Abbi Brown was chosen Worth County Homecoming Queen Friday at homecoming festivities and Carter Chapman was crowned King before the football game with Albany. Homecoming queens from 25 and 50 years ago, Jennifer (Behrens) McCutcheon (1999) and Sue (Musick) Hardy (1974), assisted in the crowning, and Hardy was escorted by two of her grandchildren, Keira Hardy and Cole Hardy.
Brown is the daughter of Rod and Dawn Brown. Chapman is the son of Michael and Andrea Chapman. Other queen candidates were Eva Engel, daughter of Jay and D.J. Engel; and Bridgette Hightshoe, daughter of Bill and Leena Hightshoe. Karson Briner was the other king candidate; he is the son of Tyrel Briner and Ashley Briner. Northeast Nodaway football player Landon Wilmes served as an escort since there were only two king candidates. He is the son of Karl and Steph Wilmes.
Junior attendants were Reed Smyser, son of Robbie and Amanda Smyser; and Marissa Schmitz, granddaughter of Francis and Rita Schmitz. Sophomore attendants were Bo Collins, son of Dan and Mary Collins; and Kambree Briner, daughter of Tyrel Briner and Ashley Briner. Freshman attendants were Wesley Brown, son of Jessica Brown and the late Adam Brown; and Audrey Runde, daughter of Greg and Becky Runde.
Members of the Worth County Class of 1974 helped with the coin toss. They won the coin toss for the Tigers, but the outcome of the game was not as fortunate, as the Tigers fell to Albany 36-34.
The game put Albany in the driver’s seat for the GRC West title. Worth County will have to win out, starting with a tough St. Joseph Christian squad this Friday in St. Joseph, and hope that the Warriors falter. The Lions played Albany tough before falling 42-20, showing a lot of improvement under a new coach.
The Albany win also put them in charge of District 7, where they are on top of the district standings. Platte Valley, which also beat Worth County, is second in the standings, which means that the head to head tiebreaker will come into play even if the Tigers were to move past one of those two teams in the standings. Worth County is third in the district standings, followed by King City, Pattonsburg, and Stanberry.
Worth County started off with a long drive to get into the end zone. A squib kick put them on the 33, and Landon Wilmes got a block from Bo Collins to the 38. Cole Ruby got a block from Ethan Lininger to the Albany 38, and then Brayden Stevens got a first down to the 36. Landon Wilmes got a block from Ethan Lininger to the 32. Brayden Stevens was stuffed for no gain, but Hayden Sanders scrambled for seven yards and a first down to the 25. Brayden Stevens got a block from Lucas Frisch and picked up 10 yards to the 15. A counter to Cole Ruby picked up eight yards to the seven as he picked up blocks from Bo Collins and Ethan Lininger. Landon Wilmes got a block from Karson Briner to the 2. Albany came on a blitz and caused a two yard loss, but Brayden Stevens outran a defender and broke a tackle to get into the end zone to put the Tigers up 6-0 with 6:43 left in the first quarter. But the extra point failed; the extra point game was costly for the Tigers, as they scored just as many touchdowns as the Warriors, but converted one fewer extra point.
The sloppy play that hurt the Tigers during the Platte Valley game and the second half of the Mound City game came back to bite them on the next drive. Albany moved like a juggernaut down the field, with Elliot Mercer and Chase Cline carrying the ball and Kyle Emerson catching an 11 yard pass. Finally, the Tigers made a stand when Bo Collins batted down a pass on second and six at the Tiger nine and then dropped Mercer after a two yard gain to the seven. But then nobody talked on defense and nobody covered Zane Rippy, who was all alone for the first six points that Albany scored. Mercer ran in the extra points to put Albany up 8-6 with 2:06 left in the first quarter.
Worth County was faced with third and five on its own 21 on the next series, but then Hayden Sanders aired it out to Brayden Stevens 41 yards to the 18 to flip the field. Cole Ruby picked up five to the 13 after getting a block from Ethan Lininger and then Landon Wilmes got blocks from Bo Collins and Carter Chapman and moved a pile to the 1. Landon then got blocks from Karson Briner and Lucas Frisch and got a cutback to make it 12-8 with 11:20 left.
But then Albany went to its spread no huddle look and Kyle Emerson got nine off a jet sweep to the 39. A short pass to Eliot Mercer picked up nine to the Tiger 32, and then an option picked up nine yards to the 23. A counter to Mercer got it to the 10, a short pass to Zane Rippy got to the three, and then Mercer scored with 9:07 left in the second. Mercer ran in the extra points to put Albany up 16-12, and the extra point game was looming large for the Tigers.
At that point, the Tigers started taking too long to get the play off, lost their composure, got a false start, and frustration set in and they got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as they were forced to punt. They nearly got a stop after a holding penalty buried Albany on their own 20. Lucas Frisch dropped Mercer for no gain, but then he got loose for 30 yards into Tiger territory at the 30. This time, it was Albany who was having trouble getting the play in and running the play clock down. A flea flicker fooled nobody as Carter Chapman broke through and sacked Chase Cline for a loss. An illegal formation penalty moved them back to the 40. Lucas Frisch dropped Eliot Mercer after a two yard gain, and then a holding penalty put it back to the Warrior 37. But none of that mattered as nobody got any pressure on Chase Cline, who aired it out to Kyle Emerson, who outran everyone got a score with 4:56 left. Chase Cline ran in the extra points to make it 24-12. At that point, thanks to the extra point game, Albany was up two possessions instead of one.
Worth County started off on its own 33 and then Landon Wilmes hurdled a defender 15 yards to the 32. Hayden Sanders scrambled 14 yards to the 18 and then Brayden Stevens got a block from Karson Briner and Carter Chapman to the 13. But then the blocking disappeared as the Tigers were thrown for a loss. Hayden Sanders scrambled, but only for two yards to the 14 to set up 16. An overthrow meant that Albany could kill the clock and go into the half with a 24-12 lead.
The Warriors had a chance to go up three possessions to start the third quarter as they had the ball, but after Elliot Mercer carried them on his shoulders to midfield, a sure touchdown pass to Kyle Emerson was dropped and the Warriors were forced to punt.
It looked like Albany had Worth County stopped after the Tigers picked up a holding penalty and a sack set up fourth down. But a taunting penalty on Albany gave the Tigers new life at the 26. Brayden Stevens was stopped for two at the 28, but then Landon Wilmes got loose after getting a block from Cole Ruby and was in the clear before Kyle Emerson ran him down at the three. Lucas Frisch got a block from Ethan Lininger to take it the rest of the way and Landon Wilmes ran in the extra points to cut the Warrior lead to 24-20.
Worth County got a golden chance to get the lead back when Bo Collins dropped Mercer to set up fourth and three at the Warrior 38 for the Warriors. They elected to go for it, but a bobbled snap blew up the play and Landon Wilmes and Carter Chapman dropped Cline at the 37 and the Tigers got the ball back with a short field to work with.
But after a fumbled snap, the Tigers were stopped on downs at the 30, and after Chase Cline ripped off a 20 yard gain into Tiger territory at the 26, the energy level of the team dropped like a lead balloon. Mercer and Cline took turns carrying the ball to the 7, when Carter Chapman finally dropped Mercer for no gain. A short pass to Mercer got it to the one to set up fourth and goal, but a quarterback sneak by Chase Cline with 9:48 left put Albany up 30-20. The Warriors tried a reverse to Emerson, but he was tackled at the one to deny the extra points.
But after Wyatt Hill ran back a short kickoff to the 30, Brayden Stevens got loose for 35 yards to the 15. Cole Ruby was stopped for one yard, but then Brayden got blocks from Karson Briner, Ethan Lininger, Lucas Frisch, and Hayden Sanders as he got it to the house with 8:53 left. Landon Wilmes got a block from Lucas Frisch to cut the Tiger deficit to 30-28.
Albany got the ball back on their own 30, but a sack by Bo Collins, Sawyer Thurman, and Carter Chapman set up second and 20 at the 20. Chase Cline was met by Carter Chapman after a two yard gain, and then a pass interference on Worth County trying to slow down Emerson put the ball on the 37. There was a long holdup as the officials first put it on the 37, then back on the 33, and then back on the 37. But the Tigers got the ball back when they forced a fumble and recovered it on the 34.
A long run got called back to the Warrior 34 by a holding penalty. Landon Wilmes picked up eight to the 26. Brayden Stevens picked up 15 yards to the 11, but was hurt at the end of the run (knee), and was done for the game.
Landon Wilmes got a score when he got a block from Ethan Lininger and juked a defender to get into the end zone with 6:38 left. That put the Tigers up 34-30. Cole Ruby went down (ankle), tried to come back, but couldn’t go any longer.
But without Brayden Stevens, their best pass defender and fastest player, on the field, they had nobody to guard Kyle Emerson. Sure enough, Albany aired it out to Emerson with 5:26 left to regain a 36-34 lead.
With Cole Ruby out, Jude Archer had to come in cold, but Archer threw a key block that set up Landon Wilmes’ first down run to the Albany 35. Wilmes got his jersey ripped up during the play, but Archer stepped right up at runningback, picking up six to the Warrior 29 after getting a block from Karson Briner. But on the very next play, a fumbled snap was covered by the Warriors.
Albany was able to pick up a first down on the ground before the Tigers were able to stop them at the Tiger 37 to set up fourth and seven. Albany aired it out to Zane Rippy, but Landon Wilmes, back in with a different jersey, stripped it away from him for a pick to give the Tigers the ball back. But Hayden Sanders’ desperation pass was picked off by Keghan Schaefer and returned to the 17 to seal the win for the Warriors.
The win for Albany left them as one of eight teams which are unbeaten. In a night filled with surprises, Nodaway Valley steamrolled Platte Valley 58-20 to hand them their first loss. North Andrew, with Braxton Linville back and healthy, dropped St. Joseph Christian 26-12. Last year, Stanberry had Pattonsburg’s number, but this year, with many of the same players from both sides on the field, it was Pattonsburg who turned the tables on Stanberry, beating them 58-22 after having been lit up by Princeton the week before. That gave the Panthers their first win of the year. In what was supposed to be a battle of heavyweights, St. Pius X beat Maryville 62-0.
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