Worth County beat North Andrew 58-14 to get back to state for the first time since 2011. This was the first trip to state in the Chris Healy era; the Tigers have made it to the Final Four twice under him only to be barred by North Andrew both times. Finally, Worth County got past the Cardinals to get back to the State Title game.
Worth County will play Sacred Heart, which beat King City 69-6 in the other game. It will be Saturday afternoon at 3 pm at Plaster Stadium, 1016 East Grand Street, in Springfield. As of Saturday, the weather forecast was calling for good weather for the game, although that is subject to change.
It looked like Worth County would be in a dogfight at first. North Andrew had been to state before and knew how to play at that level; none of Worth County’s players had been there. Sure enough, Worth County was stopped short on downs on its first possession at the Cardinal 39. With the wind at their backs, North Andrew dialed up a long pass from Jacob Powelson to Caleb Patterson to put North Andrew up 6-0 with 9:04 left.
But like the last time, Worth County bounced right back after falling behind. Tevin Cameron bobbled the ensuing kickoff, but ran it back to the North Andrew 37, breaking a host of tackles along the way to give Worth County good field position. It only took them one play for Ryan McClellan to take a spread draw down the right side to score. Tevin Cameron muscled his way in for the extra points to put Worth County up 8-6 with 8:44 left.
North Andrew couldn’t do anything on its next possession as Powelson couldn’t find anyone open on his first play and threw it away. Bryant McCord broke up the next pass, and a screen pass blew up for a loss of three and North Andrew was forced to punt. Worth County started at their own 23, but was driven back to their own 15 by a couple of plays that went nowhere and a false start. But then Worth County went to its guard eligible play that it had burned Stanberry with and Ryan McClellan hit Mason Hawk with a 62 yard pass play that flipped the field and put Worth County first and goal at the Cardinal 3. Tevin Cameron pushed a pile into the end zone with 6:02 left to make it 14-6.
Jacob Powelson aired it out to Caleb Patterson again and he caught it for a 42 yard pass play, but then Bryant McCord caught him from behind before he could get a full head of steam and forced a fumble. Another black jersey was in the vicinity and pounced on it as McCord pinned down Patterson and Worth County got the ball back. This was a critical sequence, as instead of North Andrew going in to tie, Worth County was taking it down the field to score again and make it two possessions. Tevin Cameron got loose on a sweep down the right side for 34 down to the North Andrew 31, and then burst through a hole on the left side of the line, broke a tackle, and scored as two red jerseys were looking at each other in confusion. Isaac Alarcon’s final effort put Worth County up 22-6 with 5:29. From there, Worth County was able to ground North Andrew’s potent passing game that had downed a lot of good teams this year.
Two running plays for North Andrew went nowhere, a false start set up third and 11 at the 24, and Tevin Cameron came on a delayed blitz, hurrying Powelson into a quick throw. Worth County couldn’t get anything going either; Tevin Cameron got a good runback to the North Andrew 37, but Worth County was stopped inches short at the 27 on fourth down, giving North Andrew the ball back on downs.
North Andrew buried themselves with a pair of false starts and could only get 14 of those yards back before they were forced to punt. They aired it out to Jaden Baker, but Bryant McCord broke it up.
Ryan McClellan took a direct snap on second and 8 from the Tiger 34 and wove his way through traffic for 21 yards to the North Andrew 25. Worth County was faced with another fourth and one from the 16, but this time, North Andrew jumped offsides to give Worth County a first down. Tevin Cameron’s sweep, weaving through traffic, picked up 10 yards to the 1 and then Ryan McClellan’s sneak with 9:29 left in the second put Worth County in the end zone. McClellan followed a big surge by the line into the end zone to make it 30-6.
North Andrew got a promising drive going that went nowhere. Lance Streeby picked up a quick hitter for six to the 31, but a Tevin Cameron sack and a false start set up third and 10 from the 25. Powelson scrambled for 7 and Cole Thorburn caught a short pass on fourth and three for a first down. Thorburn’s catch and run went for 15 yards to the Tiger 30, then Lance Streeby’s eight yard jaunt off a zone read picked up another first down to the Tiger 14. Bryant McCord broke up a pass in the end zone, but Thorburn caught a short pass down to the Tiger 8. North Andrew went back to the quick hitter, but Tevin Cameron blitzed on the play and Mason Hawk was also there for a two yard loss. Someone lined up on the wrong side, creating a false start back to the 15, then Worth County tipped Powelson’s pass after Drake Kinsella came from his blind side to give Worth County the ball back on downs at its own 15. But then as Worth County was faced with third and two at its own 23, and battling for yardage for a first down, they fumbled it and Caleb Patterson scooped it and scored with 3:23 left. Lance Streeby hit the right corner to make it 30-14. It was the first defensive score Worth County had given up all year.
With 3:23 left and no timeouts, Worth County started on their own 23. Tevin Cameron picked up 13 on a power sweep, dragging 2 defenders with him. Cameron fought for five yards to the Cardinal 39, then Ryan McClellan picked up 1 to the Cardinal 38.
There was a heartstopping moment as Tevin Cameron fumbled it at the end of a 16 yard run to the 22, but Ryan McClellan fell on it with 1:12 left. McClellan fought forward to the 14 for eight yards, then picked up three more for first and goal at the 10 before spiking it with 22 seconds to kill the clock. Worth County tried a halfback pass from Tevin Cameron, but that was broken up. But then lightning struck twice as they ran the guard eligible play from Ryan McClellan to Mason Hawk with 15 seconds to spare for a score. Tevin Cameron ran it in on a power sweep to make it 38-14 going into the half.
North Andrew started off at their own 27 after Jaxon Anderson got a big hit on Cy Black to start the half. Caleb Patterson broke a host of tackles for 18 yards to the Tiger 38, then Jaden Baker caught a seven yard pass on third and seven for a measured first down at the Tiger 28. But then the next pass short-hopped Patterson, then Drake Kinsella and Tevin Cameron sacked Powelson back to the 36. A screen pass went nowhere as there were not enough blockers and Lance Streeby let it go through his hands rather than take a loss, and North Andrew was forced to punt.
The punt was shanked and Worth County took over on its own 23 after the 13 yard kick. Bryant McCord made a shoestring catch for a 9 yard pass, Tevin Cameron took the snap, faked it to Ryan McClellan, and dove ahead for six. Ryan McClellan took a power sweep for 13 to the North Andrew 29. Tevin Cameron aired it out to Caleb Parman, but threw it too far. His cutback picked up seven he picked up two more to the 20 to set up fourth and one, and converted the fourth down to the North Andrew 18.
A sack back to the 23 for second and 15 derailed Worth County only temporarily, as a facemask put it back on the 16 for second and seven. Tevin Cameron took a zone read play for 10 down to the six, ran a power sweep to the 3, and then Worth County spread it out and gave it to Isaac Alarcon for the remaining yards with 5:21 left in the third.
After Tevin Cameron made a shoestring catch for the extra points to make it 46-14, North Andrew set up shop at its own 17. The Cardinals were faced with third and two at their own 25, but were not on the same page on that play as everyone moved but the snapper for a false start. Caleb Parman broke up a pass and North Andrew was forced to punt. The kick was shanked into the wind again and Worth County took advantage of the five yard kick. Tevin Cameron picked up six behind the blocking of Isaac Alarcon, but then a touchdown pass to Caleb Parman was called back to the 34 by a holding penalty. Ryan McClellan took a spread draw 11 yards down to the 23 for a manageable third and 5, and then bounced outside for six more for a first down to the 17, sprung free by a block from Drake Kinsella. Isaac Alarcon picked up two more to the 15 and then shot through a big hole down to the six. He then scored the remaining yards on a spread draw as Caleb Parman got a block for him to make it 52-14 with 1:25 left in the third.
North Andrew started off on its own 22 and a fumbled handoff and a flat pass went nowhere. The Cardinals tried some razzle dazzle as they attempted a halfback pass from Lance Streeby to Caleb Patterson, but it was broken up by Bryant McCord, who did his job and stayed with Patterson. North Andrew lined up in punt formation and did a fake punt, isolating Patterson, but the Tigers pushed him out of bounds one yard short of the first down at the 31 and took over on downs. Tevin Cameron rang up Worth County’s final score with 11:04 left as he broke through a small hole as though nobody was there to pick up 29 yards to make it 58-14.
North Andrew went to a speed option game and Powelson nearly broke one, only for Devan Jackson, who spend his time on the sideline running up and down to keep warm and amped up, to run him down at the North Andrew 35. Powelson took a spread draw 33 yards to the Tiger 12 and Streeby took another speed option five more yards to the seven. But then North Andrew tried a pass and Drake Kinsella broke through Powelson’s blind side for a sack back to the 15. They tried another and Cole Thorburn was open, but Powelson led him too far and a host of four Tigers, Drake Kinsella, Devan Jackson, Brayden Welch, and Wayde Parman all broke through for a sack to kill North Andrew’s final threat before the reserves took over for both teams.
Jacob Wimer ripped off gains of 14 and 16 for the reserves in the closing minutes for the Tigers.
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