Carthage burned the Nixa secondary early with receiver Arkell Smith, stymied the Eagles all night defensively then closed the game with a smash-mouth rushing effort from quarterback Keith Guest II.
The Blue and White Tigers now enter October alone atop the COC-Large standings.
Carthage (6-1 overall) used a big all-around game from Guest II and a smothering defense to shut down Nixa (5-2 overall) for a 25-7 home victory Friday night. The Tigers have won six straight after dropping their season opener at Ozark.
Coach Jon Guidie said it’s a group that continues to succeed thanks to a true team-first style.
“I’m still trying to figure these guys out. I really am,” he said. “They’re a fun group to coach. I don’t know if we have any superstars on this team, but they all kind of play together and care about each other. That goes a long way. I think the result – the six-game winning streak – is a product of that.”
Providing much of Carthage’s offense on the night were the Guest II and Smith connection. The duo connected for the game’s first three touchdowns, the final one of which put Carthage ahead 19-0 less than five minutes into the third quarter.
Guest II finished 12-for-20 passing for 226 yards and three touchdowns. He added 21 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown, with 121 of those rushing yards coming after halftime as Carthage wore out a Nixa defense that was on the field for 35 plays in the second half.
“He’s a train, man,” said Carthage lineman Tucker Edmonson of Guest II. “He’s a 205-pound running back, pretty much.”
Smith had 7 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns, those gaudy numbers coming despite a drop on a would-be 65-yard touchdown catch in the second half.
After Carthage held Nixa on downs at its 36 on the third series of the game, Carthage went deep for a 67-yard touchdown pass from Guest II to Smith on the next play to go up 6-0.
“Thank goodness we had that combination going for us because we found running the football to be pretty hard in the first half,” Guidie said. “Luckily, we were able to connect with Keith to Arkell a couple of times and loosen (Nixa) up.”
The game’s turning point may have come late in the first half as Nixa was driving for a potential tying score.
Instead, Dillon Lancaster picked off a Nixa pass that set up the Carthage offense at the Eagles’ 44 with 11 seconds remaining.
Guest II hit Shane Becker for a 38-yard gain on the next play to get Tigers to the Nixa 6 with three seconds remaining. On the final play of the first half, Guest II found Smith on a slant over the middle and Carthage took a 12-0 lead into halftime.
“First half, we definitely felt like we could’ve been in a different spot but we weren’t,” said Nixa coach Rich Rehagen. The Eagles had their first three drives of the game end in Carthage territory. “We were down two scores at half and felt like… we had played better than that – better than being down two scores.
“That touchdown at the end of the first half is just something that shouldn’t happen.”
Carthage carried over the momentum from that late first-half touchdown into the second half, opening the third quarter with an eight-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Guest II to Smith.
Nixa answered with its only score of the game as sophomore Sean Sample returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.
It was an otherwise frustrating night for the Eagles’ offense. Five trips into Carthage territory yielded zero points.
Nixa, splitting snaps at quarterback between Andrew Rivera and Jack Sanders, completed 2 of 9 passes for 12 yards. The Eagles threw three interceptions and gave up five sacks, including two to the 330-pounder Edmonson.
“It’s always nice to get some sacks,” Edmonson said. “It was real good because I haven’t got a lot of those yet this year because it’s been hot and I’ve played both ways. But, I’m starting to get conditioned and get a lot better.”
Clinging to a 14-7 lead with Nixa driving inside the Tigers’ 35, Carthage got a key interception from Trey Collins.
That play set up a clock-chewing, nine-play, 86-yard drive capped by a 22-yard touchdown run from Guest II. He did the bulk of the work on the driving, calling his own number eight times for 77 yards.
“I thought coming out of halftime that our coaches made some great adjustments offensively based on the front that (Nixa) was giving us,” Guidie said. “It really started to get the running game going.”
Carthage’s defense held Nixa to less than 200 total yards of offense. Nicos Oropeza led Nixa with 20 carries for 123 yards, but only 38 of those came after halftime as Nixa was forced to pass. The Eagles ran only 16 plays in the second half.
Carthage visits Republic (2-5 overall) next week while Nixa travels to Christian County rival Ozark.
Carthage 25, Nixa 7
Nixa 0 0 7 0 — 7
Carthage 6 6 7 6 — 25
First quarter
Carthage – Guest II 67 pass to Smith (kick failed)
Second quarter
Carthage – Guest II 6 pass to Smith (run failed)
Third quarter
Carthage – Guestt II 30 pass to Smith (Guest II kick)
Nixa – Sample 91 kickoff return (Sample kick)
Fourth quarter
Carthage – Guest II 22 run (pass failed)
