In the four years since the current Missouri state play-off system has existed with every team qualifying for the post-season, Reeds Spring has gone into district play as a top-seed. But every year, the Wolves have been taken out in the district semifinals or finals by a team from the Big 8. For two years, Aurora. For another two years, Monett. And this year, Mt. Vernon, the number four seed, got revenge from a week one loss to Reeds Spring by ending the Wolves 8-2 season with a 26-20 decision.
“I knew we could play better than that first time,” Mt. Vernon head coach Tom Cox explained. “I told our guys I’m not sure we had any idea of how good we really could be when we came down here for the first time. We scored a lot of points but we gave up a lot (the Mountaineers lost 47-34 in the season opener). But this time assistant coach Chris Johnston did a great job with our game plan defensively and we executed.”
“We’ve gotten a lot better over the last nine weeks,” added Mountaineer quarterback Garrett Hadlock. “We knew we’d see them again. We just didn’t know when. But we were well prepared.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Mt. Vernon (7-4) had never made it past the first round under the new system until this year, when they beat Hollister 44-20 to advance on to take on the Class 3, District 4 top-seeded Wolves.
The Mountaineers almost scored on their second possession before throwing an 11-yard interception that was picked-off in the end zone by Reeds Spring’s Seth Stamps.
But on their next possession Mt. Vernon moved 94-yards, converting a key fourth-and-11 pass from quarterback Hadlock to Andrew Montemayor from the 35 yard-line down inside the Reeds Spring two. And from there, running back Sammy Robinson went over for the first-of-two short first-half touchdowns.
The other short TD came in the second quarter after Reeds Spring tried a fake punt inside their own 30 and came up four-yards short. That led to Robinson’s second score and a 12-0 Mountaineer lead as they failed on both two-point conversions.
With 1:20 left in the second quarter, Reeds Spring struck quickly on an option-pitch out of their flexbone offense in which Stamps broke free on a 60-yard touchdown to make it 12-6 after a missed extra-point. And the Wolves would add an early third quarter TD to take their first lead at 13-12.
That lead though was short-lived. Mt. Vernon immediately countered with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Hadlock to Montemayor to go in front again at 18-13. And early in the fourth quarter an 8-play, 87-yard drive ended with Hadlock hitting Jayden Buttrum from eight-yards-out for a 26-13 spread after the Mountaineers added their first two-point-conversion of the night.
Reeds Spring still made things very interesting. With 3:22 left in the game, a lateral pass behind the line of scrimmage quickly turned from a disaster into a touchdown when J.P. Gardner picked up the loose ball that at first appeared to be an incomplete pass and ran it into the end zone to pull the Wolves within 26-20.
And with 2:18 remaining, Gardner intercepted a pass and returned to his own 41 yard-line, leaving Reeds Spring 59-yards from a possible go-ahead score. However, the Wolves final surge would get stopped on fourth down at the Mountaineer 26, four yards short of a first down. And with that, Mt. Vernon had gotten sweet revenge 26-20.
“Even in our defeats we were getting better,” Cox said of the turnaround. “We were either the worst-of-the-best in our conference or the best-of-the-worst, right in that middle area. But I think a game like this wil help get us over the hump. The seniors have really come a long way. They never won in Mighty-Mites, they never won a single-game in junior high, and they’ve gotten so much better. I couldn’t be more proud.”
“It’s great,” Hadlock said. “This is the most wins I’ve had during my high school career so this means the world to me.”
And now that they’ve knocked off the district’s top-seed, they’ll get the chance to take out the number two seed in the final as they travel to Monett, who’s also ranked fourth in the state in Class 3.
“They beat us earlier in the season (42-28),” Fox said. “We’re confident we can score against them but our guys have just go to do a better job on defense and now I think our guys believe we can do that.”[wpbvideo id=’302225′]
