Pattonsburg Victory Over Worth County Shakes Up Rankings

#1 Stanberry 52, North Shelby 8
Pattonsburg’s 62-42 victory over Worth County shakes up our rankings and puts Stanberry on top for now. Stanberry, which beat Pattonsburg earlier in the year, is now the top-ranked team. Mound City, by virtue of its undefeated season (so far), is now the second-ranked team. Stanberry and Mound City are now the only two remaining undefeated teams in eight man football.

North Shelby was able to move the ball against Stanberry, picking up 227 yards on the ground and another 14 through the air, but they were unable to score until the fourth quarter, when the game had already been decided. Stanberry had 300 yards on the ground and another 104 through the air as they only needed 33 plays to score their 52 points.

For the Bulldogs, Rueben Gage had 6 carries for 135 yards, while Trey Schieber had 13 carries for 96 yards and Cold Durbin 7 carries for 59 yards. Stanberry completed two long pass plays, with Kam Wallace catching one for 39 yards and Brian Medina one for 65 yards. Trey Schieber had 15 tackles, while Sam Oldham had 11 and Zack Oldham 10. Zack Oldham continues to be a force on defense for Stanberry, getting four tackles for loss. Kam Wallace had 2, while Sam Oldham and Austin Colvin had 1 each. Zack Oldham had one sack, while Kam Wallace forced a fumble on defense that he recovered for a touchdown.

For North Shelby, Dayton Mettes had 15 carries for 126 yards. Jadyn Hardy had 4 carries for 30 yards, Ethan Geisendorfer had 11 carries for 26 yards, and Mason Uhlmeyer 8 carries for 25 yards. Five different North Shelby backs had at least one carry of 10 yards or more, but they could not get in against the stingy Stanberry defense. Bryant Gibbons had seven tackles to lead North Shelby. Kyle Smith had a fumble recovery.

#2 Mound City 64, #10 South/Nodaway-Holt 28
Mound City suffered its first adversity of the year; they scored first, but then fumbled it away deep in their own territory on their second possession and the Spartans tied it up at 6-6. From there, it was a dogfight, with South/Nodaway-Holt leading at one point. But as the game progressed, Mound City was able to take control and come away with the win and remain unbeaten.

#3 Pattonsburg 62, #4 Worth County 42
The Tigers started off by winning their first six games, but opportunistic defense by the Panthers and the arm of Steven Willhite propelled the Panthers into position to contend for a GRC crown if everything breaks right. If Pattonsburg runs the table and Worth County beats Stanberry, the Panthers share the crown with the Bulldogs. If Worth County beats both North Andrew and Stanberry, they win a two-way title or a three-way title depending on how the Panthers do.

Neither Worth County nor Pattonsburg can win the GRC title outright, because Stanberry has finished their conference portion of the schedule besides their showdown with Worth County on October 19th. Friday’s game assured Stanberry of at least a share of the GRC title no matter what happens.

Worth County is currently ranked second in District 1 behind Stanberry. Stanberry has 47.9 points; Worth County has 42, East Atchison 38.62, Rock Port 31.86, Albany 27.93, and North/West Nodaway 17.25. But if Worth County were to beat Stanberry on the 19th, it would be an automatic switch, meaning Worth County would earn top seed in their district and avoid having to go on the road to Stanberry twice in three weeks.

For Pattonsburg, they are in the driver’s seat in District 3 with two weeks to play. They play Kansas City East Christian and Albany to end their season; they have 44.11 points. Southwest Livingston has 42.19 points, while North Shelby has 37.21, King City 34.16, Stewartsville 18.33, and Braymer 13.97. This means that, if these results hold, Pattonsburg would host King City in a rematch of the Panthers’ 76-30 drubbing of the Wildkats from earlier this year for their second-round district game. However, King City has already taken off as the regular season progresses; they have been in the Final Four the last two seasons.

For Pattonsburg, Steven Willhite completed 22 of 45 passing attempts for 365 yards and five touchdowns. He had 20 carries for 149 yards and rushed for four more scores. Cameron Jones had 7 catches for 215 yards, Patrick Cowley 8 carries for 82 yards, and Carter Crone 6 carries for 58 yards. Brett Emig had 1 catch for 10 yards.

For Worth County, Jacob New had 7 completions in 17 attempts for 94 yards. Caleb Parman had 1 completion in three attempts for 34 yards, and Bryant McCord completed 1 pass in one attempt for 31 yards. Worth County threw for 159 yards. Caleb Parman had 22 carries for 96 yards. Andrew Alarcon had 9 carries for 55 yards, Bryant McCord 3 carries for 30 yards, Jacob New 5 carries for 11 yards, and Jaxon Anderson 1 carry for 2 yards. Bryant McCord had 5 catches for 80 yards, while Caleb Parman had 3 catches for 48 yards and Andrew Alarcon 1 catch for 29 yards.

Colton Wilmes had 9 tackles for Worth County. Caleb Parman had 8, Bryant McCord and Isaac Alarcon 7, Reed McIntyre 6, Andrew Alarcon and Jaxon Anderson 5 each, Jacob New 4, Jeremy Wimer and Austin Welch 2, and Nate Adwell and Justin Dye 1. Austin Welch had 1 sack, while Andrew Alarcon had 1 pass deflection.

#5 King City 56, Braymer 0
King City had little trouble with winless Braymer, ending the game at halftime. Collin Breckinridge completed 12 of his 13 pass attempts for 259 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for another 62 yards in four carries. Parker Muff had 6 carries for 40 yards, while Jacob Moen had 6 carries for 39 yards. Kagen Barnett had 5 catches for 107 yards, while Hunter Abney had 4 catches for 96 yards, Braden Gilbert 1 catch for 38 yards, and Jacob Moen 2 catches for 18 yards. King City had 419 total yards, while holding Braymer to 87 yards. Parker Muff had 8 tackles, while Braden Gilbert had 6 and Collin Breckinridge 5. Muff had two tackles for loss. Kagen Barnett had 1 pick, which he returned for 30 yards. King City only needed seven touchdowns to get their 56 points – they converted all of their extra point attempts.

#6 Southwest Livingston 69, #9 Rock Port 20
Two bad quarters turned into Rock Port’s downfall. They played Southwest evenly in the second and fourth quarters, but were outscored 32-6 in the first and 25-6 in the third for the difference.
Mack Anderson continued to be the workhorse for Southwest, completing 8 of his 12 passing attempts for 215 yards. He ran 11 times for 101 yards. Matt Daniels had 7 carries for 66 yards, Chase Neptune 3 carries for 49 yards, and Ethan Hoerr 5 carries for 26 yards. Wyatt Maddux had 3 catches for 90 yards, while Caleb Eddins had 2 catches for 39 yards, Dagun Bassett 1 catch for 37 yards, Nate Reith 1 catch for 27 yards, and Jaeden Sears 1 catch for 22 yards.

Defensively, Balazs Sturgeon had 14 tackles for Southwest, while Caleb Eddins had 12, Daeden Sears 11, and Mack Anderson 10. Wyatt Maddux, Mack Anderson, and Jerren Sears had 2 tackles for loss each. Dagun Bassett had one. Jaeden Sears returned a fumble for 42 yards.

Southwest Livingston outgained Rock Port with 468 yards to 256 for Rock Port. For the Blue Jays, Alex Burke completed four pass attempts in 17 attempts for 63 yards. Holden Farmer completed one of his four pass attempts for 33 yards. Gavin Abbott rushed 22 times for 81 yards, while Brock Martin rushed 6 times for 39 yards and Colten Stevens rushed 5 times for 32 yards. Aaron Lawrence had 2 catches for 44 yards. Brock Martin and Joey Herron had 5 tackles each to lead Rock Port. Joey Herron, Dalton Stevens, and Kade Jones had one sack each. Joey Herron ran back a kickoff for a touchdown.

#7 East Atchison 52, Stewartsville 6
East Atchison got off to a slow start, only leading the Cardinals 8-6 after one quarter. But then they pulled away with 24 in the second quarter and continued to pull away for the victory.

Jake McEnaney had 13 completions in 20 attempts for the Wolves for 164 yards. Briacin Bywater had 15 carries for 135 yards, while McEnaney had 5 carries for 34 yards and Gage McAdams 3 carries for 21 yards. Catches were spread out as Kaylin Merriweather had 5 catches for 54 yards, Gage McAdams 3 catches for 47 yards, Briacin Bywater 3 catches for 26 yards, Trey Bowling 1 catch for 22 yards, and Gus Hurst 1 catch for 15 yards. The Wolves rolled for 354 yards in the win.
Defensively, Garrett Meyer had 9 tackles, while Jake McEnaney had 7 and Ian Hedlund had 6. Gus Hurst and Gage McAdams each had a pick.

#8 North Andrew 62, Albany 28
Albany was showing themselves as one of the most improved teams in the area, getting back to 3-3 last week. They dug themselves into a 20-0 hole against North Andrew in the first quarter. They fought back to within 26-14 at the break and still were remotely in the game after three, down 40-22. But then North Andrew pulled away in the fourth for the victory.

Albany came into their last two games trying to be a much more balanced team than in the first part of the season, when they ran most of the time. They had some success in the air as Harrison Kerchner completed 13 of his 22 pass attempts for 164 yards. But he also threw five picks; the Cardinals have been one of the top pass intercepting teams in the area, even picking off Willhite a few times earlier in the season.

The Warriors still relied on their running game a lot as Ethan Mercer had 21 carries for 106 yards, Dawson Butterfield had 5 carries for 66 yards, and Tryce Floyd had 9 carries for 45 yards. Albany has been trying to get the ball to Kaeden Hutchinson; he hauled in 9 catches for 136 yards; he has gotten over 300 yards in the past two weeks and 548 for the year in receiving yards.

After giving up 52 points in just nine plays against Worth County, Albany showed some improvement defensively. Grant Bounds, Kaeden Hutchinson, and Tryce Floyd all had 11 tackles each, while Harrison Kerchner had 10. Bounds had two tackles for loss.

There is little secret to what North Andrew will do; they ran on 41 of their 47 plays, just throwing it enough to keep the defense honest. They got 427 on the ground for a 10.4 average and added 86 through the air for 513 total yards.

Logan Hughes was a workhorse for North Andrew with 23 carries for 169 yards. Ryan Wilmes had 9 carries for 123 yards, while Jaden Baker had 7 carries for 128 yards. Clayton Linville had 2 catches for 42 yards, while Ryan Wilmes had 1 catch for 28 yards. Jaden Baker completed 5 of his 6 pass attempts for 86 yards. He added a pick six for the Cardinals.

Keenan Shunk had two picks for North Andrew, while Jaden Baker, Ryan Wilmes, and Carson Thomas all had one. Logan Hughes had 12 tackles for North Andrew while Jaden Baker had 8 and Ryan Wilmes had 7.

OTHER GAME
St. Joseph Christian 28, Orrick 26
Orrick came into this game unbeaten at 6-0, while St. Joseph Christian came into the game winless at 0-6. In their game against Worth County, the Lions had 18 players listed in the program, but only dressed out 13. But it was the Lions who played like seasoned pros, banishing Orrick from the ranks of the unbeaten with their win.

We can only think of two similar matchups. In 2012, Cameron was constantly getting blown out, only to get a late-season 28-21 victory over Benton to avoid a trip to Maryville and a certain massacre. Getting the seventh seed, they played against Kansas City East in districts and lit them up 38-6. They nearly pulled it off again before losing a heartbreaker, 21-20 against St. Pius X.

And in 2014, Mound City came out like it was on a mission to avenge a 77-70 heartbreaker against Stanberry in the playoffs the year before. They pitched a shutout against their first two opponents, then won handily against Worth County to go 3-0 for the year. South Nodaway was headed in the opposite direction, going 0-3 to start their season. But it was South Nodaway who played like the seasoned pros, crashing Mound City’s homecoming and winning 34-0.  Mound City would only win one more game the rest of the year.

Something similar almost happened in 1968; the week before Princeton was to play Worth County, in Week 3, they faced off against Gallatin, who would go on to have a winless season. Gallatin was regarded as a perennial doormat, yet the game turned into an eight man-style track meet before Princeton finally won the game 52-35. Princeton would go on to win a 7-6 heartbreaker from Worth County and win conference.