By Stephen Buus (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Greenfield — Fans of both teams got way more than their money’s worth in the 8-Man District 4 semifinal. The Greenfield Wildcats saw a 16-point lead evaporate, went back ahead on a kickoff return, then intercepted an Osceola pass in the end zone to preserve a 42-38 victory over the upset-minded Osceola Indians.
Greenfield led 24-8 at the half on two short touchdown runs by junior quarterback Bailey Baker, sandwiching a 72-yard bomb to Marcus Wright. But the Indians were able to keep the Wildcats out of the end zone on the final drive of the second quarter and that helped keep Osceola in the game.
The Tribe went three-and-out to start the third quarter, but an effective punt by Mitchell Wilson pinned Greenfield deep in its own territory. A high shotgun to Baker forced him out of the back of the end zone for an Osceola safety to pull within 24-10. Osceola got another break when the free kick went out of bounds, giving them the ball at the midfield 40-yard line. They made short work of the short field as senior fullback Riley White scored from one yard out to make it 24-18.
Greenfield responded on the next drive as Baker reached paydirt for the third to extend the lead back to two possessions at 30-18.
Osceola rallied for two more touchdowns to tie the game at 30-30 as the possibility of overtime now was on nearly everyone’s mind at the Greenfield Athletic Stadium.
The Wildcats retook the lead with 7:36 to play on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Baker to Brayton Ipock, but missed on the two-point conversion.
At 5:11, White scored his second TD from 3 yards out on a play set up by a 23-yard pass from Tyler Guerin to Wilson. White added a two-point run to put Osceola up 38-36.
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But on the ensuing kickoff, Gage Burns, who was shaken up earlier in the fourth quarter with a cramp, took the ball 59 yards to the house for what would prove would be the final score.
Osceola did have one more chance, though. After the following kickoff was fumbled out of bounds at their own 2-yardline, the Indians drove down the field with some hard-nosed running. Hunter Noakes broke free for 49 yards on a jet sweep down to the Greenfield 15. Needing a touchdown, Guerin threw for the end zone only to see Burns intercept it to seal the win for Greenfield.
“We knew coming in it was going to be a pretty hard-fought game,” said Greenfield coach Jason Smith. “We played them in Week Four and they played us pretty close until we pulled away late in the game. You can tell Coach (Paul) Carney has done a tremendous job with those kids, and we knew we had to really stay disciplined on defense.”
“No second guessing on anything,” said Osceola coach Carney about the interception. “Sometimes you make plays, sometimes the other team makes plays. Our quarterback tried to make a play, the ball just hung up a little bit and could just as easily have gone the other way.”
Greenfield looks to avenge last year’s playoff loss to Sacred Heart next week in Sedalia.
Osceola 8 0 16 14—38
Greenfield 8 16 6 12—42
First quarter
Osceola—Garrett DeWitt 5 run (Hunter Noakes run), 7:49
Greenfield—Bailey Baker 1 run (Gage Burns run), 5:43
Second quarter
Greenfield—Marcus Wright 72 pass from Baker (Baker run), 11:04
Greenfield—Baker 2 run (Burns run), 8:26
Third quarter
Osceola—Safety, Greenfield ball out of end zone, 7:53
Osceola—Riley White 1 run (Justin Nale pass from Tyler Guerin), 5:01
Greenfield—Baker 1 run (run failed), 3:49
Osceola—Guerin 9 run (kick blocked), 3:15
Fourth quarter
Osceola—DeWitt 1 run (run failed), 9:46
Greenfield—Brayton Ipock 9 pass from Baker (run failed), 7:36
Osceola—White 3 run (White run), 5:11
Greenfield—Burns 59 kickoff return (run failed), 4:59
