There wasn't anything at stake. No district seeding or conference title on the line, but Nixa and Kickapoo didn't hold anything back.
A rematch of last year's Class 4, District 10 championship game–which Nixa won 3-2 in penalty kicks–lived up to its billing, with Kickapoo edging out its rival 2-1 at Nixa High School on Tuesday night.
"We knew it was going to be one of these games, but I don't think anyone knew we'd have these events," said Kickapoo acting coach Josh McCutcheon.
KICKAPOO VS. NIXA PHOTO GALLERY
Seven yellow cards were handed out on Tuesday, including two to Kickapoo head coach Phil Hodge and one to Nixa head coach Evan Palmer midway through the first half for arguing with the referee. McCutcheon took over coaching duties for Kickapoo in Hodge's absence.
"We're big rivals," Palmer said. "The last couple years, we've gone back and forth, back and forth as to who wins. I know there was a lot of revenge factor on their side with the district playoff win we had last year."
Nixa jumped in front early, with senior forward Parker Crawford finding the net from 10 yards out just nine minutes into the contest. Two minutes later, Kickapoo sophomore forward Jaxon Riddle chased a through ball from teammate Cole Johnson, knocked it away from the opponent, spun around a defender, and sent in the equalizer.
"The (Nixa defender) got the ball and I poked it out from underneath him," Riddle said. "I just cut in and shot it from the left corner into the right side."
Riddle kept Nixa defenders on their toes most of the night, utilizing his speed to create scoring chances and apply pressure, even when he was outnumbered.
"Jaxon's a special kid," McCutcheon said. "That's really all that needs to be said. He finds a way to get it done. There's not a kid around here that's like him. I think in the next couple years, he'll be something very, very special."
In the 22nd minute, Kickapoo took the lead when Johnson collected a pass off a corner kick and booted it through.
Nixa threatened on several occasions early in the second half but couldn't bust through. Brady Harrison's strike from 25 yards out–just minutes after halftime–was knocked out on a beautiful diving play by Kickapoo sophomore keeper Jacob Holman. In the 55th, Kevin King's blast from just right of the 18 seemed ticketed for the back of the net but banged off the crossbar instead.
"I saw Brady had some space, and he's a great player when he has the ball," said Holman, remembering his diving save. "When he took a cut to his left, I knew he was going to try to put it across the goal. When I saw it was rising and a hard shot, I had to just push off and hope I was going to get to it. Once I got my hand to it, I knew I had to parry it so there wasn't another save to make."
Despite the loss, Palmer was encouraged by his team's play.
"Early second half, the first 10-15 minutes, I thought we really played well," Palmer said. "We just couldn't get the goal. We were doing the right thing then. Winning balls, we wanted it more, we were making good runs outside and inside, making some really nice combination plays at the top of the box. It's a good start."
McCutcheon hopes his team will take the momentum from Tuesday's win into a matchup Friday against Lee's Summit West.
"(Nixa) beat us twice last year, so it's nice to get one back tonight," McCutcheon said. "It's a good confidence booster moving forward."
Kickapoo 2 0 2
Nixa 1 0 1
GOALS
8:12 (Nixa): Parker Crawford
10:29 (Kickapoo): Jaxon Riddle
21:20 (Kickapoo): Cole Johnson
