Worth County held off North Shelby 36-34 in a cliffhanger Friday afternoon and will advance to state Thursday evening at Faurot Field in Columbia at Mizzou. They will play Drexel at 7 pm. Drexel beat King City in the other semifinal game 56-28 Friday evening.
Two years ago, Pattonsburg was flying high at the top of the rankings in eight man football, only to crash and burn 94-88 in Shelbyville despite a frantic rally at the end. Something like that threatened to happen early to Worth County. The red shirts were swarming all over the ball, Alex Rinehart and Aydan Gladstone had nowhere to go, and the Tigers were forced to punt. Raider backs Cole Stonebruner and Justin Lunsford were able to move piles for extra yardage, and Carson Orr added an 11 yard reverse on the first drive. Finally, Lunsford was in the end zone and ran in the extra points to make it 8-0 with 7:40 left.
Once again, Worth County was getting swarmed under, and they were forced to punt. But they caught a break when North Shelby stopped themselves on a fumbled snap and they were forced to punt. This time, Worth County got untracked when Aydan Gladstone threw a strike to Jackson Runde for 40 yards, which finally opened up running lanes for the Tigers. Gladstone converted a third and one at the 9 by following a big line surge to the 6, and Alex Rinehart was in the end zone next play. Jackson Runde caught the extra point pass to make it 8-8 with 1:36 left in the first.
Worth County had a chance to get off the field on the next series, but a costly facemask penalty, after North Shelby had fumbled a snap again, kept the drive alive. Worth County made a stand at the Tiger 38, where it was third and 13 from there, but a reverse pass from Carson Orr to Justin Lunsford was good for 21 yards to the 17. A bolding penalty put North Shelby on the 30, but a late hit out of bounds put it on the 13. A block in the back on North Shelby put it back to the 22, but then Orr went back for a reverse pass and scrambled his way to the 15 for fourth and eight. Stonebruner took it the rest of the way, and North Shelby was back in front 14-8 with 8:14 left. Jace Latham denied Stonebruner to keep it there. The extra point game was big for Worth County, as both team scored the same amount of touchdowns, but Worth County converted one more extra point try than North Shelby.
The Raiders tried an onsides kick, but Worth County fell on it at the 31, and on the next play, Alex Rinehart took a sweep down the left side. He was nearly stopped for a loss, but eluded the tackle and went down the left side, reversed his way across the middle of the field, and down the right side for a 49 yard score with 7:57 left. Aydan Gladstone added the extra points to put Worth County in front 16-14.
North Shelby was going into the wind on the next possession and went three and out. A short kick gave Worth County good field position at the 40, and Aydan Gladstone only needed one play to take it to the house with 5:55 left to make it 24-14 after Alex Rinehart added the extra points. Aydan Gladstone threw a strike to Jackson Runde with 45 seconds left to make it 30-14 at the break.
Worth County got a three and out after Stonebruner had run back the kickoff to the 38. North Shelby elected to punt on fourth and four at the Tiger 36 to pin Worth County at the 8. Worth County picked up a couple of first downs, but got stopped on fourth and 8 at their own 34. There was a heartstopping moment as Rinehart, who is the punter, came under a heavy rush and couldn’t get the kick away, but managed to scramble to the Raiders 36 for a first down. An Aydan Gladstone touchdown, however, was wiped out by a block in the back when one of the Tiger lineman pushed a red shirt in the back as he was running by. Then, Aydan Gladstone was picked off by Stonebruner at the Raiders 33.
From there, the Tigers seemed to lose their composure as Stonebruner picked up nine, Worth County was flagged for a late hit after one of their players shoved one of the red shirts after the play was over, and then Lunsford took it 24 yards to the house with 2:04 left to make it 30-20.
Worth County drove right back down the field into Raider territory, getting as far as the 12 yard line. But this time, Alex Rinehart was swarmed under at the 15 and fumbled it and on the very first play from scrimmage, Stonebruner aired it out to Carson Orr for 65 yards with 10:29 left and Lunsford ran in the extra points to make it 30-28.
Things threatened to go from bad to worse for the Tigers. They had seven men up on the kickoff expecting an onsides kick or a squib kick, but North Shelby kicked it deep and Worth County was swarmed under at the 15. A false start put them back on the 10, but then Aydan Gladstone aired it out to Dylan McIntyre, who somehow held on despite two Raiders trying to strip him. That was good for 52 yards to the 18 and flipped the field. Worth County drove as far as the 3, but they were stood up fourth and goal there. But then Alex Rinehart’s defender fell and he caught a pass in the left corner of the end zone to make it 36-28.
There was a heartstopping moment for Worth County as the ensuing kick was low and caught by one of the Raider upmen, who nearly ran it back before being tackled at the 37. It didn’t matter as Orr took a reverse pass and aired it out to Lunsford for the score with 6:32 left and a chance to tie. Stonebruner took a low snap and tried the left side, but was met by a wall at the goal line and somehow didn’t break the plane as the Tigers preserved the 36-34 lead.
Once again, Worth County had seven men up close, and once again, North Shelby kicked it deep. The ball nearly died inside the 5, but somehow rolled into the end zone for a touchback. Aydan Gladstone picked up 10 to the 25, but then Alex Rinehart was swarmed under for a loss of four to the 21. Worth County got 13 yards back on the next two plays, but it was fourth and one at their own 34. They elected to go for it, and Aydan ran a sneak. He nearly broke away for a score, but the referees ruled he had been stood up and that the play was dead. His forward progress, however, was good enough for a measured first down.
On the next play, Alex Rinehart took a pitchout, found daylight, got to the 17, and tried to make a cut. But he was injured, lost the football, and North Shelby recovered it there and had a chance to take it in for a win.
But Stonebruner got nowhere on a sweep, and a first down run was called back by a holding penalty back to the 21, where it was second and six. Stonebruner picked up one to the 22. Stonebruner went back to pass and there was a red shirt open for a potential score, with two steps on his defender. But Jace Latham had him under a heavy rush and he threw it away instead. A false start moved it back to the 17, and then North Shelby, on fourth down, tried a flea flicker reverse pass. But Orr’s pass was broken up by Levi Cassavaugh and Worth County got the ball back on downs. With 2:06 left and North Shelby out of timeouts, they were unable to stop the clock and Worth County was able to run out the clock for a win.
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