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Big man on Campus
J.J. McGowan, Mountain Grove – What’s the quickest way to make a name for yourself in the Ozarks? How about having a breakout game against a state-ranked conference rival? That’s exactly what the junior receiver did on Friday. He caught three balls, all of which went for touchdowns and covered a total of 101 yards. If that’s not enough, he also scored on a 30-yard pick-6 and registered a tackle for loss. In a game and a conference that features a lot of power football, McGowan showed why speed kills on the football field.
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Helmet Stickers
Jackson Bagley, Ash Grove – It’s safe to say that Jackson Bagley is a fan of Ash Grove’s new spread offense. The senior quarterback accounted for 294 yards (181 rushing, 113 passing) and five touchdowns in Ash Grove’s 31-16 win over El Dorado Springs.
Kyle Bouldin, Lockwood – Bouldin is about as untouchable as they come in the area. He didn’t get a ton of game action, so he made the most of his 10 touches, converting them into 299 yards and four touchdowns and helping the Tigers make quick work of Cole Camp. His Friday included a 98-yard touchdown run and his one reception ended in a 57-yard score.
Jerrett Esposito, Greenfield – Esposito is the first 8-man player to get a helmet sticker, but rushing for 200 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with a pair of sacks, four forced fumbles and a scoop and score is good enough for me, leading the Wildcats to their first 8-man win in program history.
Garrett Hadlock, Mount Vernon – The junior quarterback brought his A-game on Friday night and Mount Vernon needed every bit of it. The ‘Neers picked up a 26-14 comeback win over Seneca and Hadlock had himself a day, passing for 303 yards and touchdowns, but completing a staggering 19 of his 25 attempts. Considering his running back is one of the best in the area, this could be a scary development for the Big 8.
Keegan Hoopes, West Plains – Who would have thought that a sophomore transfer from the SCA would be one of the most productive players in the Ozark Conference. Hoopes continued his hot start to 2015 against a soft Glendale defense, rushing for 298 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries. He’s the only OC back over 500 rushing yards through three games.
Alex Huston, Glendale – For a guy that’s getting used to tossing the football around each Friday, even Huston had to be shocked by his 42 completions, 69 attempts, 745 yards and eight touchdowns, leading Glendale to 58 points. Each of those numbers is a top 10 mark in Missouri history, while the yardage is unofficially a state record. He will make a run at Eric Czerniewski’s single-season record for passing yards (4,407).
Dylan Mountain, Skyline – It was another day at the office for Dylan Mountain. The senior quarterback rushed for 144 yards and five touchdowns on 13 carries and also accounted for another score through the air. They call him “Dylan Football” in those parts, if he keeps having six-touchdown games, that won’t change any time soon.
Bailey Rettman, Rogersville – There’s not much more Rettman could have done to will his Rogersville team to its first win of the season. The senior WR/DB caught an 82-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. He finished with 113 yards on two catches. But, it was his work defensive that made the defense, helping the Cats keep a run-heavy Springfield Catholic team out of the end zone with 17 tackles, 2 TFL, and a fumble recovery. He also help shift field position with his six punts averaging nearly 40 yards per. His teammate Jaytin Gutierrez racked up 26 tackles and three for loss in the win.
Anthony Riley, Parkview – SPS’s second-leading rusher in 2014 is regaining his form this fall. Riley led Parkview to its first win of the season, racking up 245 yards and a pair of touchdowns on a workman-like 35 carries. Riley now has back-to-back 100-yard games this season.
Triston Shepherd, Diamond – New coach, new offense, new Triston Shepherd. The junior athlete may lineup anywhere and must be accounted for by the defense. On what was a quick Friday night in a rout of East Newton, Short rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown, had a 50-yard touchdown reception and tossed an 82-yard touchdown pass.
Hunter Yeargan, Willard – Willard stormed back from two touchdowns down in the second half to shock Neosho on the road and again Yeargan was a monster, rushing for 210 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. His new running mate, Brock Howard, went for 110 yards on seven carries and a touchdown.
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Cream Rising…
Week 3 was “Separation Friday” and there was certainly plenty of separation; the cream rose to the crop. Friday established clearly who some of the area’s elites are in certain conferences and districts, but it also gave us a sneak peak at who could be some sleepers, especially in extremely balanced district races.
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Kickapoo beating Joplin didn’t shock me, but the fact the Chiefs were up 45-0 by halftime is certainly impressive. Joel Wells, who picked up a win in his debut at Harrison, left Kurt Thompson a parting gift with that loaded roster. And, Thompson clearly hasn’t forgotten how to establish a running game, but he also took his defensive mindset and made what was a soft defense last year, an opportunistic one in 2015. Friday’s win not only firmly established the Chiefs at the top of the OC, along with West Plains and Lebanon, but also put Kansas City on notice. As of now, they are the No. 1 seed in a district that seems down. Three home games would go a long way in helping Thompson and Kickapoo earn a Class 6 district title… Not to be outdone, Lebanon put the clamps on Camdenton in the Battle for Highway 5 and West Plains beat Glendale in an old fashioned shootout. All three teams currently sit at 3-0 and each boasts a marquee win. None of them will meet until Week 6, so should they remain hot, there could be some titanic games to end the season in the OC.
Mountain Grove and MV-BT/Liberty are also officially the Beasts out East yet again, coming by way of dominant wins on Friday night. The Panthers absolutely blasted Ava at home, 46-14, and Liberty didn’t yield much in a 19-3 win at Thayer. The story for both seems to be a little different than previous years with Grove having a potentially explosive offense and Liberty being strongest on the defensive side of the football. Grove had to neutralize Ava up front and give its playmakers a chance to make plays and that’s exactly what happened; Ava had no answer for the Panthers’ speed in space. Trystan Short went for more than 200 yards with a pair of home runs, but the emergence of JJ McGowan gives David Stuckey a big play threat on the outside to take the lid off of opposing defenses, giving Carter Otwell and Short even more room to run. They will need it against a Liberty team that has given up just 21 points this year, led by all-stater Cale Cornman. Ava and Liberty on Friday will provide a point of comparison for the Week 6 Liberty/ Grove showdown.
Lamar picked up yet another impressive Big 8 win, knocking off Class 3 No. 7 Monett on the road. Again, the Tigers continue to win the battle at the point of attack and I’m not sure there’s a Class 2 team in the Ozarks that can challenge them. Not to be outdone, Carl Junction blasted Aurora to keep pace with the Tigers. They are again on course for another epic Week 10 game. Clearly history is again repeating itself… Marionville beat Strafford to take a 1A, 1B lead over Skyline in the conference hierarchy and Jacob LaSalle was a man amongst boys in his return from suspension, rushing for 173 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with his 12 tackles. To keep up, Skyline shook off one half of sloppy play to beat Stockton 53-20. The scary part for Skyline was Stockton’s ability to run the football effectively early. Against a Marionville team that is one of the best at establishing the run, that could be detrimental to the Tigers.
Willard came back to beat Neosho, Keith Guest continues to play well for Carthage and Republic absolutely abused Ozark on the road. In the OC, Waynesville got on the board, Parkview has seemingly found its identity and Glendale hasn’t found a team it can stop, or can stop them. All signs point to Class 5 having a disgusting amount of parity in the Ozarks.
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Sleeping Giants…
Monett took a tough loss to Lamar, but was still impressive in defeat. It is no secret again that Class 3 is wide open and Monett was the team that made a run last year, but clearly the Cubs aren’t that far off from potentially making another run this fall. Keep in mind, they have a lot of guys in key roles that have started all of three games in their career. They are only going to get better… Republic got crushed by Smith-Cotton in Week 1 and what seemed like it could have been a darkhorse team became an afterthought. But, those Tigers are 3-0 and Republic hasn’t lost since, so maybe Wes Beachler is onto something. Riley Watkins is doing a tremendous job quarterbacking in that offense, which has made Jerney Jones and David Feil even that much more lethal… Another team in Class 3 that I can’t quite figure out is Salem. The Tigers are one possession away from being undefeated and state-ranked. They have a huge line and enough weapons to run behind it… And quietly Jasper is sitting at 3-0 with a 20-point lead in the district standings. The Class 1 scene is crowded with Marionville, Skyline, Lockwood, Thayer and Osecola, but Jasper shares a district with none of those teams and with Blake Jefferies running things, the Eagles should be unbeaten heading into a Week 9 visit from Lockwood.
Games to Watch (Sep. 11)
C5 No. 7 Nixa (2-1) at C5 No. 8 Willard (3-0) – Before last year it had been more than a decade since Willard beat Nixa. The Tigers lost some of that girth up front, but have been extremely good regardless. This is the game that will tell us just where how good both teams are. Nixa is widely considered the best Class 5 team in the Ozarks and the favorite to make a quarterfinal run and Willard shares a district with Carthage, Neosho and an undefeated Smith-Cotton team, meaning the possible exists that this won’t be the only time these two see each other. That is a long way off, but these two teams are rivals, both play a physical brand of football and both want to host three district games.
Lebanon (3-0) at Glendale(2-1) – Glendale is an intriguing matchup every week, but this one has a few additional factors at play. First, is the story of Lebanon and just how good they’ve been in 2015. The Jackets have won every game by at least two touchdowns and have yet to face a defense that they can’t run the football against. That is unlikely to change against Glendale, but the Falcons are playing good football. Their 56 PPG leads the conference and the fact that they led West Plains in the fourth quarter, on the road, should let you know just how good they can be. The bottom line is if they want to truly be a threat they’ll have to be at least a little better defensively, but even still they are dangerous. This could be the game that puts them on the map.
C1 No. 10 Thayer (2-1) at Salem (2-1) – Again, Salem’s lone loss came to state-ranked Reeds Spring in overtime. Last week the Tigers topped Houston and got back to their winning ways, meanwhile Thayer is coming off that loss to Liberty. Here’s the deal, Thayer is going to get a ton of district points for playing up, so the win here isn’t as important, but no one ever wants a loss, especially two in a row. Thayer has clearly seen some good talent in Strafford and Liberty, but Salem will likely be the biggest team they see all fall. A win for Salem certainly puts them in the conversation for the SCA crown, while a loss for Thayer, giving the Bobcats an 0-2 SCA start, would be detrimental to conference championship hopes.
Kickapoo (3-0) at Camdenton (1-2) – Well, if Camdenton is hoping to rebound and make a run in the OC, now is the time. The Lakers 1-2 start has featured back-to-back games against two of the conference’s best and with Kickapoo coming into town, things get no easier. Furthermore, the Chiefs have won three of the last four meetings, including a win in Camdenton in 2013. This sets up as a potential trap game for Kickapoo, coming off of a big win over Joplin and before taking on rival Glendale in two weeks. A loss for Camdenton basically eliminates them from conference contention.
C3 No. 9 Ava (2-1) at C2 No. 8 MV-BT/Liberty (3-0) – It seems like every year Liberty enters this game undefeated and every year they get a war from the Bears. Ava has won each of the last two meetings at home, both of which cost the Eagles the outright SCA title. Not many coaches give Darin Acklin as many problems as Dan Swofford does and with Ava coming off of a woodshed loss to Grove, there will be no shortage of motivation. This is a must-win for Ava if they want to keep SCA title hopes alive. Liberty is well on its way to running away with the No. 1 seed in the district, but you can bet the Eagles would love to win their sixth SCA championship in the last seven years.
Cassville (2-1) at C2 No.1 Lamar (3-0) – The last team not named Carl Junction to beat Lamar is Cassville, a 31-0 shellacking in 2012 and while the Tigers have clearly exorcised those demons, this is the best team Cassville has fielded since then. The Wildcats gave Mountain Grove everything they wanted on the road and opened the season with a war against Aurora. Taking down Lamar on the road is nearly impossible, but it will be interesting to see how competitive Cassville is and if they can also be considered a threat in Class 3.
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Week 4 Schedule
Ozark Conference
Parkview at Waynesville
Rolla at Joplin
Lebanon at Glendale
Kickapoo at Camdenton
West Plains at Hillcrest
COC-Large
Ozark at Carthage
Republic at Webb City
Neosho at Branson
Nixa at Willard
COC-Small
Buffalo at Reeds Spring
Hollister at Bolivar
Marshfield at Rogersville
Big 8
Mount Vernon at Monett
East Newton at McDonald County
Cassville at Lamar
Aurora at Seneca
Mid-Lakes
Strafford at Stockton
Pleasant Hope at Skyline
Ash Grove at Marionville
SCA
Willow Springs at Mountain Grove
Houston at Cabool
Thayer at Salem
Ava at Liberty
SRVC
Jasper at Miller
Sarcoxie at Liberal
Diamond at Pierce City
Other Games
Catholic at Fair Grove
Greenfield at Chilhowee
Carl Junction at Central
El Dorado Springs at Knob Noster
Victory Christian at Lighthouse Christian
Osceola at Drexel
