By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
There was a little more celebration on the Willard sideline than you’d typically see in the first round of district play. Head coach Frank Tristan was even doused with a cooler full of water.
But a shorthanded Tigers team earned it after winning 43-29 at Neosho on Friday night for the program’s first win of the season.
“We had so many guys out and we barely fielded a full team,” Tristan said. “Our guys just rallied. We had guys playing out of position and I’m so proud of them. You ask them to do something they haven’t done all year and they do it. I guess I’m excited because they’re going to be good dues. I’m so proud of them.”
Fifth seed Willard, 1-9, jumped out to a 35-15 halftime lead and then leaned on its defense in the second half to overcome the fourth seed Wildcats, 4-6, in the first round of Class 5 District 6 play. The Tigers will travel to top seed Carthage next week in the district semifinals.
Willard ended Neosho’s season for the second-straight year – and got its first win of the season both times. The Tigers also avenged a 79-72 loss on the same field in the season opener.
The Tigers scored on all five of their first-half possessions, with quarterback Russell Roweton throwing touchdowns to three different receivers. He completed 17-of-30 attempts in the game.
After Zach Franks intercepted a deflected pass to end Neosho’s first drive, Willard struck on a deep 42-yard throw from Roweton to make it 7-0. He threw a short pass to Clayton Scott on the next possession, and Scott reversed course and sprinted down the far sideline for a 75-yard touchdown to make it 14-7.
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Roweton added a 10-yard touchdown throw to make it 20-15 later in the first quarter, and then running back Gary Walker got in on the action with a 12-yard score to make it 28-15 after Roweton carried it for the conversion.
Willard added a score with 1:04 left in the half when Roweton carried it in from the 4 for the three-touchdown lead.
As for the Wildcats, they had six possessions in the first half and scored twice: on a 29-yard pass from Quenton Hughes to Isaiah Green, and on a 9-yard run by Jared Siler, who eclipsed 2,000 yards rushing on a first-half carry.
But Neosho’s other four possessions ended with an interception after driving to the 18, with two turnovers on downs inside the 27, and with a punt. And the Wildcats opened the second half by driving to the Willard 30 before turning it over on downs again.
“Obviously you’ve got to finish those drives, especially in playoff football,” Neosho coach Brandon Taute said. “We weren’t able to do that tonight and they were when they got down there most of the time. That’s the difference in the game.”
Willard’s offense went quiet in the second half, though. The Tigers punted three times, threw an interception at the Neosho 2, turned it over on downs at the Neosho 28 and threw another interception inside the 20.
The slow start allowed Neosho to climb back into it. It was 35-22 after Siler scored from the 13 late in the third. Siler scored on a 3-yard run midway through the fourth to cap a 13 play, 87-yard drive and make it a 35-29 game.
But the Tigers had an answer. They drove 78 yards in nine plays and scored on a 38-yard run by Walker with 1:45 remaining, then tacked on a two-point conversion to make it a 14-point game.
They sealed the game when they recovered a fumble inside their own 20.
“They made some adjustments at halftime and we just didn’t make the plays but our offensive line really dug in and our quarterback stayed within himself,” Tristan said.
“Defensively our guys had some resolve,” he said. “And some of our guys that would get down on themselves, they didn’t get down on themselves tonight, they kept playing. That’s what it takes to win a game in this conference. You have to have all the guys playing hard all the time.”
“Obviously not the outcome we want but our kids fought hard,” Taute said. “They got up on us big in the first half and we battled back. It would have been easy to roll over there and we didn’t. I’m proud of our effort, in the end they just out-executed us.”
