New Officers Elected for NEN Booster Club for 2019-2020

The Northeast Nodaway School Board held its regular meeting last Thursday. At the meeting, Katrina McIntyre reported for the Booster Club. On August 5th, new officers were elected – Mary Boswell (President), DeAnn Redden (Vice-President), Jennifer Adwell (Treasurer), and Stephanie Wilmes (Secretary). Booster Club had a back to school supper on August 13th that had a great turnout. The club is providing snacks for athletes for MSHSAA sanctioned events. The next meeting will be October 15th at 6 pm.

Barb Bredlow of the CTA reported that they had set 2019-2020 goals. McTeacher Night will be October 8th; all proceeds will go towards activities. The Faculty/Staff Christmas Party will be December 14th this year.

Luke Cox reported for the NEN Student Council. Fall Spirit Week was held last week, with dressup days for Worth County’s Homecoming. A full school pep rally was held Friday, before the band and NEN football players that are playing for the football cooperative went to participate in the parade. Mr. Cox has been meeting with Student Council representatives about what students like about the school atmosphere, and what they would like to see improved.

Elementary Principal Jason McDowell reported that enrollment for the preschool is 15 and 96 for the Elementary. High School Principal Luke Cox reported that the current enrollment for the High School is 107.

Superintendent Brenda Dougan presented the second reading of the Board of Education Goals for the current school year. The board unanimously approved evaluations for the Health Services Program, Assessment Program, ELL Program, and Homeless Program.

At the conclusion of the regular meeting, the board went into closed session to discuss student matters.

Obituary -- Dean Nelson 1948-2019

O. Dean Nelson, 71, Lake Ozark, MO, passed away on September 13, 2019, at the Lake Regional Health System.  Dean was born on June 17, 1948, in Sheridan, MO, to Viron Nelson and Verneda Van Ausdall Nelson.  Preceding him in death were his parents, and his brother, Ronnie Nelson.  Survivors include his wife of 49 years, Barbara Brownlee Nelson, sons-Derek Nelson of Eldon, and Devin Nelson of Lake Ozark; sisters-Anita Morgan of Lebo, KS, Becky Newton of Waco, TX, and brother, Bill Nelson of Orange, TX; sister-in-law, Elaine Curtis of Hamilton; 2 nieces and 3 nephews.

Dean was a proud member of the United States Air Force from 1966-1970. He graduated from Northwest Missouri University in 1974 with a double major in English and Speech. Dean was the owner of Rock Island Line for 21 years. He was a member of the Kingston Navy, Noble Eagles in Eldon, and the American Legion in Lake Ozark.  He attended Lake Christian Church in Lake Ozark.

Services were held last Wednesday, September 18th at the Hamilton Federated Church, Interment was at the Highland Cemetery in Hamilton with military honors. A future Celebration of Life will be held in Lake Ozark. Arrangements are under the direction of Bram Funeral Home in Hamilton.

Freedom Rock Proposed for Grant City

A Freedom Rock has been proposed for the City of Grant City. At the regular Grant City Council Meeting Wednesday, Mayor Debbie Roach said she would like to proceed with the project. Maryville and Blockton have similar projects. The city will be soliciting donations from the community, the VFW, American Legion, and Lions Club. The city has already been designated as a Purple Heart City, and is in the process of deciding on the location of signs.

The county has expressed interest in putting the American Flag back on top of the Courthouse. In order to do so, the county will have to rent a bucket truck from St. Joseph that would cost $1,500. The county was asking if the city would donate money. This was tabled until the October meeting.

Public Works Director Carl Staton answered questions about the water tower issue with the Chloramine. The city does not have bids on the project, but is looking into other options. The city is looking into putting in a four inch pipe from the water tower to High Street to help with the numbers. The city has been mowing, fixing pot holes, and patching roads. The city will need $10,000 to $12,000 in cold mix for the roads.

Previously, the city had tabled a permit for a carport for James Kerwin Sr. At Wednesday’s meeting, the city agreed to approve the permit provided that the carport is moved in case the city needs to do work on the city’s right of way.

The pool has been drained for the year. The city has been flushing water lines around town.

Emily Wicoff from Snyder & Associates came to the meeting to update the city on the wastewater project. The preliminary design is being looked at, and the city signed a letter of intent to meet conditions of the preliminary design. The city also voted to authorize proceeding with the design form. The project will be discussed further at the October meeting.

The new gas pickup for the city came in, and it was taken into Kansas City to get the bed put in.
Midwest Data called, and advised that the city’s Windows 7 computers will no longer work. If the computer drive will not update, the city will have to get new computers compatible with Windows 10.

The city went into closed session following their regular meeting. No action was taken.

Worth County Hires Substitute Cooks, Paraprofessional

The Worth County School Board, at their regular meeting Thursday, hired three substitute food service employees and one paraprofessional.

Hired as Food Service employees were Kathy McGrew, Beth Steele, and Codey Sawyer, subject to approved background checks. The vote was 5-0-2, with board members Tyler Steele and Jeff Andrews abstaining.

The board also voted to name Malori Moellenberndt as a Paraprofessional for the 2019-2020 school year contingent on approved background check. The vote was 6-0-1, with board member Tyler Steele abstaining.

In other action, teachers Kelley Ross and Hadley Roberts talked before the board. Ross talked about her Junior High Science classes, and her meetings with teachers from other districts. Roberts introduced himself as the new Physical Education teacher. He is also a football assistant.

The board also approved the agreement with the ACES cooperative and set the tuition rate for the 2019-2020 school year at $4,020.00.

JH Tigers Triumph Easily Over Pattonsburg

The Worth County Junior High Tigers won handily over Pattonsburg 8-1 Thursday before the varsity game. Brooklyn Richardson pitched and got the win. She walked none and struck out eight, while allowing only two hits. There were only two errors in the field behind her.

Worth County scored one in the second. Pattonsburg tied it with one in the third, but the floodgates opened in the fourth as the Tigers scored seven in the inning for the win. The Tigers jumpstarted the inning when Lanie Cousatte and Zee Anna Gladstone pulled off a successful double steal of second and home.

Kara Staton had two hits to lead the Tigers. Brooklyn Richardson and Zee Anna Gladstone had one. Becca Smith came home on a wild pitch.

The Tigers were able to steal at will on the Panthers. Zee Anna Gladstone had three steals for the Tigers. Lanie Cousatte had two, and Brooklyn Richardson, Autumn Cousatte, Kynah Steele, and Becca Smith all had one. Kynah Steele reached first base on a dropped third strike.

Tiger Softball Clinches Share of First GRC Title Since 2000

Worth County’s softball girls won a wild 18-8 victory over Pattonsburg Thursday to clinch their first conference title since 2000, when April Healy was still playing. One of the parents, Amber (Steele) Walker, played on the last conference championship team; her daughter, Aivry, starts for the Tigers.

Most of the current players were not born yet. That year, Worth County was also the State Runner-up.
The Tigers built up a 7-1 lead in their half of the fourth, gave up a six-run inning to the Panthers, and had to win it all over again. They scored four in the fifth and seven in the sixth to get the win.

Worth County clinched at least a tie with Braymer, and owns the tiebreak over the Bobcats, meaning they would play for the GRC Place Game against likely winner Putnam County on the road. Braymer has only one conference loss, so whether Worth County wins the outright title depends on the outcome of the Tigers’ game with King City Tuesday or Braymer falling to either North Andrew or Albany.

With two strikes on her, Anna Gladstone doubled to left center, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Merrideth Spiers’ groundout to take a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers prevented any damage in the Panther first when Jaden Gannan’s screamer was caught by third baseman Merrideth Spiers with two outs.

Worth County got five in the second. Hailey Adwell led off with a single to center. Anna Spainhower forced her at second, but Morgan Beagle singled Spainhower to third and stole. Braidy Hunt singled to right center and went to second on an unsuccessful throw home as Spainhower scored and Aivry Griffin’s double down the right field line scored Beagle and Hunt. Anna Gladstone reached on a grounder that got under third baseman Brynn Teel’s legs and Griffin scored. Anna took second on the throw home and third on an errant cutoff throw. Megan Cassavaugh grounded out to score Gladstone to put the Tigers up 6-0.

Pattonsburg got one back in the third when Weatherby Bailey’s bunt was thrown away by Cassavaugh and Jillian Plymell scored. Worth County got the run back when Anna Gladstone grounded out in the fourth, scoring Griffin to make it 7-1. Jaden Gannan, who started for Pattonsburg on the mound, was hit hard when her pitches were straight and up over the plate, but she was effective when her pitches had a lot of movement.

All hell broke loose in the fourth with two outs and Grace Warner on second for Pattonsburg. Mekenzie Turner walked, and then Worth County couldn’t get out of the inning as Brittani Adams’ pop fly dropped in left and Jillian Plymell singled to load the bases. An errant pickoff throw let in one run, Bailey walked, and then Brynn Teel emptied the bases with a three run double into the left center field gap. Jaden Gannan singled her in to tie it at 7-7.

But then Merrideth Spiers got a scratch hit when Weatherby Bailey knocked down her grounder at short but didn’t have a play. Jill Hardy singled her to second. Hailey Adwell struck out, but Anna Spainhower reached second on third baseman Brynn Teel’s throwing error as both scored. Morgan Beagle singled to center and took second when the cutoff throw got away, scoring Spainhower. Braidy Hunt flied out, but Aivry Griffin got another opposite field hit as she pushed one past first and second to score Beagle.

In the Pattonsburg fifth, first baseman Anna Gladstone made an outstanding play when she somehow came down with Merrideth Spiers’ high throw to save her an error.

Bailey replaced Gannan on the mound and threw hard, but straight and fought the strike zone. She plunked both Merrideth Spiers and Jill Hardy to start the inning. Hailey Adwell grounded into a force at third, but then Anna Spainhower reached on an error when Bailey threw away another potential force to third, scoring Hardy and opening the floodgates, putting Adwell on third and Spainhower on second. Morgan Beagle singled down the right field line to score both and Braidy Hunt walked. They took second and third on a wild pitch, and Aivry Griffin singled them in and stole second.

That brought up Anna Gladstone, and she crushed one so hard that it nearly left the yard despite the wind blowing straight in from center. As it was, left fielder Quincy Crone and center fielder Jillian Plymell collided going after it, and Anna was able to circle the bases for a two run home run.

Teel’s single scored Jillian Plymell to make it 18-8, but at the start of the inning, Morgan Beagle made a running catch of Brittani Adams’ pop fly in foul territory to prevent any further damage.

Tigers Come Back Against Albany for Homecoming; Win 82-42

Worth County looked set to drop its first Homecoming game in 15 years Friday. First, they fell behind 34-14 against Albany. Then, they came back, got the lead by halftime, and ran away with the game in the second half to get the 82-42 win.

The Tigers came into the game ranked fifth, while Albany was ranked sixth. The game lived up to its billing. Worth County went to 3-1 with the win, while Albany dropped to 2-2.

After a 21 yard burst from Tryce Floyd to the Albany 37 to start the game, Justin Dye recovered a fumble. But Albany held on downs, and then Dawson Butterfield broke through a big hole to get a touchdown from 36 yards out on fourth and two with 7:51 left in the first to go up 6-0.

Worth County held to form, sputtering for several plays in a row, then ripping off a big one. A holding penalty set the Tigers back first and 22 on the 19. Alex Rinehart’s catch and run got the yardage back, but after an incomplete pass, Rinehart’s run was still two yards short on fourth and two at the 39. But Rinehart bounced outside for a score as one of the Tiger blockers got away with holding and Worth County was on the board with 6:06 left. Quarterback Aydan Gladstone rolled right and threw back left to Dylan McIntyre in the left corner of the end zone to put Worth County in front 8-6.

The Warriors got it right back as Ethan Mercer caught a 19 yard pass to the Tiger 29 on third and seven from the 32. Two plays later, the tackling broke down and Butterfield broke free from 26 yards out to score with 4:08 left. Ethan Mercer’s pass put Albany up 14-8.

Worth County lined up in a double wing formation, and Aydan Gladstone threw a strike to Jaxon Anderson for 32 yards to the 20, and then they went to the swinging gate; Alex Rinehart optioned it for nine, and then Alex Rinehart ran it in from 10 yards out with 2:58 left to tie it at 14-14. But then a key turning point came when Tryce Floyd ran back the ensuing kickoff to put Albany back in front 20-14 and two black shirts were slumped on the turf 60 yards away; the body language was like waving a red flag at a bull, and all hell broke loose.

The Tigers got a first down on the next play thanks to Jaxon Anderson’s 19 yard shovel pass, but then the blocking broke down, Albany was in the backfield at will, and Worth County was forced to punt.
The Warriors were third and nine at the 16 when Ethan Mercer converted it for 10 yards to the 26. Albany was faced with third and three at the 33, but then the tackling broke down and Butterfield broke free again for 47 yards and Mercer ran in the extra points to put Albany up 28-14 with 11:03 left.

Worth County still didn’t get out of their funk, as a fumbled option pitch lost ten yards. Jaxon Anderson caught a 14 yard pass to the 32 for third and six, but then the pass blocking broke down and Aydan Gladstone, under pressure, couldn’t hit Andrew Alarcon for what would have been six. Once again, Albany took full advantage after the punt as Dawson Butterfield burst through a big hole with 8:42 left from 53 yards out to put his team up 34-14.

The Tigers were still in a funk, taking too long to get the plays in, getting a false start, and backing themselves up to third and 16 at their own 25. But then a fake pass fooled everyone as Albany bit and Reed McIntyre caught one for 33 yards to the Warrior 22 to keep the drive alive.

All of a sudden, it was like a light switch flipped on for the team; they figured out that not only were they more effective when they hustled up to the line to get the play in, it set the tone for special teams and the other side of the ball as well. Andrew Alarcon ripped off gains of seven to the 15 and then took it to the house to make it 34-22. Aydan Gladstone got a block from Jaxon Anderson and ran it in.

Worth County dipped into the Pattonsburg playbook and attempted an onsides kick which fooled everybody and Jackson Runde recovered at the Warrior 37. A pass was incomplete, but then a pass interference call gave the Tigers first down at the 27. That was all Worth County needed as Andrew Alarcon took a spread draw to the house with 6:42 left to make it a game again at 34-28.

The Warriors were buried by a false start and elected to go for it on fourth and ten at their own 37. They tried to isolate Ethan Mercer for a short pass, but Nate Adwell made a perfect one on one tackle to give the Tigers the ball back.

Aydan Gladstone’s would-be 42 yard touchdown run was called back to the 32 by a holding penalty, but Alex Rinehart’s catch and run for 17 put the ball on the 12. Two false starts made it third and 16 at the 18, but then Andrew Alarcon took an option pitch to the house with 1:33 left. Aydan Gladstone’s keeper put Worth County in front 36-34.

Albany tried to score one more time before the half. Tryce Floyd scrambled for 12 to the 29 and a first down. Butterfield, who the Tigers had trouble tackling for the whole half, picked up two before Jaxon Anderson made a perfect one on one tackle at the 26 after the black shirts batted a pass down on first down.

The Warriors had two shots at the end zone, but Aydan Gladstone covered one try perfectly in the end zone, while Jaxon Anderson got pressure on fourth down and forced Floyd to hurry a throw, giving the Tigers the ball back on downs at the 27 with 0.9 seconds left. That turned out to be enough time, as Worth County went to the Swinging Gate and successfully isolated Alex Rinehart for a screen; he started on the right side and veered all the way over to the left side as he took it to the house as time expired. Reed McIntyre was all alone for the extra point pass to make it 44-34 at halftime.

Albany tried to get an onsides kick to swing the momentum back in its favor, but it fooled nobody as the green shirts overran the play and Justin Dye, all 245 pounds of him, grabbed it and took it to the house from 40 yards away with 11:53 left in the third. He showed some skill, as he only needed seven seconds to motor the 40 yards down the field. That made it 52-34 after Dylan McIntyre wrested the ball from a green shirt to catch the extra point pass.

The Warriors finally broke the Worth County run as Kaeden Hutchinson caught a 30 yard pass to the 19. Worth County nearly held on fourth and six, but a pass interference gave the Warriors new life at the seven, and Floyd scored with 7:59 left from one yard out. Hutchinson caught the two points to make it 52-42.

Worth County got the score right back as they covered the ensuing onsides kick. Aydan Gladstone’s eight yard run made it first and 10 at the 33, and then two plays later, a 23 yard burst by Andrew Alarcon and a horsecollar put the ball on the three. Alex Rinehart ran it in and Aydan Gladstone added the extra points to put Worth County up 60-42 with 6:25 left.

On Albany’s first play from scrimmage, Austin Welch stripped one of Albany’s backs and the Tigers got the ball right back on the 16. They only needed two plays to get into the end zone as Reed McIntyre caught a pass for 12 and Andrew Alarcon took it the remaining four yards with 5:57 left. Worth County scored its third touchdown in 38 seconds after Alex Rinehart beat everyone to a loose carom at the 21. Andrew Alarcon bounced it outside for a score and Alex Rinehart got the extra points after a block from Reed McIntyre to put Worth County up 76-42 with 5:57 left in the third.

Albany went three and out on its next series, and Alex Rinehart got a good runback to the Tiger 36 to set up Worth County’s final score. Alex Rinehart took a sweep for 16 and a late hit put it first and goal at the ten. Three plays later, Aydan Gladstone’s quarterback sneak from one yard out put the Tigers in the end zone with 2:43 left in the third to make it 82-42. After that, both coaches started subbing freely, and the rest of the game was played out by the reserves.

The game matched the biggest comeback in school history. The Tigers erased a 26-6 Fairfax lead in 1996, winning 34-32 on quarterback Ben Fletcher’s one yard sneak as time expired in Fairfax. In 2016, the Tigers erased an 18 point deficit at Stanberry and won 44-42.