By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com) – @thejordanburton
“I run six plays, split veer. Like Novocain, just give it time, it always works.”
Denzel Washington said these classic words in Remember the Titans and it couldn’t have played out more poetically on Friday night for Webb City.
Nothing is more synonymous with Webb City Football than John Roderique and the split-back veer and in Friday’s titanic tilt with Class 6 No. 9 Joplin, the Cardinals rolled up 402 rushing yards on 58 rushes to ground out a 47-27 road win at Junge Stadium.
“They’re really good at what they do,” said Joplin head coach Curtis Jasper. “We made adjustments and they made adjustments, but they’ve been doing that for a long time. Hats off to them, they did a great job on third and fourth down to keep things rolling.”
The Cardinals converted 7-of-9 third down plays and went a perfect 2-for-2 on fourth down, helping them possess the ball for 28 of the possible 48 minutes of the game.
Running back duo Durand Henderson and Devrin Weathers – senior and sophomore – tallied 129 (2 TD) and 154 (TD) yards on the ground respectively on a total of 39 carries.
Henderson, the reigning COC Offensive Player of the Year, now has back-to-back 100-yard games to start the season.
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“Those two guys are really talented,” said Roderique. “Durand Henderson, I can’t say enough about him and the player that he is and the leadership he provides. Kids like him make you happy for the kind of success they have. That kid never complains about his carries and he just goes to work every day.”
The ground success also came despite an injury to senior quarterback Cade Beason. Junior Cade Hicks picked up right where Beason left off, completing both of his pass attempts for 90 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 59 yards and a score.
Hicks led four scoring drives in all, helping Webb City outscore Joplin 26-13 over the final two and a half quarters.
“Beason got dinged up and Cade Hicks stepped in and did a fantastic job,” said Roderique. “We know what he’s got inside him and he does a lot of good things. Just like last year with Beason and Cash Link, we feel like we’ve got two guys that can start for us. They both proved that tonight. I’m proud of both of them.”
The game was competitive for much of the night with Joplin taking the fight to Webb City early.
Junior Isaiah Davis rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries, with his 14-yard run giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead early.
Following a 64-yard scoop and score on a blocked field goal by Webb City junior Terrell Kabala, fellow junior Zach Westmoreland scored the first of his three touchdowns on the night – a 71-yard snag over Kabala to give Joplin a 14-7 advantage.
The game nearly got out of hand in the second quarter with Weathers-Beason-Henderson going back-to-back-to-back with touchdowns. Westmoreland again answered with a 4-yard touchdown reception as time expired on the half.
He finished with 155 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns on 11 touches.
“They have a lot of great weapons,” said Roderique. “You hear about the Westmoreland kid and watch him on film a little bit but seeing a kid like that out here in person… he’s special.”
Webb City was able to put the game on ice late with an Alex Gaskill 65-yard touchdown reception and fourth-quarter interception.
The Cardinals outgained Joplin 501-359. But, the Eagles’ 27 points are more than Webb City allowed to any one team in all of 2017. In fact, the Cards didn’t allow 27 combined points in any two consecutive regular season games last year.
Following the game, Roderique mentioned that the outcome didn’t change the fact that he felt like Joplin was a great football team. More importantly, their addition to the COC means more marquee local games for all the western schools in the conference.
“Games like this aren’t just for the players, it’s for the student bodies and the community and it’s really just a great situation all the way around,” said Roderique. “There’s a lot of hype around this game and a lot of people showed up. I think it’s good for football in this area. When it’s all said and done there’s some really good teams here in this corner of the state.”
Next week will again be a showcase in the Joplin-area with the Eagles taking on unbeaten and state-ranked Carthage, while Webb City plays host to fellow undefeated Neosho.
