nearly got another one. Jakob Cordell caught a pass from Reynolds over the middle for 13 and then North-West Nodaway overcame a bad snap with a hook and ladder to Dakota Smyser that went into Tiger territory at the 34. But then another bad snap was too much for Reynolds and the Muskets; he threw one on third and 19 at the Musket 37 into double coverage and Nate Pointer came away with the pick for Worth County. Starting on the right side of the field, he took it all the way over to the left side and returned it to the North-West 32. Worth County only needed one play with time winding down on the first half clock to score as Brevyn Ross, who victimized the Muskets in the first meeting, did so again as he slipped three tackles and got loose for a 32-yard score with 44.1 seconds left. He took a power sweep behind the blocking of Mason Hawk and Isaac Alarcon for the extra points to make it a three possession game at 24-6. Worth County got the ball back with 10.7 seconds left after North-West got nowhere and punted it away. Brevyn Ross returned the punt to the Musket 37 and they had one shot at the end zone, but a screen to Isaac Alarcon that would have scored was wiped out by a holding penalty.
There were some pretty interesting numbers on both sides of the ball. For Worth County, Ben Badell (86) had more rushing yards than Brevyn Ross (85). On the other end, North-West Nodaway continued their trend of running just as much as passing, having run 21 rushing plays and 20 passing plays. The frustrating thing for them was that despite having run twice as many plays as Worth County, they only had six points to show for it.
Worth County took it right down the field and scored as Ben Badell ripped off a 39-yard touchdown run as he once again reversed his field on a sweep, starting right and then bouncing it back to the left for a score, putting him over 100 for the night. Isaac Alarcon ran in the extra points for Worth County. But North-West Nodaway revived as Koby Reynolds scrambled for 23 yards down to the Tiger 17 on the Muskets' next series. Two holding penalties and a false start moved them all the way back to the 40, but then Reynolds turned a broken play into gold as he took a bad snap, somehow managed to avoid hitting the ground with his knees, eluded a rush, and threw a strike to Colt McIntyre for 40 yards to bring his team back to within 32-12.
The teams once again traded blows as Brevyn Ross picked up 29 yards and would have broken it for a score had Jakob Cordell not been flagged for a horsecollar penalty that put the ball on the Musket 13. Four plays later, Ross dove into the end zone from two yards out with 5:48 left and added the extra points to make it 40-12. But then Koby Reynolds got loose again for 20 yards to the Tiger 31 and then hit Jakob Cordell for 17 to the 14. A holding penalty moved them back to the 26, but then Reynolds aired it out successfully to Dakota Smyser for 26 yards and ran in the extra points to make it 40-20.
Worth County had some snapping problems of its own in the rain and mud and North-West Nodaway had a golden chance to get right back in the game. Isaac Alarcon's fourth down run came up three yards short at the Tiger 39, which gave them a good chance to score. Koby Reynolds scrambled twice and got a first down to the 27, then he scrambled for another one at the 15. An offsides penalty on Worth County and a five yard carry by Colt McIntyre made it first and goal at the 5, but then an incomplete pass and a holding penalty made it second and goal at the 15. Reynolds tried to scramble again, but was met by Drake Kinsella and Tevin Cameron at the 16. Finally, Reynolds tried a jump ball play with Dakota Smyser, but Brevyn Ross dropped back to cover him and outjumped him for a pick to stifle the threat. It was the third critical defensive play that Ross had made that night.
The Tigers took full advantage of the turnover as Ben Badell picked up 18 more behind the blocking of Brevyn Ross. They were backed up third and 12 at their own 34, but then Isaac Alarcon took a direct snap out of the Wildkat formation. Ben Hart shot through for North-West Nodaway and had him seemingly tackled for a big loss, but Isaac shook him off like he wasn't even there and broke out all alone in the clear for a 46-yard score to make it 46-20. On the ensuing kickoff, Brevyn Ross recovered a fumble at the Musket 38 and Worth County took full advantage. Ben Badell picked up 12 more yards to the 26 and a blow to the head penalty moved it to the 14 despite Coach Andrew Webster's protests. Brevyn Ross took the direct snap on the next play and handed it off to Nate Pointer, whose hard running got him into the end zone with 8:38 left. Ross ran in the extra points to make it 54-20.
North-West showcased their man of the future, Korbin Koch on the next play as he outran everyone for a 55-yard scamper with 8:23 left to give the Muskets a glimmer of hope as they closed to within 54-28. But then Brevyn Ross dashed those hopes with a 47-yard run as he shot through the middle to make it 62-28. On the ensuing kickoff, Tevin Cameron made a shoestring tackle of Smyser at the 10, setting up a fumble recovery when a bad snap wound up on the ground and Drake Kinsella shot through and got to it before any of the Muskets could. Worth County was stuck with fourth and six at the 9, but then Worth County lined up in the Wildkat with Isaac taking the snap; this time, they broke out the jet sweep to Dylan Mildfeldt to make it 68-28 with 4:35 left. North-West refused to go quietly into the night, getting a long pass from Reynolds to Cordell with 3:11 left and then a 41 yard scamper from Colt McIntyre with 41.7 seconds left to account for the final score.
Both teams had given everything they had and earned each others' respect, as evidenced by the group prayer after the game. Worth County is back on the list of teams to beat, but North-West Nodaway is not going away next year. They could be a challenger in the newly revamped 275 along with Nodaway/South Holt, Mound City, Rock Port, and DeKalb next year.
One week after setting a career high in rushing yardage, Ben Badell set another career high with 170 yards on 20 carries. He and Brevyn Ross had nearly identical totals as Ross had 14 carries for 169 yards. Isaac Alarcon had 3 carries for 57 yards, Nate Pointer had 4 carries for 22 yards, and Dylan Mildfeldt had 1 carry for 9 yards. Worth County rushed for 428 yards and only attempted two passes all night.
For North-West Nodaway, Koby Reynolds had 24 carries for 109 yards. Korbin Koch had 3 carries for 69 yards. Colt McIntyre had 10 carries for 58 yards, and Dakota Smyser had 4 carries for 33 yards. Koby Reynolds completed 22 passes on 38 attempts for 304 yards. They rushed 41 times and attempted 38 passes, a change from most of the year when they passed on nearly every single down. Jakob Cordell caught 11 passes for 115 yards. Dakota Smyser had 5 catches for 87 yards. Colt McIntyre had 3 catches for 80 yards. Korbin Koch had 2 catches for 13 yards and Blake Farnan had 1 catch for 9 yards. North-West rushed for 269 yards and passed for 304, outgaining Worth County by 573 yards to 428. But they were stymied by 12 penalties, five bad snaps, and four turnovers.
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