Worth County kicked off to Stanberry to start the District Championship Game Friday night and Stanberry promptly hit them with a 70 yard touchdown run from Cole Durbin as they isolated him and turned him loose; Stanberry had tried to run it in the first meeting between the two teams, but he had fumbled it. Just 17 seconds into the game, Worth County trailed for the first time all year, and the question was how well they would respond. Thankfully, the Tigers got better and better against Durbin and the Bulldogs as the game progressed and they came back to win 44-22.
The win means that Worth County will host North Andrew Friday at 7 pm, as North Andrew beat St. Joseph Christian 74-44. Since both Worth County and North Andrew have hosted the same number of home games, Worth County gets to host, since the top team on the bracket gets to host in odd-numbered years. King City beat Southwest Livingston 76-20, while Sacred Heart beat Greenfield 93-46 to set up the other semifinal matchup between King City and Sacred Heart. The winners of these games go on to play in the State Championship Game in Springfield on November 18th at 3 pm in Plaster Stadium.
Worth County came back when Isaac Alarcon’s 27 yard counter brought Worth County into Stanberry territory at the 36. A false start and a keeper that fooled nobody set Worth County back third and 14 at the 40, but Ryan McClellan aired it out to Caleb Parman for 39 yards to the 1, and Tevin Cameron punched it in on the next play. Ryan McClellan cut back to a big hole up the middle to tie it up at 8 with 8:45 left.
Once again, Worth County was burned by the counter to Durbin and he took it 24 yards to the Tiger 23. From there, Stanberry overcame a false start with a series of carries to John Shanks that carried them back into the end zone with 4:40 left to make it 14-8.
Tevin Cameron had an apparent runback, but it was called back to the Tiger 29 by a defenseless player penalty. Ryan McClellan’s keeper this time fooled everyone as he got back to the Stanberry 7, but four cracks at the Stanberry 7 only got to the 4, and Worth County gave up the ball on downs.
It looked like Stanberry might go up two possessions as they continued to grind it out with Shanks, Trey Schieber, and Durbin getting turns. But on third and four at the 21, Stanberry tried to pass it and Tevin Cameron broke it up to force them to punt.
Worth County started moving the ball again as Tevin Cameron converted a third and four for a five yard run to the 40 and then converted a third and four at the Stanberry 34 with a seven yard carry to the 27. From there, a keeper fooled nobody and a pass was batted down after Isaac Alarcon had gotten nothing, setting up fourth and 14. But for some reason, Stanberry called a timeout, which gave Worth County time to draw up a play from the Stanberry 31 and get settled down. It fooled everyone as Isaac Alarcon was all alone for a 31 yard touchdown pass from Ryan McClellan with 7:24 left to tie it at 14-14.
Stanberry got some daylight at first on its next series, converting a fourth and one with a Durbin sneak to their own 25. But then they stalled at their own 33 thanks to a false start and a fumbled snap and kicked it into the end zone as time was winding down with 2:18 left in the half.
The critical sequence of plays happened in the closing seconds of the first half and the start of the second. A roughing the passer penalty put the ball on the 30 and Isaac Alarcon ripped off 20 more to the Stanberry 30. Worth County was faced with third and seven at the Stanberry 26, but Tevin Cameron took a spread draw to the house with 53 seconds left. Cameron ran in the extra points to make it 22-14, and Stanberry could only get to the Tiger 23 by the end of the half.
That meant a 16 point swing for Worth County, which got the ball to start the second half. Ryan McClellan picked up six to the Tiger 33 after the kickoff was returned to the 27, and Tevin Cameron got open again on a spread draw to the house with 11:10 left from 47 yards out. Bryant McCord caught the extra point pass to make it 30-14; all of a sudden, Worth County was in control.
The danger for Worth County was that Stanberry might return one and get right back in the game; they had done so twice against Rock Port in their 76-34 win the week before. Sure enough, Trey Schieber got some daylight, but he was tackled at the 34. Hunter Johnson’s six yard pass set up fourth and one at the Tiger 36, but Devan Jackson, who had been yelled at earlier by Assistant Coach Jon Adwell for getting blown out, stepped up and dropped Trey Schieber for a loss of one and Worth County took over on downs.
Tevin Cameron got his second touchdown called back to the 31, this time by a block in the back, but a long pass to Isaac Alarcon put it on the two and Tevin Cameron took it the rest of the way to make it 38-14 with 8:20 left in the third.
Back came Stanberry as they went to their Double Wing and rode Durbin’s back all the way down the field. Finally, he got loose on the keeper play again for 17 yards with 5:39 left and ran in the extra points to make it 38-22.
Worth County could not score as a personal foul, a block in the back, and a sack kept them out of the end zone and they gave up the ball on downs at the Stanberry 19. Stanberry had two chances to get the game back to one possession, but three straight carries to Durbin went nowhere and they were forced to punt; on their second, they elected to go for it on their own 31 with time winding down. Durbin came under pressure from his blind side coming from the right end, aired it out, and threw it into no-man’s land, giving Worth County a short field to work with. Tevin Cameron ripped off gains of 14 and 17, running through tacklers like they weren’t even there and took it to the house with 7:17 left to make it 44-22.
Stanberry’s last attempts were futile as Worth County got a couple of sacks and Ryan McClellan got a pick in the closing minutes and ran off big chunks of time on offense. The Tigers now look to ground North Andrew’s air attack again Friday.
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