The Tigers got two pieces of good news last week. The first was that they put together their most complete game of the year with a 64-6 win over North Andrew Friday after searching for consistency its first two games. The second was that Coach Jon Adwell was named the MSHSAA Football Coach of the Year for 2023. A representative from the MSHSAA came to the school to present Adwell with the award.
North Andrew was shorthanded coming into the game Friday, with 22 players listed in the program, but only 18 dressed out. But they still had quarterback Braxon Linville, who figured big in North Andrew’s plans after returning from a season ending injury against Albany last year. He figured to be a load in coach Dustin Williams and his four yards and a cloud of dust philosophy, which he didn’t make any secret of during his weekly interviews with Stuart Johnson.
Brayden Stevens broke tackle after tackle on the opening kickoff as he ran it back to the Cardinal 26. The Cards, like Mound City and Platte Valley before them, sold out to stop the run as Worth County had not moved the ball through the air in its first two weeks. But then Hayden Sanders completed a 16 yard pass to Karson Briner to the 9 and a 4 yard pass to Briner to the 5 to soften up the Cardinal defense. A power sweep by Stevens took it to the one and then Cole Ruby got a block from Karson Briner and Carter Chapman with 9:48 left to put the Tigers up 6-0.
Three straight carries to Braxon Linville picked up 13 yards and a first down to the Cardinal 34 after the Cards recovered a squib kick at the 21. But a bad snap derailed the drive and they were forced to punt. The four yards and a cloud of dust approach is good if a team is well-disciplined, but the disadvantage is that a single negative yardage play or penalty can derail the drive.
With North Andrew still selling out to stop the run, Worth County went to their power formation, but then Hayden Sanders threw a guard eligible pass to Bo Collins 46 yards to the Cardinal 11. Brayden Stevens got a block from Landon Wilmes and took it to the house with 5:30 left in the first to make it 12-0.
A false start nearly derailed the next North Andrew drive, but the Cardinals always keep a few trick plays in their pocket. This time, they lined up Linville as the punter and pulled off a fake punt on fourth and four and he got 17 yards to the Tiger 35. A successful fourth and two run by Linville put it on the 24. They lined up in a double wing look with Linville reading the defense, but Carter Chapman dropped him for two at the 22. Linville picked up eight more to the 14, but then a fumbled snap derailed the drive. An incomplete pass and a bad snap put the ball back on the 33. North Andrew tried to throw a long pass on fourth and 29, but Lucas Frisch picked it off. At the end of the run, Linville came in to make the tackle, but Frisch laid him out at the end of the run, knocking him out of the game.
The Tigers started off on their own 35. North Andrew guessed right on a blitz and dropped Stevens, but Landon Wilmes got seven yards to the 40 and an offsides penalty put it on the 35 for a first down. A false start set up first and 15 at the 40, but a six yard run by Cole Ruby and a horsecollar tackle at the end of the run added 15 yards to the Cardinal 19. That set up Landon Wilmes, who got some daylight, got a final block from Karson Briner, and took it to the house with 7:43 left in the second quarter. Lucas Frisch caught the extra point pass to make it 20-0.
North Andrew got good field position at their own 32, but a bad snap pinned them at their own six and a shanked punt put the Tigers on the Cardinal 13. Lucas Frisch picked up four to the nine and Cole Ruby took it to the house as he bounced outside with 5:04 left. Landon Wilmes took a counter and ran in the extra points to make it 28-0.
The Tigers reverted to the sloppy form that hurt them the first two games, and a late hit on the ensuing kickoff gave North Andrew the ball on the Tiger 25 and a short field to work with. Two plays later, a Tiger defender was caught peeking in the backfield and backup quarterback Levi McAfee found Avery Miller all alone for six points to make it 28-6. Bo Collins and Carter Chapman got a sack on the extra point try.
North Andrew, Pattonsburg, and Albany are the three most likely teams to try an onsides kick and sure enough, the Cardinals tried one to get a free possession. But Worth County covered it and had good field position at their own 39. An offsides penalty put it on the 36 and Landon Wilmes broke two tackles to the 22. An incomplete pass set up second and 10, but then Wilmes exploded into the secondary and to the house with 3:50 left and frustration set in for North Andrew, as they got a late hit penalty. Landon Wilmes took an option pitch and ran it in to make it 36-6.
With the penalty enforced on the kickoff, North Andrew was buried on their own 19. Brayden Combs had a tackle for loss and then Landon Wilmes and Carter Chapman got a sack to force a three and out. With 1:18 left, Worth County started at their own 38. Hayden Sanders scrambled to the 35. He came under a heavy rush and threw it away, but Landon Wilmes picked up 10 yards and a first down to the 25. Then, Hayden Sanders pitched it to Brayden Stevens, who pitched it back to Sanders, who took a perfectly designed screen pass to the house with 39 seconds left. Worth County picked up a holding that wiped out an extra point try, but that only made it more interesting. Landon Wilmes caught a pass short of the goal line, but he eluded the tackle and got it to make it 44-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, the ball caromed off Maddox Sybert and Lucas Frisch recovered on the Cardinal 15 with 30 seconds left. It only took one play to score as Bo Collins took a pass from Hayden Sanders with 25 seconds left to make it 50-6 at halftime.
Worth County saw Landon Wilmes run six times for 71 yards in the first half. Tiger quarterbacks completed five out of seven passes for 106 yards after the passing game had been nonexistent in the first two games.
North Andrew tried to air out a long pass on fourth and seven from their own 30, but the Tigers covered it and got a short field to work with. Brayden Stevens picked up 1 to the 29, then a cutback run by Landon Wilmes picked up 21 more to the eight. Brayden Stevens picked up seven more to the 1, and then Landon Wilmes took it to the house with 6:18 left in the third to make it 56-6.
A bad snap, a false start, and a bobbled snap put North Andrew in the hole at fourth and 31 and they were forced to punt. Worth County got the ball back at their own 26, and Landon Wilmes went over the 100 yard mark with a 46 yard carry to the four after a block from Lucas Frisch. A fumbled handoff gave North Andrew the ball back at the six, but the Tigers scored anyway as a bad snap resulted in a safety as Bo Collins and Ethan Lininger tackled one of the red shirts in the end zone.
Brayden Stevens wove and spun his way to the Cardinal 30 on the ensuing kickoff before the varsity offense was done for the night. The varsity defense stayed out for much of the fourth quarter to keep the Cards out of the end zone, and Ethan Lininger was a one man wrecking ball, getting a pair of tackles for loss. As the JV defense started filtering in, Reyen Hansen and Liam Hayden got tackles for loss as well. Reed Smyser caught a nice pass to set up Worth County’s final touchdown, a three yard run from Dylan Smith, a back with a lot of upside potential, with 3:01 left to make it 64-6.
No comments:
Post a Comment