By Greg Morse (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
An incredible season for the Joplin Eagles came to an end Saturday afternoon in a 56-21 loss to the Christian Brothers College High School.
Joplin entered the matchup coming off their first district championship in over twenty years. Despite being underdogs to the reigning state champion Cadets, the Eagles were determined to fight no matter the outcome.
“We just wanted to prepare as well as we possibly could. We faced a tough opponent, and even though they got the better of us, I’m still proud of these guys and the way we fought the entire way,” said Joplin head coach Curtis Jasper.
After Joplin went three-and-out on their first possession, CBC scored their first touchdown less than three minutes into the game. Joplin rallied however and tied the game with a touchdown of their own by junior Zach Westmoreland. Westmoreland hauled in the catch and took it 15-yards to the house. Westmoreland would end up having a few more big catches and some crucial returns to help the Eagles out.
CBC scored once again, and after forcing Joplin to punt again, look poised to score on a long 50-yard catch and run from senior tight end Nikolas Hea. As Hea approached the endzone however, a Joplin defender made a last-ditch effort to bring him down and forced a fumble which the Eagles recovered at their own 10-yard line.
A few drives later, with the Cadets up 21-7, Westmoreland scored again on a 7-yard catch to bring the game within one score. The Cadets would take advantage of key turnovers to go up 49-14 at the half.
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Coming out of halftime with a 49-14 deficit, the Eagles tried to mount a comeback. After junior running back Isaiah Davis had a 24-yard touchdown called back on an illegal block, sophomore Nathan Glades scampered into the endzone from 34-yards out on the very next play.
Despite not getting the touchdown he wanted, Davis led the Eagles with over 70-yards rushing.
Even though they fell just one game short of playing in the school’s first state title game in over three-decades the impact of this Eagle’s season was not missed by coach Jasper.
“We just want to keep building a program that does things the right way, both on and off the field. We want to be a part of the community, this great community of Joplin that we have.”
While it was not the ending the Eagles had hoped for this season, there was a feeling of optimism going forward and building off a strong 10-2 season, the best season the Eagles have had in many years. Coach Jasper is already looking ahead to next season,
“We’ll keep hitting the weight room and encouraging our guys and continue to do what we’ve been doing. I feel like we’ve got a great program here and we want to keep building on it.”
