Saturday night, Pattonsburg won a wild game and made a breakthrough victory, beating one of the established eight man powers in North Andrew and raising their record to 3-0. Last year, the Panthers were considered a dark horse, but never got on track after winning its first two only to fall hard to North Andrew. The Cardinals have fallen off from the Schoonover years, when they were perpetually in the hunt for a state title. But they are still a formidable foe this year.
The game was moved to Cameron and the time changed to Saturday evening, because of torrential rains and muddy field conditions. Worth County moved their game with Braymer to Graceland, King City and Stanberry clashed earlier in the day in Cameron, Lafayette and Benton moved to Missouri Western, and Maryville moved its game to Northwest Missouri State. One game that didn’t move to another field was South Harrison; the players found conditions treacherous and slippery and the Bulldogs pulled out an ugly 12-0 win over Putnam County.
North Andrew brought back the squib kicking game that Schoonover made part of his arsenal, but Pattonsburg was ready and covered one at the Cards’ 38. A short pass and a late hit penalty placed the ball on the 18, and then Steven Willhite, who has emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the area, threw a short pass to Cameron Jones. The elusive receiver, similar to Worth County’s Caleb Parman in his ability to make people miss, eluded two tacklers, and got into the end zone with 11:46 left. Jones found the artificial turf at Cameron much to his liking, as he made people miss all night long.
Pattonsburg also has a squib kicking game, but their first kick got away and bounced right into the arms of Ryan Wilmes, who ran it back to the Pattonsburg 34. North Andrew came out with a power running game, with straight-ahead driving blocking and one or two other people pretending to carry the ball in addition to the real ball carrier. There was nothing fancy about it; the fullback takes the handoff if he sees a hole and can get 3-5 yards. If not, the quarterback takes off around the end and usually finds daylight, since in that case, the defense has sold out to stop the dive. Stopping it requires defenses to play sound assignment football, with each player doing their own job and not someone else’s job. They can throw play action out of that look as well.
Aided by a couple of offsides penalties, North Andrew was able to move the ball deep into Panther territory. Finally, McKinley Lillard, who shares quarterbacking duties with Jaden Baker, bounced a sweep outside and found daylight from 15 yards out to make it 8-6 with 9:53 left. Carter Crone drilled Wilmes and stopped the extra point. The extra point game was critical; at halftime, both teams had scored five touchdowns, but Pattonsburg was ahead 36-30 because they had converted three more extra points.
North Andrew tried a short kick, but the ball was kicked right at Cameron Jones, who ran it back 51 yards with 9:42 left to put Pattonsburg up two scores after a pass interference kept the extra point chance alive and Cameron Jones’ catch and run into the end zone made it 16-6.
Pattonsburg successfully pulled off some trickery when all eight players bunched up as though to huddle before the kickoff, as teams frequently do. But instead of lining up in kickoff formation, they kicked the ball 10 yards forward (legal play, as long as nobody is offsides), and Trevor Ireland recovered it. It looked like a potential halftime game was in the offing as Pattonsburg drove right down the field. Cameron Jones’ catch and run, Trevor Ireland’s 10 yard pass, and Jones’ bubble screen brought it to the three.
On the Worth County sideline, assistant Jon Adwell constantly preaches to his players all the time about not giving other teams hope that they can win. The next play was a perfect example, as Logan Hughes jumped a flat pass for North Andrew and ran it back for an 80-yard pick six with 8:41 left. Still thinking about the last play, Pattonsburg threw another strike to the red shirts, again to Hughes, who ran it back to the one. Then, fueled by one of the big line surges that North Andrew tries to get, Logan Hughes scored again to make it 18-16 with 8:30 left.
Still reeling from the latest turn of events, Pattonsburg could go nowhere on its next series and went three and out, pinning North Andrew on its own 18. Jaden Baker fooled everyone on a quarterback keeper around the end for 13 yards to the 31, as North Andrew threatened to take control of the game and make it a two possession game. Pattonsburg almost stopped North Andrew as Cameron Jones broke up a play action pass. Logan Hughes moved a pile six yards to the 37, but Ryan Wilmes’ sweep attempt went nowhere, setting up fourth and four at the 37. North Andrew elected to go for it and threw a short pass to Wilmes that should have been stopped for no gain. But instead of simply wrapping up and tacking Wilmes, the Pattonsburg player went for the monster hit, missed completely, and Wilmes took off and was not caught until he got to the Panther 21. Baker bounced a keeper outside and made it to the 12 and Hughes moved a pile to the 10 and another first down.
Baker got loose on another end-around and picked up seven to the three, but then a holding penalty brought it back to the 13. North Andrew hurt themselves with a ton of penalties, which incensed the North Andrew coaches and fans; one in particular was firm in their belief that Ireland and Jones were the only two good players on the Pattonsburg team. A false start and another holding drove them back to the 30. Hughes got eight back to the 22, but Baker met Lane Huitt and fumbled it and the Panthers nearly got it back. Finally, North Andrew tried to air it out from the 19, but threw it too far and Pattonsburg got it back on downs.
Cameron Jones took a short pass for 8 to the 27, and then Willhite aired it out to Brett Emig for 26 yards to the 17. Emig took a reverse to the 9 and then Willhite threw a strike to Trevor Ireland for six to put Pattonsburg back up 22-18 late in the first.
It looked like it would still not be Pattonsburg’s night as the Cardinals were buried third and 12 at their own 34. But the North Andrew coach talked the referees into calling an equipment violation, making it third and four at the Panther 38.
It looked like Pattonsburg would still hold as Gage Sperry dropped Baker for a one yard loss back to the 39 and it looked like a Hail Mary try would fall short on fourth down. But the pass caromed into the hands of Clayton Linville for 22 yards to give North Andrew new life again and they pounded their way into the end zone again with 8:33 left to make it 24-22. Gage Sperry dropped Ryan Wilmes short on the extra point try.
Pattonsburg was driven back by a false start and an incomplete pass to their own 22, but North Andrew came on a blitz and Willhite threw a strike over the middle to Ireland for 17 yards for a first down to the 39. Ireland made a shoestring catch inches short at the Card 31, then Cameron Jones beat the blitz again with another catch over the middle for 27 down to the 4. Willhite dove for one yard, North Andrew jumped offsides, and Trevor Ireland caught a one yard pass with 6:54 left in the middle of the end zone. Cameron Jones’ pass made it 30-24.
North Andrew came like a well-oiled machine, getting yards in chunks as they kept playing smashmouth football, moving the ball forward. They were faced with fourth and inches at the Pattonsburg 16, but Baker’s sneak got the first down to the 15. Finally, Baker burst through a big hole at the 11 and scored with 3:07 left in the half to tie it up. Sperry and Ireland dropped Baker short of the end zone and the game remained tied at 30. At that point, North Andrew had scored more touchdowns, but the game was tied because of the extra point situation.
Patrick Cowley caught one over the middle for 26 yards to the North Andrew 28 and then Cameron Jones caught an apparent 28 yard strike, only to have it wiped out by offensive pass interference when the referee, not the back judge, called it from clear in the backfield. That put the ball on the North Andrew 38. It didn’t matter as Ireland caught an 8 yard pass to the 30 and then Cameron Jones caught a short pass on the right side. He ran down the right side, somehow stayed inbounds, and got in with 1:57 left. That made it 36-30.
North Andrew looked like they would tie or take the lead as a 10 yard quick hitter from Hughes got it to the North Andrew 39. But Baker was stood up after three yards and then took a solid shot from Collin Briggs and Lane Huitt. Wilmes caught a short pass for seven, but time ran out before North Andrew could do anything else.
The Cardinals got the ball back and they were faced with fourth and one from the Pattonsburg 30 on their opening drive. But a quarterback sneak from Baker was half a yard short as Lane Huitt and Clark Adler met him. That permanently swung the momentum in Pattonsburg’s favor as Ireland’s 11 yard catch and run moved it into Cardinal territory. Willhite saw an opening and took off with it for 33 yards down to the seven for first and goal. There was a heartstopping moment as North Andrew nearly got another pick six as Willhite threw into double coverage, but it was dropped. Finally, Willhite threw a strike to Emig for a score and Willhite threw a strike to Cameron Jones to make it 44-30.
North Andrew tried to answer, as Hughes broke tackle after tackle to get 11 yards into Panther territory at the 31. But then a fumble and an incomplete pass made it third and 10. Hughes drove a pile five yards to the 26 for fourth and five. That seemed like a perfect setup for a quarterback keeper that had gashed Pattonsburg earlier, but this time, Brett Emig and Patrick Cowley shot the gap perfectly and denied Baker at the 25 to give Pattonsburg the ball back on downs.
There was another heartstopping moment for Pattonsburg at Keaton Hannah covered a flat pass, jumped a route, and nearly had a pick six. But he dropped the ball, and Pattonsburg aired it out from Willhite to Cameron Jones for 55 yards to break the game open with 7:49 left. Brett Emig caught a pass over the middle in traffic to make it 52-30.
The avalanche continued on the ensuing kickoff. Pattonsburg light up all eight men around the ball, kicked it the necessary 10 yards, and Dakota Eaton came up with it in the scramble at the Cardinal 39. Willhite aired it out, North Andrew was flagged for pass interference, drawing a massive argument from the coaches and protests from the stands, and Pattonsburg got the ball on the 24. Willhite found Ireland isolated and he broke two tackles into the end zone and Cameron Jones added the extra points to make it 60-30.
This time, Pattonsburg lined up normally, but squibbed one down the left side and Cameron Jones pounced on one at the Cardinal 36. But North Andrew showed some life and made a stand as Baker picked off a floater to kill Pattonsburg’s bid to win by the 45 point rule. North Andrew settled down and got an extended drive going after an early fumble. North Andrew nearly bobbled a snap, but Baker took it 10 yards down to the Pattonsburg 27, and Hughes converted fourth and one with a 10 yarder down to the 8. The Cardinals nearly fumbled it away into the end zone, but recovered it and Baker ran in the extra points to make it 60-38. But Pattonsburg got it right back and only needed two plays to do it. North Andrew kicked it deep and buried Pattonsburg at the 17; an offsides moved it to the 22, and then nobody guarded Cowley, who caught one in stride and took it to the house from 58 yards out with 1:23 left in the third. Cameron Jones’ catch and run made it 68-38.
Logan Hughes nearly broke one for North Andrew, but got 10 into Panther territory at the 29. But Pattonsburg made a stand as Hughes was dropped after three, Kaden de Jong dropped Baker after one, and Lillard picked up two to set up fourth and four at the 23. But then North Andrew aired it out and picked up an offensive pass interference call as the pass sailed incomplete. Pattonsburg spread it out, but kept it on the ground as they were able to take chunks of time off the clock as they drove down to the North Andrew 27. Finally, Patrick Cowley caught a short pass, broke a tackle, and was off to the races with 7:47 left. Carter Crone caught one over the middle to make it 76-38, and Pattonsburg contented themselves with running out the clock the rest of the way as North Andrew scored two late tallies at the end.
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