By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
An unbeaten Neosho football team entered Cardinal Stadium Friday night looking for the program’s first win against Webb City since 1999.
But it was the Cardinals who were desperate for a victory after three straight losses and a 1-3 start to the season.
And after Webb City quarterback Jackson Lucas threw a 23-yard strike to Joseph DeGraffenreid with 38 seconds left to give the hosts a six-point lead––and Neosho quarterback Cade Spiva’s last-ditch heave fell incomplete near the goal line with zeros on the clock––the Cardinals got just what they needed by way of a 34-28 victory.
“I think all our coaches will sleep well tonight and I think our players will sleep well this weekend,” Webb City coach Ryan McFarland said. “It’ll be a big confidence boost moving forward. The COC is tough and we wanted to be 1-0 in the COC West and now we are.”
Not only that, but the Cardinals managed to clip a Neosho (4-1) team that stood at the top of the district standings this week. It was Webb City’s 27th-straight win against the Wildcats, but the six-point spread was the second closest in that span.
Webb City had to come from behind multiple times to extend the streak. Neosho led 13-7 in the second quarter and then drove into Webb City territory before coming up a couple inches short on a 4th-and-2 at the 41. The Cardinals took the momentum into the half by scoring just six plays later, when Lucas found Andrew Young open down the sideline for a 36-yard score to make it 14-13.
Neosho went 3-and-out to start the third quarter, but Webb City fumbled it right back on first down and the Wildcats moved 50 yards to pull ahead 21-14 at the 8:53 mark on a 1-yard rush by Denver Welch and a conversion catch by Hudson Williams.
And then Webb City went 3-and-out and punted. Neosho returned the favor.
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The Cardinals, starting at the Neosho 48, then needed just four plays to tie the game on a 20-yard scamper by Lucas at the 4:26 mark.
In another wild momentum swing, Webb City proceeded to recover a surprise onside kick. But the Cardinals stalled out at the Neosho 33 and came away scoreless.
Again the visitors seized the lead, this time with an impressive 15-play drive lasting more than five minutes. Spiva, who two plays earlier threw a 9-yard strike to Noah Soriano on a 4th-and-3, kept it for an 11-yard run into the end zone with 8:24 left in the game and Neosho led 28-21.
Webb City’s Lucas tied the game with 4:35 remaining on a 4-yard run, capping a 62-yard drive featuring nine rushes.
The Wildcats, then, started at their own 35 for a potential game-winning drive. Welch gained 3 yards on first down, but then two passes fell incomplete and Neosho was forced to punt. And so it was the Cardinals with the ball at their own 41 and 3:45 on the clock and a chance to win it.
Isaiah Tela gained 12 yards on a 3rd-and-8. Mason Williams ran for 6 on a 3rd-and-5. And then Lucas found DeGraffenreid down the middle of the field in the end zone for the go-ahead 23-yard touchdown with 38 seconds to play. The extra point missed wide left.
Soriano got the Wildcats good field position with a return to the 47. Spiva threw a 16-yard completion to Williams, and then a pass was nearly intercepted. Spiva scrambled to the 33 with seven seconds left, and his pass to the front pylon on the game’s final play was just out of reach for his target.
Webb City’s reaction to playing in another close game, and sometimes from behind, was a key for McFarland.
“That’s the thing I’m most proud of without watching film,” he said. “The last couple weeks we’ve been in close games and it seems like our offense in the second half has kind of stalled. They fought through that tonight, kept drives alive and scored to tie the game and then put another drive together to win the game.”
“I’m just super proud of our guys,” he said. “There’s been a lot of adversity the last few weeks and they keep showing up and working really, really hard. We kept telling them, it was frustrating we didn’t know when we’d get a win but we knew we would get a win and they did everything they could tonight to put themselves in position to win the game.”
The Cardinals rushed 49 times for 315 yards. Lucas led the team with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Williams rushed 11 times for 90 and Slade Hurd rushed 13 times for 79 and a touchdown. Lucas completed 7 of 11 passes for 96 yards and two scores. Young had two receptions for 52 yards and a score, and DeGraffenreid had two for 35 and a touchdown.
Neosho rushed 50 times for 257 yards with Spiva totaling 129 and a touchdown on 25 attempts and Welch rushing 23 times for 91 yards and two scores. Spiva completed 10 of 20 passes for 79 yards, with Bostyn Patterson hauling in six for 54 yards.
