SENECA, Mo. — The feeling never gets old for Scott Bailey.
After years of being the Big 8’s afterthought, Lamar topped Seneca, 42-13, to claim the program’s third straight conference championship in what will be the final year of the traditional conference alignment.
“You come to Seneca and the first person you see is Tom Hodge and you start remembering everything that took place even when I played down here and not only could we not score but we couldn’t get a first down,” said Bailey. “Remembering how good those Seneca teams were and to know that we’re playing at or near that level… I would never compare our team and what we’re doing to any other but if someone were to tell me that what we’re doing looks similar to what Tom Hodge was doing that would be the ultimate compliment.”
It was an emotional Senior Night celebration prior to kickoff, but the Tigers defense quickly snatched any momentum in the game’s open drives.
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Seneca totaled just 48 yards in the first half, finishing with nearly as many turnovers (2) as first downs (3).
Landon Hardman had an interception in the first quarter and Travis Bailey forced a fumbled in the second, each giving Lamar short fields that led to quick scores.
Seneca was held to a season-low 13 points, which is the most Lamar has allowed in a game all season.
“Our defense gets overlooked because of the uniqueness of our offense and at times I feel bad for those guys,” said Bailey. “On Monday we were on the field until 7:15, mainly working on how we should be lining up. We wanted to make sure we lined up and put guys in position to make a play. Seneca hasn’t turned the ball over very much this year, that wasn’t something we were counting on.”
Offensively it was more of the same with Lamar rushing for 409 yards on 52 carries.
Senior Cooper Lucas finished with 136 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns. Classmate Mike Danner added 135 yards on 12 carries and two scores, also adding a 37-yard touchdown reception.
Junior quarterback Duncan Gepner completed both of his passes for 51 yards, both ended in touchdowns.
“They’re just so physical,” said Seneca head coach Ryan McFarland. “You can watch film and people can tell you about it but until you see them it’s not the same; they’re so good at what they do. They carry out fakes and it’s hard to find the ball. We preached to them all week that we wanted to slow them down and see what happens. We did at times but it wasn’t enough.”
Lamar is currently one of the nation’s premier programs, but Bailey couldn’t help but commend McFarland for what he’s putting together at Seneca, applauding him for his offensive variety and the talent of his young players.
McFarland graciously smiled when being made aware of Bailey’s comments, but quickly acknowledged that his team must get back to work.
While the loss looks bad on paper, Seneca may not be as far away as it seems. With just seven seniors conventional wisdom says that Seneca is too young.
But, the Indians enter district play 8-1 with the No. 1 seed in Class 3 – District 4.
In the last five years Monett (twice), Aurora and Seneca have all lost to Lamar during the regular season only to rebound and make a Final Four run. Monett won a state championship (2016) and Seneca finished as the Class 3 runner up (2012).
