By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Nixa football coach John Perry said turnovers were the difference on Friday night, and Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said one in particular was a turning point.
After a Nixa punt pinned Joplin at its own 16 with 1:12 left in the first half, the host Eagles opted to try for a late score down 14-13. But Nixa’s Spencer Ward picked off a pass and returned it to the goal line, and Malachi Rider punched it in to give the visitors an eight-point lead going into the half.
Nixa went on to win 35-27 at Junge Field thanks in part to Ward’s interception and two more Joplin turnovers, as the visiting Eagles improved to 5-0 while remaining in the driver’s seat for the Central Ozark Conference crown.
“The interception, the fumbles were huge because we were having trouble getting them stopped a little bit,” Perry said. “They were doing a really good job offensively – the running back’s really good. The turnovers were the difference in the ballgame, no doubt about it.”
“I felt like obviously the biggest turning point was right before half when we made that turnover and that’s on me,” Jasper said. “That kid made a heck of a punt and pinned us deep and we probably should have just gone into halftime. I’ll take this one, this one’s all on me.”
Class 6 No. 4 Nixa entered Friday with an 0-4 record at Junge since Joplin joined the COC, but the visitors never trailed in this one.
Ward opened the scoring with a 67-yard touchdown reception after bouncing off one tackle and racing to the end zone untouched. Joplin (3-2) tied it at 7 on a 1-yard run by Quinton Renfro.
Nixa turned to running back Dylan Rebura for its next possession; the junior carried the ball all 11 plays on a 76-yard drive and made it 14-7 with an 11-yard score a minute into the second quarter.
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Class 6 No. 10 Joplin then marched from its own 24 to the Nixa 21 before Nixa’s Elijah Frazier picked up a fumble and returned it into Joplin territory.
The home Eagles scored with 3:19 left in the half on a 22-yard Renfro run, and after Nixa was flagged for being offsides on the extra point attempt, Joplin decided to go for two but couldn’t convert the pass.
Two minutes later, after a Nixa punt, Ward came up with his interception to set up Nixa’s 21-13 halftime advantage.
Nixa made it 28-13 with 6:12 left in the third on an 8-yard run by Rider after converting a fake punt on a fourth-and-1 at its own 44; Rider took the snap and gained five yards.
Joplin threatened soon after, after Renfro gained 53 yards to the Nixa 18. But then Joplin fumbled again and Nixa’s Michael Henegar recovered.
Joplin made it a 28-20 game with 8:47 remaining when Neil Barstow hauled in an 8-yard touchdown reception from Hobbs Gooch.
Nixa answered by converting twice on third down and scoring on a 21-yard Rider run with four minutes left that made it 35-20 and effectively put the game out of reach.
Joplin tacked on a 6-yard Gooch-to-Aidan Sampson touchdown with 1:39 on the clock, but Nixa recovered the ensuing onside kick and then Rider rushed for a first down to let the visitors line up in victory formation.
“Us being able to run the football and manage the clock in the second half and limit how many snaps they got was extremely important,” Perry said. “But the name of this game is turnovers and we had fewer than they had. Until next time we’ll take it.”
Nixa possessed the ball for more than 16 of 24 minutes in the second half.
“Two good football teams trading punches,” Jasper said. “It was a good high school football game.”
“We’re trying to be the best that we can be to give ourselves an opportunity to play as long as we can play,” Perry said. “As you can tell we’ve still got a lot of stuff to work on. We’ve still got a long way to go but we’ll get to work Sunday to get better, I promise you that.”
Nixa totaled 398 yards of offense and amassed 279 on the ground. Rebura carried it 26 times for 166 yards. Uber completed 7 of 11 passes for 119 yards. Rylan Michel had three catches for 32 yards and Ward had a 67-yard catch.
Joplin finished with 391 yards offensively. Gooch completed 15 of 25 passes for 179 yards, and Renfro rushed 19 times for 179 yards. Jett Beal had four catches for 79 yards and Barstow had three for 26.
