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Week 4 Football Rewind

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By Chris Parker

The fourth week of the football season is in the books. Below are some of the things that stood out to me.

FIVE TEAMS THAT STOOD OUT

Pleasant Hope

The Pirates returned to varsity play for the first time since 2020 this season. On Friday, the Pirates beat Central (Kansas City) for the program’s first varsity win since Oct. 16, 2016, covering almost eight years. Dayton Altic led the Pirates with 280 yards and four touchdowns through the air. He also rushed for three two-point conversions while pulling down seven tackles and securing an interception on defense. Caleb Altic was a weapon in all phases of the game with three receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown with another 86 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. He also had a touchdown in the return game while pulling down eight tackles and forcing a fumble on defense. Case Murray turned five receptions into 161 yards and three touchdowns. He added another touchdown on defense with a 35-yard interception return. Oliver Ackles (seven tackles, one sack) and Charles Hutcherson (five solo tackles) were also factors on defense.

Mountain View Liberty

Liberty established itself as a front-runner in the SCA title race with a dominant 34-12 road win over previously unbeaten Ava. Quarterback Gavin Reese was 15-for-23 for 283 yards and two touchdowns through the air. Parker Tune caught both of those touchdowns on six receptions for 122 yards. He also rushed two times for 58 yards and another touchdown. Chris Sharr was a two-way star in the game for Liberty with eight catches for 105 yards on offense and seven tackles and an interception on defense. Jaren Rutledge carried 13 times for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 11 tackles and two tackles for a loss on defense. The Eagles are now 2-0 in SCA play with wins over Ava and Thayer, who both only have one loss each so far this season. The only other remaining unbeaten team in the SCA is Houston. Liberty does not face the Tigers until Week 9.

Cassville

The Wildcats had a bit of a disjointed start to the season with a 20-7 win over McDonald County in Week 2 being sandwiched in between a pair of losses by three touchdowns or more. On Friday, Cassville got the win it needed heading into a tough stretch of the schedule by beating then Class 2 No. 1 Lamar 35-34 to snap a five-game losing streak to the Tigers dating back to Oct. 19, 2018. Cassville did not throw the ball much in the win, but were highly effective when they did with Bodee Rose completing four of his five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Rose also had 16 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown to go with a key two-point conversion rush. Colton Roark scored in three different ways. He caught all four of Rose’s completions including a touchdown while rushing for 89 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. His third touchdown came on a 52-yard pick-six. Andon Goutney also accounted for a touchdown with eight carries for 26 yards and one score along with a two-point conversion.
The win was big for Cassville in many ways, but it came at the beginning of a four-game stretch where the Wildcats next have to travel to face Class 4 Harrisonville before back-to-back games against state-ranked Mt. Vernon and Nevada.

Parkview

It took Parkview 12 games to get Cam Bruffett his first win as head coach of the Vikings. It only took seven days for them to get him his second. Parkview was down big in the early, but showed grit to come from behind and beat Bolivar 28-27 on Friday. Defensively, Ben Rice and Jermaine Townsend were game wreckers when Parkview needed them most. Rice pulled down 16 tackles with one tackle for a loss and a forced fumble on Friday. Townsend had 12 total tackles and one tackle for a loss. He currently leads the team with 41 tackles. Khayse Highley has been a bell cow on offense with 425 yards and four touchdowns through four games, but his defense was the difference maker on Friday with a pick-six that gave Parkview the lead in the fourth quarter. He also had a two-point conversion reception late that proved to be the difference. Willie Otto continues to grow in his junior season. He was 12-for-18 for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Many of those yards went to Eric McGinnis who had seven catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He has 313 yards and four touchdowns receiving in the last two weeks. Parkview’s last two weeks are a classic example of how teams turn their season and program around. First comes a win and which builds confidence. Then a game like Friday is possible where their belief never wavers despite an early deficit. The Vikings get a tough test with a road trip to Class 5 state ranked Branson this week before hosting SPS rival Central next week.

Christian County

Yes, I am cheating, but all three of Christian County’s football teams had great nights on Friday.

Let’s start with the best team in southwest Missouri in Nixa. The Eagles went on the road and thoroughly outplayed Carthage in a 34-14 win. Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz arrived at the game via helicopter and he was treated to a show of Nixa doing what it has done to high quality competition all season. The Eagles had 431 yards of total offense with Dylan Rebura carrying the ball 20 times for 205 yards behind the area’s best offensive line. After facing four teams who have either been ranked in the state poll or received votes to start the season, it is no longer a question of if Nixa is the best team in the area, but if they are the best team in Class 6.

Ozark went on the road and beat Webb City 20-14 for the program’s first win over the Cardinals since Sept. 30, 2016. The game was close in every aspect on paper with Ozark out-gaining Webb City 294 to 268 yards on offense. The Tigers had 156 rushing yards to Webb City’s 171. The time of possession was almost even with Ozark possessing the ball for 24:42 and Webb City 23:18. The difference came in the turnover battle. Webb City had three turnovers to Ozark’s one. Sam Savich forced a fumble and ran it in for a touchdown with 3:31 left in the third quarter. It proved to be the game-winning score. Ozark has matched its win total for each of the past two seasons. The Tigers have a real shot to get to six wins or more, which would be the most for the program since going 6-5 in 2020.

I made the trip out to Clever to see the Blue Jays take on Mid-Lakes Conference rival Forsyth on Friday and the game did not disappoint. Clever took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and really put Forsyth on its heels on the way to a 27-26 win. Forsyth threatened to pull away for a win, but Clever had an answer each time. Down 18-14 with 10:16 left in the game, Rex Deters hit Lucas Peebles for a 34-yard score to put Clever in front 21-18. Forsyth answered back late in the fourth quarter to take a 26-21 lead. Again, Deters responded this time hitting Trenton Allen with a gorgeous game-winning 51-yard touchdown pass. Clever has now won three games to set a program record for wins in a season. It also matches the TOTAL wins for the program since beginning play as a varsity program in 2020. Prior to this season, Clever football was 3-35 in its history. This season, the Blue Jays are 3-1.

Plays that stood out

Nixa’s balance makes it unstoppable

We discussed it last week, but it bears repeating. The marriage between Nixa’s running and passing games is a thing of beauty. When you have that offensive line and a running back like Dylan Rebura, it makes things much easier for sophomore quarterback Adam McKnight. Here you see McKnight hit Randy Flint for a 44-yard touchdown pass. You then see one of Rebura’s two touchdown runs. When the pass comes open, the Eagles don’t miss. This was Flint’s one reception on the night and McKnight only missed on three throws all evening.

Special teams help set Branson up

Branson is getting it done this season with a strong running game, an opportunistic defense that has helped the Pirates win the turnover battle and sound special teams play. The defense had a pick six and special teams almost added another touchdown. Normally when we talk about Branson special teams, it is kicker Dane Efird. This week it is a punt block that sets Branson up with a short field leading to a quick dive into the end zone for another touchdown.

McCracken has Republic’s offense rolling

Junior quarterback Preston McCracken has the Republic offense rolling. Look at the beautiful read he makes here on his way to one of his four rushing touchdowns in a win over Kickapoo. He had 18 carries for 134 yards in the game.

Other performances of note

Below are some other big nights we heard about either via email submission, Hudl or MaxPreps. If you know of a big night in the future you would like to see shouted out here, please email stats@ky3.com. We can’t post about performances we don’t hear about.

Ryder Ross, Strafford
Ross might have posted the most ridiculous stat line of the year in Strafford’s 42-20 win over Buffalo. 9 carries. 309 yards. 5 touchdowns.

Jax Glendenning, Lebanon
Lebanon got its first COC win 46-12 over Willard. The victory came exactly how you would expect: a heavy does of Jax Glendenning. Glendenning rushed 24 times for 309 yards and four touchdowns in the win.

Cash Pomeroy, Marionville
The Comets continued to roll with Pomeroy carrying 13 times for 210 yards and four touchdowns in a 60-6 win over Class 5 Central. Pomeroy also had one reception for 46 yards and a touchdown to bring his scrimmage total to 14 touches for 256 yards and five touchdowns.

Toryn Jones, Joplin
Joplin leaned on its run game, and specifically Jones, to beat Glendale 45-21. Jones had 26 carries for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the win.

DJ Riley, Houston
Houston continues to roll in the opening weeks moving to 4-0 with a 56-0 win over Cabool on Friday. DJ Riley showed off his dual threat abilities with 128 yards and two touchdowns through the air to go with 105 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground.

Thayer rushing attack
I don’t have the individual numbers, but Thayer was dominant on the ground in a 68-0 win over Salem with 519 total rushing yards.

Five games to watch this week

Fair Grove at Clever

Undefeated Fair Grove travels to face one-loss Clever this week in a Mid-Lakes Conference battle. The Eagles just moved to No. 1 in Class 2 while Clever is looking to build off the momentum from last week’s home win against Forsyth.

Republic at Joplin

It is a battle between a pair of 3-1 teams in Joplin this week. Both of these teams have suffered losses at the hands of Nixa with Republic losing by 35 in Week 1 and Joplin by 49 in Week 3. This begins a brutal four-week run for Republic with Joplin, Webb City, Carthage and Neosho in consecutive weeks. The winner will have a much needed leg up in the COC West race.

Neosho at Webb City

Undefeated Neosho steps into COC West play with a road trip to Webb City. The Wildcats have dominated a schedule so far that has seen them play teams with a combined 2-14 record so far. Webb City only sits at 1-3 right now, but they are far from a traditional one-win team. Turnovers will be key for Webb City. The Cardinals are minus three in turnover margin in their three straight losses.

Mt. Vernon at Lamar

This is a huge game with both teams entering the game with one loss in the Big 8 conference. Right now, Seneca sits alone atop the conference standings as the only unbeaten team. The loser of this game will fall two games back of the Indians if they beat Aurora on Friday. Mt. Vernon already has a head-to-head loss to Seneca with Lamar not facing the Indians until Week 9. The loser of this game will need a lot of help to have any hope of making a run at a Big 8 championship.

Thayer at Houston

Houston is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the SCA standings. The Tigers need a win to keep pace with Mountain View Liberty atop the standings. Thayer needs a win to avoid falling two games back in the standings after a loss the Eagles two weeks ago.

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