Worth County survived an early scare from Pattonsburg and took care of business, winning 64-14. Platte Valley took care of business against King City, beating them 54-8 to set up a District 7 final between themselves and Worth County in Barnard Friday.
There were some surprises to go around Friday night. Mound
City led South Holt all night and recovered a surprise onsides kick and
converted it to lead the undefeated Knights 50-22 going into the fourth
quarter. It was still 56-36 at the 6:39 mark of the fourth quarter, but then South
Holt would come back to score as time expired to win 58-56 to preserve their
undefeated season. East Atchison beat Nodaway Valley 44-32 to set up a rematch
with the Knights. But if the Knights use that win as a spark to keep winning,
then the road to a state title for Worth County or Platte Valley will still go
through Oregon.
Worth County kicked it away to Pattonsburg and the Panthers
wasted no time in picking up where they left off against Albany, airing it out
from Gage Iddings to Landon Preston from 44 yards out with 9:40 left. Wyatt
Maize caught the extra point pass to make it 8-0. But Worth County wasted no
time answering as Lucas Frisch took a quick hitter and ran past the green
shirts like they weren’t even there, taking it to the house from 47 yards out
to make it 8-8.
The first break for the Tigers came when the Panthers were
driving to score again, but then Gavin Humphrey was swarmed under by three
Tigers after catching a short pass, fumbled it, and Landon Wilmes recovered it
at the Tiger 18. Tyler New took it 11 yards on a sweep to the 29, then the
Tigers overcame a false start as New took it 21 yards into Panther territory at
the 34. New picked up five and Landon Wilmes 8 to the 21 and another first
down. Alex Arnold stripped Tyler New on the next play, but Landon Wilmes
recovered it to keep the drive alive. That only made things more interesting
for the Tigers as Grant McIntyre caught a long pass from Tyler New to the 2,
and then Tyler faked a handoff to Frisch and could have run all the way to
Redding if he had wanted to as the Tigers took the lead. Grant McIntyre caught
the extra point pass to make it 16-8.
A 17 yard pass to Wyatt Maize to the Panther 39 set up
another long pass to Maize to the house with 3:07 left in the first quarter.
But Elias Alarcon had a shoestring tackle of Gage Iddings just before he would
have gotten into the end zone and the Tigers still led 16-14.
Worth County covered the Pattonsburg onsides kick and Landon
Wilmes took an option and nearly broke one, but stepped out of bounds at the
32. Tyler New got five yards to the 27 and then got a block from Landon Wilmes
and that was all he needed to take it to the house with 2:26 left in the first
to make it 22-14.
From there on, Worth County started doing a much better job
of getting pressure on Iddings than Albany did, and that turned the tide. The
ensuing kickoff caromed off a Panther and Wyatt Maize was buried at the 18.
Camden Griffith caught a 12 yard pass to the 30, and then Landon Preston made a
diving grab at the Tiger 35 to rescue a fourth and ten. But then on third and
six at the 31, Bo Collins forced a hurry, and then on a home run ball, Wyatt
Maize nearly made a spectacular grab at the 5, but the ball hit the ground for
just an instant and was incomplete, giving the Tigers the ball back on downs at
the 31.
Pattonsburg nearly had Worth County stopped on fourth and
eight at their own 33 after an apparent touchdown run by Tyler New was wiped
out by a block in the back, but then Worth County went for the home run ball
and was rewarded when Grant McIntyre hauled in a 47 yard pass to the Panther
10. Lucas Frisch and Landon Wilmes made key blocks on that play that bought
Tyler New time to complete that pass. Bo Collins caught the next pass for a
score with 8:41 left in the second. Tyler New tried to run it in, but met Jace
Estrada, and the Tigers led 28-14.
Wyatt Maize made a diving grab at the Tiger 37 to rescue a third
and ten on the next play. Gavin Humphrey caught a four yard pass to the 33, and
then Landon Preston caught one for seven to the 26. Scrambles by Gage Iddings
got the Panthers first downs at the 16, and then the four. A short pass to
Wyatt Maize only picked up one yard to the three. On the next play, Iddings
tried to scramble, but he was met by Bo Collins and Tyler New, and it was ruled
a fumble recovered by Tyler New at the one. This was the first of two
backbreaking plays for the Panthers as two plays later, Tyler New took it 76
yards to the house and Grant McIntyre caught the extra point pass to make it
36-14 instead of a six or eight point lead for the Tigers with 2:50 left in the
half.
Then, with Pattonsburg marching down the field, they got as
far as the Tiger 18 before a holding penalty set them back to the 28 with one
minute left and counting. Landon Preston nearly had a spectacular grab for a
score, but the ball came out when he hit the ground. On fourth and 23, Landon
Wilmes picked it off in the end zone with 14 seconds left. That turned out to
be plenty of time for the Tigers, who aired it out to Bo Collins from 55 yards
out as time expired and Landon Wilmes caught the extra points to make it 46-14
at the half instead of a two possession game.
With everyone up for the Tigers guarding against the onsides
kick, Pattonsburg tried to kick it deep over everyone’s head. But Tyler New got
to it, broke two tackles, and had an apparent score, but it was called back to
the Panther 25 by a block in the back. It didn’t matter as Landon Wilmes picked
up 19 to the six and Tyler New took it to the house with 11:07 left. He got a
block from Ethan Lininger and added the extra points to make it 52-14.
The red zone woes that hurt Pattonsburg earlier in the year
came back to bite them once again. They started at their own 28, and then Gavin
Humphrey caught a pass for 22 yards to the Tiger 31. On fourth and 18 at the
39, Camden Griffith caught a deep pass to keep it alive at the 16. But on the
next play, Gage Iddings came under a heavy rush and tried to throw it away,
only for Grant McIntyre to track it down and pick it off in the end zone to
give the Tigers the ball back on downs at the 15.
Lucas Frisch took it four yards to the 19, and then Landon
Wilmes got a block from Elias Alarcon and took it 20 yards to the 39. Frisch
took it four more yards to the 37 and then Landon Wilmes got a block from Grant
McIntyre and ran the same counter play the other way 33 yards to the four.
Lucas Frisch got blocks from Elias Alarcon and Grant McIntyre and took it to
the house with 1:57 left to make it 58-14. Worth County tried to line up to
kick the extra point with Bo Collins, but Iddings was not ready to see his team’s
season end and he rushed around the edge to block it.
Once again, Pattonsburg marched it up the field, with a
roughing the passer penalty giving them a first down at the 29 and a diving
grab by Wyatt Maize on fourth and seven kept it alive and put it on the Tiger
36. But then a block in the back wiped out a nice catch and run from Griffith
and Braden Stevens broke up a pair of passes to give the Tigers the ball back
at the Panther 38. Hayden Sanders aired one out to Caleb New from 36 yards out
in the closing minutes to make it 64-14.
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