By Derek Shore
Cassville, MO – The River flowed heavily in the opening round of Class 3, District 4 playoffs on Friday night.
Cassville running back River Phelps spearheaded the offensive onslaught, chugging along for 223 yards on 19 carries, collecting a whopping six touchdowns, as his three-seeded Wildcats turbo-clocked the six-seeded East Newton Patriots, 63-15 on Friday night.
“(My mentality) was just to push the ball hard,” Phelps said after the game,” and to take the game and put it away. Make sure we finished it.”
Indeed they did.
But…
Holding a 28-15 lead at halftime, Cassville quickly found a spark with the new half. The Wildcats pushed the ball into the end zone on four consecutive offensive series capped by a pair of 20-plus yard Phelps TD runs and a Shannon Haney 30-yard TD score, building up a 56-15 lead with 1:04 left to play in the third frame to ignite the turbo clock.
Freshman running back Jonathan Medina provided the knockout punch in the fourth quarter, scoring from five yards out thanks to a fumble recovered by linebacker Braden Strahan as Cassville breezed to a 63-15 victory at home.
“I thought we came out a little flat in the first half,” said Cassville head coach Lance Parnell. “Credit to East Newton, they played very well. We made some mistakes that cost us in the first half that allowed them to score a couple of touchdowns.
“I thought the kids did an excellent job in the second half to rebound. We played much, much better in the second half.”
The first of Phelps’s touchdown runs came via a 31-yard scamper in the first as he gashed the right side of the Patriots defense after a quick three-and-out from East Newton to open the game. Two minutes later, the senior cruised to the end zone on a 41-yarder.
The Patriots countered, returning a 45-yard kickoff return to midfield as quarterback Chance Liveoak punched in a two-yard TD. East Newton converted on a two-point conversion, cutting it to 14-8 towards the end of he first quarter.
After yet another Phelps touchdown, Liveoak connected on a 41-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brandon Jordon in the second, but the Patriots were held scoreless the entire second half and could not stop the River.
“He’s just real elusive,” East Newton head coach Jamie LaSalle said of Phelps, who accounted for 227 total yards of offense for Cassville. “They’re line — I’ll give them credit — they do a good job of staying on people and River is good about staying behind his blocks.
“With the speed like that, he’s got really good lateral movement. He’s a really good cutback runner and has speed.”
In the end, Cassville quarterback Haney completed seven of 12 passes for 47 yards with an interception. Steven Hunter had ten carries for 58 yards, including a touchdown. Phelps caught four passes for 38 yards. Troy Rose caught one pass for nine yards.
As a whole, the Wildcats recorded an unofficial 14 first downs throughout the night.
On the other side, East Newton’s Liveoak went 14-for-24 with 154 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. Jordon finished with seven catches for 131 yards, including a touchdown.
In addition, the Patriots conclude the 2016 season with an improved record of 3-7 after going winless last year. First-year head coach LaSalle said they’ve taken drastic strides.
“We’ve come a long way,” he said. “We didn’t finish the way we wanted too. Not to make any excuses – we ran into a couple of injuries last week – that hurt because we don’t have a lot of depth. I think we have done a lot.
“Heck, 15 points, last year – we only scored five touchdowns. The fact we put some points on the board. The seniors have done a great job. It’s not easy when you’re not successful. I give them a lot of credit for staying with it and buying into it.”
As for Cassville (8-2), they oppose archrival Monett next Friday night as the Wildcats will recoup this weekend before setting their sights on avenging a 21-20 loss on Sept. 23 against the Purple Haze.
“We’re going to come out focused Monday,” Phelps said. “Keep working hard Monday through Thursday in preparation. Keep our heads focused all week long on getting ready for them.
“We’re going to enjoy this win this weekend,” Parnell added. “Go to work. We’re just happy to be playing again. We’ll go to Monett next week and see what happens.”
