By Jeff Kessinger (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The acronym is everywhere you look in Nixa. On coach John Perry’s mask. On the back of T-shirts. Even a red trash can on the Nixa sideline has four letters emblazoned on it: DMGB.
It stands for “Doesn’t Matter Get Better.” The Eagles’ 2020 motto came in handy when Lee’s Summit West scored on the final play of the first half of the Class 6 District 3 semifinal game at Eagle Stadium Saturday afternoon.
“We gave up a play right there, but so what? We knew we were going to have to score some more points to win the ballgame,” Perry, in his first year at Nixa, said. “Our motto is ‘Doesn’t Matter Get Better’ and that didn’t matter at that point in time.”
Nixa shrugged off that 21-14 deficit and ran away from the Titans in the fourth quarter for a 40-28 win to earn a berth in the District 3 championship game. Nixa (9-2) travels to top seed Raymore-Peculiar (9-2), ranked No. 4 in Class 6, next Friday.
“I came out here with the mentality that we had to have players make plays,” senior wide receiver Smith Wheeler said. “That’s what Coach had been saying last week. We came up short two weeks ago against Carthage. We could’ve won if it hadn’t been for a couple of plays, so I didn’t want that to happen again.”
Wheeler, like DMGB, was everywhere Saturday. The senior wideout caught seven passes for 169 yards and a touchdown, including three big grabs for 40 yards in the second half. Two of them came on the game-tying drive in the third quarter to set up a 1-yard plunge by Ramone Green to make the score 21-all.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
West, meanwhile, was plagued with turnovers. Nixa’s Kolyn Eli made a stellar leaping interception to in the end zone to snuff out one Titans drive. Nixa scored on the ensuing possession to take the lead, with Reid Potts finding Jackson Bray for a 14-yard score just seconds into the fourth quarter.
Lee’s Summit West (7-4) fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting up a 1-yard run by Riley Childs that put Nixa on top 34-21 with 11:30 to play. It was the second Eagles touchdown in 20 seconds of clock time.
The talented Titans offense managed to get back on the board to stay in the game, marching 69 yards in 11 plays. West converted a pair of fourth downs in the drive, including the scoring play, an 8-yard pass from Trysten Keeney to Colby Baggett. That made it 34-28 with 8:08 remaining.
But Wheeler wasn’t done with the theatrics. His one-handed, juggling catch netted 25 yards to the West 20 and set up the final touchdown of the game. Green powered in from 4 yards out with 6:13 to play to put the game out of reach, and a Dylan Ayres interception put the game on ice.
It was an impressive outing from an athlete who hadn’t played football since he was sophomore.
“What a football player. We grabbed that dude out of math class, right, and he comes out here and puts on an absolute show,” Perry said. “Without him we probably don’t win that ballgame. He made a lot of huge catches down the stretch.”
Nixa’s first-year coach wasn’t lying about that math class thing.
“I was actually sitting in math one day last year,” Wheeler said. “I hadn’t planned on playing football, but he pulled me out of class and told me I should give it a shot. I was really focused on running track in college, but I started working with him over the summer. I’d played football in the past, but I took last year off. Now I’m having more fun than ever.”
Potts, who missed some of this season with a knee injury, was stellar, too. He went 16-for-29 passing for 249 yards and three touchdowns. His smile was electric as he emerged from the locker room after the game.
“This feels amazing. It’s a good win,” Potts said. “I noticed they were stacking up the box against (Green) and we had to beat them with some (run-pass options) and the receivers did a good job running the right routes.”
But even when things weren’t going right, Potts was unshakable.
“You probably have no idea how many plays he made on his own when the initial wasn’t set up like we thought,” Perry said. “He goes to read No. 2 and read No. 3 and makes the play. What a tough kid, to battle through what he’s battled through and come out and play. We have a saying: tough people win. He had it on his wrist, TPW. He is a super tough kid.”
West focused its defense on Green early, but they could only hold the sophomore down for so long. He rushed for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the second half, giving him 154 yards for the game.
The Titans put up some big offensive numbers, too, but struggled to get into the endzone in the third quarter. That’s because Nixa was well prepared for the Lee’s Summit West offense.
“We thought they were very similar to us in that they do all types of stuff,” Perry said. “They throw it, they have trick plays, they gadget you, and our defense has seen a lot of that. They had a lot of really good players we had to keep an eye on, but we were ready.”
The first half had plenty of drama, with West getting off to a dynamite start. Nixa was flagged for offsides on its first play of the game and West’s Shane Frederickson intercepted a pass on the very next snap. He later pounded his way into the endzone from 1 yard out to give the Titans a 7-0 lead just 90 seconds into the game.
Nixa evened the score late in the quarter thanks to a 5-yard connection between Potts and Michael Grizzell, but Frederickson’s second 1-yard score nosed West back in front 14-13.
A big play gave the Eagles their first lead of the game with 1:35 to play before the half. Potts threw a rainbow down the left sideline in the direction of Wheeler. He checked up on his route and made a leaping catch en route to a 65-yard score and a 14-13 advantage.
Then came that half-ending touchdown for West. The Titans capped an 11-play, 74-yard drive with a 6-yard pass from Keeney to Baggett. That drive nearly ended on a 4th-and-4 at the 39, but Nixa was called for pass interference giving West new life. The Titans scored three plays later.
But that was the beginning of the end for Lee’s Summit West. Nixa, however, is still writing its story.
“We are absolutely excited to keep playing,” Perry said. He then gestured to a giant ring on his finger, a state championship he won as head coach in Pearl, Mississippi. “I don’t normally wear this ring, but I wore it today and told them this is what we play for. This is what we’re here for, so let’s do the best we can and try to win them all. Why not us?”
SCORING SUMMARY
LSW 7 14 0 7 — 28
NHS 7 7 7 19 — 40
First Quarter
10:35 — West: Shane Frederickson 1 run (Jackson Surrat kick), 7-0
5:32 — Nixa: Michael Grizzell 5 pass from Reid Potts (Kaleb James kick), 7-7
Second Quarter
7:35 — West: Frederickson 1 run (run failed), 13-7
1:35 — Nixa: Smith Wheeler 65 pass from Potts (James kick), 14-13
:00 — West: Colby Baggett 6 pass from Trysten Keeney (Cam Careswell pass from Keeney), 21-14
Third Quarter
5:45 — Nixa: Ramone Green 1 run (James kick), 21-21
Fourth Quarter
11:50 — Nixa: Jackson Bray 14 pass from Potts (James kick), 28-21
11:30 — Nixa: Riley Childs 1 run (kick failed), 34-21
8:08 — West: Baggett 8 pass from Keeney (Surrat kick), 34-28
6:13 — Nixa: Green 4 run (kick failed), 40-28
Class 6 District 3 Semifinals
(2) Nixa (8-2) v (3) Lee’s Summit West (7-3)
Nixa No. 9 in Class 6, LSW received votes; Titans have been ranked this season as high as 3; Nixa ranked as high as 2
Nixa’s 2 losses this season to the No. 1 & 2 teams in Class 5, No. 1 Carthage (35-12), No. 2 Webb City (28-0); LSW’s losses to Class 6 No. 3 Liberty (38-20), UR Blue Springs (43-36), Class 6 No. 7 Liberty North (22-15)
Nixa won by FFT in first round, against Lee’s Summit North
Lee’s Summit West beat Kickapoo 41-0
Nixa 4-0 at home; LSW 3-2 on the road
Nixa avg 31.4-12.3; LSW 28.9-20.2
