Landon Wilmes got a key pick, Grant McIntyre got a key score, and Worth County did what Mound City and Plattsburg could not; they held off South Holt and pulled away to a 40-14 win Friday. The Tigers will now play at Faurot Field Thursday at 7 pm for a state title against Archie. The game between them and Braymer, two unbeaten teams, turned out to be no contest as Archie ran away with the game, getting an 88-20 victory. The Whirlwinds have lived up to their nickname this year, holding teams to 26 points during the regular season, impressive even for 11 man. They have had one team go the distance against them, and they have scored 54 or more points in every game this year.
Despite Landon Wilmes bobbling the opening kickoff in the
cold weather and getting buried at the eight, the game started off well. Tyler
New picked up carries of four and seven, and an eight yard carry by Wilmes and
a facemask penalty put the ball at the South Holt 39. From there, Tyler New got
a block from Lucas Frisch and that was all he needed as he took it to the house
with 10:55 left in the first quarter.
But South Holt came out with Cole Medsker as their
quarterback. Last year, Kendall Noland quarterbacked to them. But in a script
similar to what happened to Central Missouri State, the Knights saw Noland go
down, only for Medsker to step up and do even better as he led the Knights to
an undefeated season as Noland came back as a runningback. Similarly, the Mules
saw their starting quarterback go down, only to find out that their backup was
the real deal as Central had one of their most successful football seasons in
recent memory. Despite Friday’s loss, the Knights will go nowhere as Medsker
will return next year for the Knights.
Medsker led the Knights to a first down; despite his small
stature, he proved to be elusive and hard to tackle. That put the ball on the
Knight 34. The Knights overcame a sack as Medsker broke containment and
scrambled all the way to the Tiger 33. But then a false start happened and then
in a play reminiscent of 2018, Elias Alarcon picked off Medsker and returned it
all the way to the Knight four. Similarly, back in 2018, his brother, Isaac,
had four defensive scores; he had a strip and score against East Atchison,
recovered a blocked punt for another against Pattonsburg, and had two pick
sixes earlier in the year. Tyler New took it the rest of the way after getting
blocks from Elias Alarcon, Landon Wilmes, and Ethan Lininger with 6:50 left in
the first. Grant McIntyre caught the extra point pass to make it 14-0.
South Holt went three and out and a bad snap on the punt
gave the Tigers the ball on the Knight 23, as things threatened to go from bad
to worse for the Knights. But the Knights are one of those teams who don’t give
up easily. They made things interesting against Platte Valley in districts last
year, erased a 50-22 deficit against Mound City this year in districts, and
scored in the last four seconds of the Plattsburg game to get to this point. On
Worth County’s first play from scrimmage, Tyler New ripped off 12 yards, only
to get stripped at the end of the run as the Knights got the ball back at the
10. Their coach, Josh Petersen, said it was all about the character of his
team. “I had a great group of kids to work with,” he said.
The fumble gave South Holt hope, and they had new life after
that. Worth County could not get off the field after that, as a pass
interference call allowed the Knights to overcome a second and long at the 5.
Noland picked up 12 and a first down to the 33, and then another pass
interference allowed them to overcome another third and long. Finally, a
holding penalty by the Knights was too much for them to overcome and Brayden
Stevens broke up a third down pass and the Knights were forced to punt.
The kick rolled into the end zone, and Tyler New converted a
third and six, muscling his way to the Tiger 27. Landon Wilmes got blocks from
Bo Collins and Ethan Lininger for five. A long pass was incomplete, but then
Tyler New broke loose and took it down to the seven. He was stopped for no
gain, but then a quick pitch to Landon Wilmes got him to the house and Worth
County led 20-0 with 11 minutes left in the second.
But then Cade Kurtz ran back a squib kick all the way to the
Tiger 28, and the Knights made the most of the short field. Noland ripped off
gains of 6 and 5. Worth County forced a third and eight, but couldn’t get off
the field as South Holt, who struggled with dropped balls in the bitterly cold
conditions, finally started catching it as Tylynn Prussman caught a third and
eight from the 15 to the 7. Two plays later, Medsker took it to the house and
the Knights kicked the extra point to make it 20-7 with 7:26 left in the half.
A totally different South Holt squad then took the field on
defense; they were loading the box with all eight players, swarming the gaps
with more players than the Tigers had blockers for, and daring the Tigers to
beat them deep. They forced a three and out and got the ball in good field
position at the Tiger 38. Griffin Kemerling caught a short pass to the 29, and
then nobody picked up Kendall Noland coming out of the backfield, and he took a
short pass down to the 10. Three plays later, Noland took it to the house from
the four with 3:52 left and the Knights kicked the extra point to make it
20-14.
Worth County nearly answered on the next series as Tyler New
aired it out to Grant McIntyre for a 42 yard pass to the Knight 22. A pitch to
Wilmes got the ball down to the 10, but then Tyler New ran into a swarm of
black shirts and fumbled as the blocking broke down and South Holt elected to
kill the clock as they had the ball to start the second half.
The Knights had a chance to take it down the field and tie
or take the lead, but on fourth and two at their own 33, they got a false start
that backed them up to the 28. Grant McIntyre broke up a pass to give the
Tigers the ball on downs deep in Knight territory. But a screen pass on fourth
and four at the 22 gave the ball back to the Knights at their own 26. They
elected to go for it again on fourth and eight at their own 28, and this time
got the first down as Cade Kurtz caught a 10 yard pass to the 38. But a sack by
Bo Collins put the Knights too far behind the sticks and they were forced to
punt. Cole Medsker had made a living off dodging and breaking tackles this
year, but the Tigers countered with an unorthodox one man line with Kolten
Smith, who occupied 2-3 blockers, and had three linebackers contain Medsker.
But the next series nearly turned into a disaster for the
Tigers. They went three and out, and then Trace Milne blocked the ensuing punt,
giving the Knights the ball on the Tiger 10. At that point, it looked like it
might be the first time ever that Worth County would lose a game in which they
had a three possession lead, with the Knights poised to tie or take the lead. The
Knights tried a quick slant on the first play, but Brayden Stevens was ready
for it, breaking it up. On the next play, Landon Wilmes jumped a pass, picking
it off in the end zone to give the Tigers the ball back on their own 15.
Lucas Frisch picked up 10 on a quick hitter to the 25, but
the Knights were ready for it and dropped him for a loss back to the 24. But
then the second backbreaking play for the Knights followed. Tyler New threw a
strike for Grant McIntyre, who had a black shirt holding onto his ankle near
the out of bounds line. McIntyre kicked his way free, and everybody stopped for
a split second. But all of a sudden, Grant realized that the whistle had not
blown and that it was still a live ball, and he took off running and found
nothing but daylight in front of him. Cole Medsker seemingly had a short at
tacking him or pushing him out of bounds, but Grant put on an extra burst of
speed and outran him into the end zone to make it 26-14 with 3:06 left in the
third quarter.
The Knights tried to answer as Tylynn Prussman caught a 10
yard pass to the 35. But then Bo Collins and Elias Alarcon sacked Medsker and
then two draw plays only picked up two yards. South Holt tried to air it out on
fourth and long, but Grant McIntyre broke it up and the Tigers had the short
field at the Knight 29. Lucas Frisch could only net three yards on two plays,
but then Worth County was able to convert the short field as the line gave
Tyler New plenty of time to throw, and Grant McIntyre broke behind the defense,
hauling in another score with 10:53 left to make it 32-14.
South Holt started on their own 26, but after an incomplete
pass, Elias Alarcon stripped Medsker and he had to fall on it at their own
five. The Knights were forced to punt from their own two, and Worth County got
the ball at the Knight 37. After the two long passes to Grant softened up the
Knight defense, Tyler New was finally able to find daylight, ripping off a 23
yard gain to the 14. A holding penalty wiped out a touchdown and put it back on
the 20, but it didn’t matter as Tyler New picked up carries of six, seven, and
seven to the house with 5:33 left. Bo Collins made a diving grab for the extra
points to make it 40-14 with 5:33 left and prompt a rare celebration by
offensive coordinator Les New. He said this one meant a lot, as it meant all
three of his boys got to go to state at some point.
But the Knights had been there before against Mound City and
won, and sure enough, after one of the Worth County defenders tried to jump a
route and missed, Kendall Noland caught a pass and took it down to the Tiger
23. But a pass to Tylynn Prussman only netted three yards, two more passes were
incomplete, and Lucas Frisch broke up a fourth down pass to give the Tigers the
ball back on downs, and Worth County could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Landon
Wilmes found daylight for 14 yards to the 34, and then on fourth and one at the
Knight 37, Tyler New got past the Knight defense as they were swarming to stop
the run. He could have scored but instead, went down at the Knight 28, which
allowed the Tigers to kneel out the clock.
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