Week 1 of the football season is akin to Christmas Morning. We know exactly what some teams will do and then we underestimate others.
Here is a full reset after Week 1 with a look ahead to Week 2.
See the top plays of Week 1 above.
Team of the Week – Carl Junction
Carl Junction is the only answer here and it is not really that close. In their first game as a member of the COC Large the Bulldogs drew a Webb City team that had never lost a COC Large game since joining the conference in 2008. The Bulldogs also had not beaten the Cardinals since 1977.
That all changed with a 23-7 win on Friday. The credit has to go to the Bulldog defense. Carl Junction lost a lot of offensive firepower, but their defense brought back seven starters. All seven of them remembered last year’s heart-breaking loss in the district semifinals to end the season.
Carl Junction forced seven turnovers that included six fumble recoveries while holding the Cardinals to 73 yards rushing on 35 attempts for a total of 2.08 yards per carry. To put that feat into perspective, the last time Webb City rushed for less than 100 yards in a game was Week 6 of 2009 when the Cardinals rushed for 91 yards in a 28-21 win over Neosho. Outside of that, Webb City has not had a game with less than 150 yards rushing, which was a streak of 98 games.
The COC Large has been put on notice and is a wide open conference this season.
TOP 100 PHOTOS OF WEEK 1 – CLICK HERE
Five others that stood out:
Ozark – The Tigers picked up the first COC Large win of the Chad Depee era with a 28-14 win over Carthage. Jack Hulse led the way with 113 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
MV-BT/Liberty – The Eagles welcomed in Class 4 No. 10 Cape Central and dispatched them 39-20. Cape Central has won three consecutive Class 4 district titles. This was a statement win for the Eagles.
Reeds Spring – The Wolves rushed for 647 yards on 54 carries in a 47-34 win over Mount Vernon.
Seneca – The Ryan McFarland era got started right with a 41-14 win over Nevada. McFarland’s split-back veer accounted for 301 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Indians were also opportunistic through the air by turning four completions into 124 yards and two touchdowns.
West Plains – Lose nine seniors who garnered first or second team all-conference honors? No problem. The Zizzers cruised by Waynesville 42-0.
Player of the Week: Keegan Hoopes – West Plains (18 Carries, 288 yards, 4 touchdowns)
The Zizzers lost nine seniors that garnered first or second team all-conference honors from last season’s team, but that didn’t slow West Plains down in the opener thanks in large part to Hoopes. He rushed for 288 yards and four touchdowns on just 18 carries in a 42-0 win over Waynesville all in the first half. He also helped out on that shut out by recording a sack.
PICTURES: BEST FANS OF WEEK 1 – CLICK HERE
10 others that stood out:
Coleman Scott, Neosho: Scott was a close second for me this week. The Wildcats needed everything Scott had to beat Branson after getting down early. He finished with 315 yards and three touchdowns through the air with 158 more yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Josh Pruett, MV-BT/Liberty: Pruett accounted for six touchdowns with 181 yards passing and 100 yards on the ground in a win over Class 4 Cape Central.
Maverick McGee, Kickapoo: Kickapoo continues to graduate talented running backs and continues to not miss a beat. McGee is the next in line after going for 163 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries.
Carter Otwell, Mountain Grove: Otwell was a two-way force for Mountain Grove in a revenge game win over Aurora. On offense, he had 22 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns while also going 3-for-3 for 45 yards passing. Defensively, he led the Panthers with 10 tackles.
Jay Griffin, Camdenton: Jay Griffin is one of the Ozark Conference’s best backs and he showed why in a 39-33 win over Hillcrest. Griffin had 26 carries for 199 yards and four touchdowns.
Jokiem Crawford, Joplin: Crawford’s debut at quarterback didn’t go as planned in a loss to Glendale, but he showed off his dual-threat ability with 241 yards rushing on 31 carries and 211 yards passing. He was only 10-for-28 through the air, which will need to improve going forward.
Dalton Cloyd, Fair Grove: Talk about a difference maker. Cloyd had his hands all over a 49-7 win over Fair Grove. He accounted for more than 250 all-purpose yards that included a rushing and receiving touchdown to go with a kickoff return for a touchdown. On defense, he had an interception and forced fumble.
Garrett Hadlock & Jarrett Massie, Mount Vernon: Hadlock to Massey was the story for the Mountaineers in a wild shootout loss to Reeds Spring. Hadlock was 27-for-38 for 459 yards and four touchdowns through the air. His favorite target hauled in 11 of those balls for 238 yards and two touchdowns.
Korey Robinette, Reeds Spring: If it weren’t for cramps, Robinette would be the school-record holder for most rushing yards in one game in Reeds Spring history. As it was, he carried the ball 16 times for 281 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdown runs came from 79 and 83 yards out.
What did Glendale do?
Welcome to our weekly look at what Glendale did.
The record-breaking offense got off to a great start in a 61-31 win over Joplin on the road. Alex Huston finished with 557 yards passing and four touchdowns on 37-for-52 passing. His top target was junior Max Nichols who caught four balls for 167 yards. Jeremy Almeida had 113 yards receiving on six catches. Von Oeser led the way in receptions with nine.
Glendale also showcased a willingness to run the ball with three rushing touchdowns. That is one less than the Falcons had the entirety of last season.
Up next is a trip to Hillcrest on Friday.
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O-Zone Picks Results
Mike Scott and Kai Raymer jumped out to the early lead by picking 30 of 35 games correctly.
Apologies this week go out to Ozark with that being the most common game the O-Zone Staff got wrong.
Here are the full results with the teams each person picked wrong listed behind their name:
Kai Raymer (30-5): Ozark, Carl Junction, Seneca, Hayti, Liberty
Mike Scott (30-5): Ozark, Carl Junction, Ash Grove, Sarcoxie, Hayti
Chris Parker (28-7): Glendale, Ozark, Carl Junction, Catholic, Ash Grove, Seneca, Liberty
Matt Turer (27-8): Ava, West Plains, Ozark, Catholic, Willow Springs, Sarcoxie, Seneca, Hayti
Chad Plein (26-9): Ozark, Neosho, Republic, Ash Grove, Sarcoxie, Lexington, Seneca, Hayti, Midway
Justin Sampson (26-9): Ozark, Carl Junction, Republic, Willow Springs, Sarcoxie, Marionville, Lexington, Seneca, Hayti
Bobby Oler (26-9): Glendale, Ozark, Carl Junction, Neosho, Republic, Catholic, Lexington, Hayti, Midway
Riley Bean (24-11): West Plains, Glendale, Ozark, Catholic, Ash Grove, Willow Springs, Sarcoxie, Lighthouse, Lexington, Seneca, Hayti
IN THE ZONE: Week 1 Reaction
Week 1 Takeaways
We are only one week into the season, so I try not to overreact to small sample sizes, but here are some things that stood out in Week 1.
The COC Large is wide open
For the first time since joining the COC Large, Webb City is not the favorite. None of the games involving COC Large teams were TKO’s on Friday either.
Carl Junction beat Webb City, but an inadvertent whistle erased a pick-six for Webb City which turned out to be a 10-point swing on the scoreboard and even bigger swing for in-game momentum.
Willard had a chance against Nixa late before untimely penalties doomed the Tigers. Watch out as Quintin Batson starts to get more comfortable with the Willard offense.
Neosho trailed Branson early and needed a monster day from Coleman Scott to put the Pirates away.
Ozark picked up Chad Depee’s first COC Large win by beating 2015 Class 5 state semifinalist Carthage.
Republic pulled off a comeback to beat COC Small Bolivar and showcased a strong running game in the process.
You could talk me into believing many things about this conference. The COC Large will be a rollercoaster week-to-week.
Class 4 – District 5
The Carl Junction win is also massive for district seeding purposes. If Carl Junction were to slip behind Webb City in the standings and be side-by-side, the Bulldogs could file a protest to be flipped with Webb City. It could be the difference between getting Webb at home or hitting the road for a playoff game.
Right now, West Plains sits atop the standings in this district after blowing out Class 5 Waynesville. Seeding will be paramount in this district with an already tough district becoming more difficult with the addition of Camdenton.
Class 2 shows its depth
Lamar did Lamar things and rolled to a 50-0 victory over Cassville. Liberty put the state on notice with a win over a state-ranked Class 4 team. Mountain Grove hasn’t missed a beat despite being on its third head coach in as many seasons. Fair Grove showed a ton of versatility in a win over Buffalo.
Republic’s stable of backs
It is going to take a village for Republic to replace Jerney Jones. The Tigers were led in the backfield by David Feil and quarterback Riley Watkins, but the Tigers wore down Bolivar in the latter stages of the game with several quality backs.
Best of Week 2 Games
Republic at Carl Junction
Carl Junction now begins life as the COC Large favorite. The Bulldogs had all year to think about losing to Webb City in last year’s district final, and they focused that energy on a masterpiece of a defensive effort to take down the champs. Now, CJ must pivot to the next opponent while keeping the same intensity. We will learn a lot about the quality of Republic’s running game in this one as they try to play strength-on-strength with the Bulldog defense.
Camdenton at West Plains
Two of the best backs in the Ozarks go head to head in Jay Griffin and Keegan Hoopes. West Plains was unchallenged in Week 1, but Camdenton had to claw for a victory over Hillcrest.
Willard at Bolivar
Both of these teams struggled to finish in Week 1. Bolivar ran out of gas against Republic as the Liberators allowed 20 points unanswered to the Tigers. Willard marched down to Nixa territory late with a shot to win, but penalties erased the shot at a come from behind win. Bolivar's Connor Sechler threw for 254 yards in the opener with 183 of those yards going to Conley Garrison and Brandon Emmert. Willard will look for Central transfer Quinton Batson to get more comfortable in the offense.
MV-BT/Liberty at Aurora
I like Liberty to win this game as they try to see how they stack up against Mountain Grove’s Week 1 result against the Houn’ Dawgs. You will be hard-pressed to find a better quarterback match up with Liberty’s Josh Pruett and Aurora’s Payton Evans facing off.
