Jace Cousatte’s kickoff recovery sparked Worth County to an improbable win over Mound City Friday and ended the Panthers’ two year reign as Missouri Eight Man State Champions.
The game started simply enough; Worth County took the opening kickoff and marched right down the field. They were without Justin Dye (knee), but they got Austin Welch back and they were able to march right down the field against a big Mound City front line. A 29 yard run by Andrew Alarcon put the ball on the three, and then Alarcon took it to the house on the next play to put Worth County up 6-0 with 10:37 left.
Worth County had started off fast against North Andrew and Stanberry, only to fizzle out. But what happened next altered the trajectory of the game and sparked Worth County to a 36-6 lead. From there, it was a matter of Worth County weathering Mound City’s frantic efforts to get back in the game and they held on to win 46-26.
Tim Richardson kicked off, and left it short and angling towards the sideline inside the 20. Normally, these kicks angle out of bounds and the other team elects to take the ball on their own 25. But this time, the ball died at the 14 and Jace Cousatte, one of the fastest players on the team, beat all of the purple shirts to the ball to give the Tigers the ball on the Panther 14. Worth County nearly wasted the opportunity, as a fumble put them in the hole and they were faced with fourth and 11 at the 15. But then Aydan Gladstone threw a strike to Dylan McIntyre, who came up with a diving grab in the end zone for the score, and Gladstone ran in the extra points to make it 14-0 with 9:19 left.
Mound City got the ball back on their own 21. They were down to 13 players at one point due to the Coronavirus and injuries, but they had gotten back most of their players Friday. Out were their two big playmakers, Tony Osburn and Landon Poppa along with Lane Zembles, another key player. However, after starting a freshman quarterback in their 20-14 loss to Rock Port the week before, they put in Conner Derr at the quarterback slot; stuck behind Osborn and Poppa, he would have started for a lot of programs. On Friday, he proved what he could do with the ball with both his legs and his arm as he took the Panthers down to the Tiger 16. But on fourth and six, Dylan McIntyre broke up a pass in the end zone, and Worth County was able to take over on the 16.
A nine yard run by Andrew Alarcon got a first down to the 30, and he got carries of 12 and 10 to the 29. A counter by Nate Adwell picked up 18 yards to the 19, and Alarcon forced his way into the end zone with 1:22 left in the first quarter to put Worth County up 20-0.
An illegal substitution put Mound City all the way back to their own six, but then Derr and the Panthers moved right down the field as Trevor Tubbs, a quick halfback, bounced outside for 24 yards to the 30. Mound City converted a couple of third and short situations, and then a late hit moved the ball from the 26 to the 13. Tubbs then bounced outside again for a score with 10:12 left in the second to put Mound City on the board at 20-6.
Worth County was faced with a third and ten at its own 25, but Dylan McIntyre caught a 13 yard pass to keep the drive alive. Worth County was faced with third and six at the Mound City 38, but a 5 yard run by Aydan Gladstone and a fourth down conversion plus a facemask put the ball on the 26. Nate Adwell picked up six to the 20, and then Andrew Alarcon took a sweep around the left end. Dawson Vore got a perfect drive block and drove his man ten yards downfield, and Alarcon took it to the house. Alarcon hurdled a defender to convert the extra points and make it 28-6 with 7:09 left in the first half.
Mound City went three and out on its next series, and on the ensuing snap from punt formation, the ball sailed over everyone’s head and into the end zone for a safety with 5:08 left to make it 30-6.
Jackson Runde ran back the kickoff all the way back to the Mound City 24, and Andrew Alarcon broke a tackle and bounced outside to the 9 before Aydan Gladstone took a counter and got a block from Austin Welch to get into the end zone with 3:33 left to make it 36-6.
But late in the half, Aydan Gladstone injured his ankle while fighting for yardage and only came back for defensive purposes in the second half.
With Gladstone out, Worth County, which had taken away the big play in the first half, became victimized by the big play, which had hurt them in the King City, North Andrew, and Stanberry losses. First, Derr aired one out to Trevor Tubbs for 67 yards and a score on Mound City’s first play from scrimmage to make it 36-12.
Then, there was a heartstopping moment as the ensuing onsides kick bounced off Dawson Vore, but he was able to fall on it at the Mound City 37. With Braxton Hightshoe at quarterback, Worth County was able to move the ball down the field as Braxton picked up 13 yards to the 17. Worth County was faced with fourth and two at the 9, but an offsides penalty put the ball on the five. From there, Andrew Alarcon followed a big push up front and scored with 8:49 left, and Braxton Hightshoe ran in the extra points to make it 44-12.
But once again, Mound City aired it out to Wil Young from 39 yards out to make it 44-20 with 8:24 left after Young’s extra point run. Then, Worth County, on fourth and six from the Mound City 38, took too long to get the play in and a hurried snap resulted in a loss back to the Worth County 39, and Mound City got the ball back on downs. Once again, Derr aired it out to Wil Young, and once again, he caught the 39 yard grab. Chase Atkins and Dawson Vore combined to stop Derr just short of the end zone to keep Worth County three possessions ahead at 44-26.
Worth County once again gave up the ball on downs at the Mound City 25. Aydan Gladstone came back in at that point, and the Tigers started getting better pressure up front and forced an intentional grounding penalty and a sack back to the 11, and Mound City was forced to punt.
From there, Worth County played much better on defense; however, they could not put the Panthers away as they knocked on the door throughout the fourth quarter, but could not get in. Worth County was faced with fourth and nine at the Mound City 30, but a 21 yard pass from Braxton Hightshoe to Jackson Runde gave them first and goal at the 9. However, the blocking broke down and they gave up the ball on downs at the 7. A pair of false starts pushed the ball back to the 2, and then Austin Welch tackled Derr in the end zone to make it 46-26.
Starting from their own 32, Braxton Hightshoe got the Tigers into Mound City territory with a 15 yard run at the 33. With the Tigers faced with fourth and one at the 24, there was a heartstopping moment as coach Chris Healy called a timeout right before Hightshoe got a snap. With nobody sure whether the play was live or not, Trevor Tubbs stripped Hightshoe of the ball and took it back for an apparent touchdown, which would have made it a two possession game. But the officials ruled that since Worth County had called a timeout before the snap was made, they still had the ball fourth and one at the Panther 24.
On the next play, Braxton Hightshoe got two yards for a first down to the 22, but a blind side block, made after he had gotten the first down, brought the ball back to the 37. It didn’t matter, as Worth County got the yards back; Hightshoe took it 12 yards to the 25, and then Andrew Alarcon picked up 20, plus a horsecollar put it on the three. Alarcon scored an apparent touchdown by hurdling over a defender, but it was called back to the 17, since a runningback cannot hurdle over a defender who is on their feet; they can only hurdle over a defender who is lying on the ground. Worth County could not make up the difference and gave up the ball on downs at the 3.
But then Derr tried to air it out again for a quick score and Dylan McIntyre picked it off this time at the Mound City 35. Two plays later, Andrew Alarcon injured his ankle after picking 11 yards to the 26. But Hightshoe picked up 12 yards to the 14, and Worth County was able to kneel out the clock.
No comments:
Post a Comment