By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It took just nine plays for Joplin to score its first two touchdowns on Thursday night, and then the Eagles were held scoreless for more than 30 minutes of football.
But Joplin tacked on two more in the fourth quarter to pull away from Willard for a 28-14 win in week two action at Junge Field.
“We got off to a good start and then we sputtered,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “I thought we made a lot of mistakes that hurt ourselves offensively. I thought defensively we played pretty dang good throughout the entire game and then we came back, made some plays offensively and got a couple more touchdowns and then they punch one in at the end when we had quite a few backups in. Never apologize for a win, especially in this conference. Willard’s a much-improved team. Hats off to them. The (Russell) Roweton kid’s a heck of a quarterback and they play hard.”
Joplin, ranked eighth in Class 6, racked up 171 yards in penalties, but it was turnovers and fourth downs that hurt the Eagles most.
Three times Joplin marched into Tigers territory and came away empty handed. The Eagles turned it over on downs at the 26-yard-line in the second quarter, and fumbled inside the 10 and turned it over on downs at the 33 in the second half.
There was also an interception at the Joplin 30 in the first half, but the visitors failed to convert either turnover into points.
“That’s probably the difference in the ballgame because it takes momentum away from us so that’s unfortunate,” Willard coach Frank Tristan said.
Joplin benefited from good field position throughout the game. The Eagles started their first possession at the 45 and needed three plays to score with quarterback Hobbs Gooch connecting with Whit Hafer for a 32-yard catch-and-run touchdown a minute into the game.
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The Eagles got the ball back inside the 50 on their second possession and made it 14-0 on a 1-yard plunge by running back Toryn Jones with 6:52 left in the first quarter.
Willard got on the board with 15 seconds left in the half on an 18-yard screen pass from Roweton to Gary Walker and trailed 14-6 at the break.
Joplin’s first drive of the second half started at the Willard 36 after a punt, but that possession ended in the fumble near the end zone. The Eagles started at the Tigers’ 44 on their next possession but threw incomplete on fourth-and-10 at the 33.
Then, Joplin got the ball at the Willard 20 early in the fourth quarter after a punt and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Jones scored on a 12-yard run at the 8:07 mark to make it 21-6, and he added a 1-yard score less than two minutes later for a 28-6 lead.
Joplin’s Chavis Coleman picked off a deflected pass to end the next Willard possession, but the Tigers managed to cover 77 yards in the final 78 seconds and scored as time expired on a 25-yard touchdown pass and added a conversion.
“Our defense played really well,” Tristan said. “I was really proud of those guys. We played a lot of kids both ways and that is hard against a team that’s got really good players so I’m proud of our guys. A lot of our seniors played both ways … Overall it was a good thing for us as a smaller school competing well.”
Joplin totaled 294 yards of offense to Willard’s 256 and did so without senior running back Quinton Renfro, who missed the game with an injury. Led by Jones’ effort, the Eagles still rushed for 136 yards while quarterback Gooch tacked on 144 through the air.
“Hopefully we can get (Renfro) back as soon as possible,” Jasper said. “Toryn and Kaden (Gilmore) did a heck of a job. I thought they ran real tough. And obviously on the offensive line we had to rotate a couple guys in there, had some bumps and bruises up there, too. They all played real hard and I’m proud of them for competing real tough tonight.”
The 2-0 Eagles will host Ozark next week, while the 1-1 Tigers host Branson.
