Each week the O-Zone staff will rank the top 10 area football teams based on dominance by class, aka how they stack up pound-for-pound with the other schools in their respective class.
Monday Rewind: Our bad, Camdenton
(Class, record, previous ranking in parenthesis)
1. Lamar (C2, 2-0, 1) – The crazy train of football success is showing no signs of slowing down! The Brotherhood blasted East Newton 55-0 Friday night and in doing so have now pitched a shutout in 18 straight quarters dating back to the 14-7 quarterfinal win over MV-BT/Liberty last November. There’s no debate that Lamar is the best Class 2 team in the state right now, but we’re starting to think the Tigers could hold their own amongst the state’s best large school programs.
2. Carl Junction (C4, 2-0, 2) – No “let down” game for the Bulldogs last week. After (air quotes) shocking Webb City week 1, CJ took care of Republic last Friday. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 21-0 lead thanks to the legs of sensational sophomore running back Rayquion Weston (32 carries, 192 yards, 4 TD). RepMo is no slouch. The Tigers made it a game by halftime, but Buckmaster’s boys put the clamps down in the fourth and secured the 38-20 victory. Kearney will remain number 1 in the Media Rankings this week, but in my eyes they are pretty much 1A and 1B.
3. MV-BT/Liberty (C2, 2-0, 3) – The Eagles wrapped up the non-conference portion of their schedule last week with a dominating 49-7 win at Class 3 Aurora. One thing is for sure, the battle-tested Eagles will be ready to go for the grind of the SCA slate beginning this week against Thayer. You hear about Josh Pruett and Brenton Bush just about every week, so I’m going to take this time to give props to junior Koel Orchard, who had the extremely rare 100 yard pick-six Friday night.
Pick Week 3 Games, win Andy's Frozen Custard
4. Monett (C3, 2-0, 5) – Another week, another blowout win, another huge Michael Branch game; the Cubs throttled Rogersville 49-0 for win number two Friday night. Branch showed off some versatility with a pair of 1st quarter touchdown receptions to go with a couple ground scores in the 3rd quarter. The 6-foot, 225 lb senior now has seven total touchdowns on the young campaign, half way to his total for last season. In my eyes, there isn’t another Class 3 team in the area that can beat the Cubs (bulletin board alert!), but the Big 8 slate starts this week in what figures to be a bigger challenge at Mt Vernon.
5. Kickapoo (C6, 2-0, 6) – Much like the 2000 hit song by Limp Bizkit, the Chiefs are “Rollin”. Friday’s home opener against Rolla was all but over by the end of the first 12 minutes. The Class 6 4th ranked Chiefs found the end zone four times and in a variety of ways. They are a predominantly senior squad, but all these blowouts provide a good opportunity for some young and very talented Chiefs to get varsity experience. The Chiefs travel to Joplin this week in a battle of the area’s two largest schools.
6. Mtn Grove (C2, 2-0, 7) – The Panthers showed why they’re the number five team in the state in Class 2 Friday night, beating Strafford 44-6. The ground attack once again led the charge with a balanced dose of Carter Otwell, Trystan Short and Chance Barbe. Look out for a good one this week as the Panthers visit SCA and district rival Ava. The Bears are 2-0 and won’t be rolling over for anyone, ranked or not.
7. Fair Grove (C2, 2-0, 8) – While the schedule isn’t exactly loaded with ranked teams, the Eagles have been about as perfect as they can be through two weeks. Cloyd, Fodge, Lumley and co. are putting up video game numbers and the defense is certainly following suit, allowing three touchdowns in two games, most of which came in mop-up time. Expect the Eagles to make a slow ascent up the Class 2 rankings and don’t expect any regular season losses.
8. Lincoln (C1, 2-0, 9) – The Cardinals just can’t seem to finish games! Literally. Last week was their second straight weather-shortened contest, but that was probably a good thing for the opponents. Lincoln has outscored its first two opponents 100-3 in just four total quarters. Expect more and more of that this season, including a trip to Osceola this Friday. Winning is always fun, but I can’t help but wonder what’s going through these players heads as they blowout every opponent.
9. Nixa (C5, 2-0, 10) – The Eagles aren’t exactly blowing people’s doors off so far, but a win is a win, and that’s probably more a testament of how deep the COC Large is than how good Nixa is. Nicos Oropeza had a huge night Friday with 227 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 34 carries. Expect another big one this week as a very young Central squad comes to town. I still believe Nixa is our top Class 5 team, but some others (see below) are starting to creep up.
10. Glendale (C5, 2-0, NR) – Yep. It’s time. After two-plus years of building, the Falcons have cracked the Top 10 Power Rankings. We of course knew how good that vaunted offense was (averaging 57 ppg), but now the defense is at the party. Senior Kyle Doran said before the season, “we’re not letting teams score on us.” While that appeared a dubious claim, so far so good. This week will be a major test as West Plains visits for the home opener. It’s a Zizzer squad coming off a disappointing loss to Camdenton, so you can bet they’ll be hungry to prove the doubters wrong. Oh and they beat the Falcons 71-58 at their place last year.
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Camdenton (2-0), West Plains (1-1), Webb City (0-2), Diamond (2-0), Lockwood (2-0), Carthage (1-1), Ava (2-0)
