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By Dana Harding
Willard, MO – Willard’s late-season hot streak continues.
After a disappointing 1-6 start, the Tigers rallied to win the final two games of the regular season, and Friday’s Class 5, District 5 opener featured more of the same.
Willard’s offensive line overwhelmed Parkview in a 4-5 bracket matchup and paced the Tigers to a 43-14 victory.
Just how dominant were the Tigers up front?
Willard’s 501 yards of total offense produced six touchdowns and zero punts. Aside from a turnover on its first series and a handful of plays to run out the fourth-quarter clock, Willard found the end zone each time the offense took the field.
Tiger head coach Brock Roweton attributes the improved, late-season play to simple execution. In addition to the three wins at the back end of the schedule, Willard dropped a pair of close, four-point games to Ozark and Carl Junction.
“We’ve played really well now five weeks in a row,” Roweton said. “The bottom line is, we’re playing four quarters. It has cooled off and allowed our big boys to be a little fresher, and we’re a better team when it’s 60 degrees than when it’s 85.”
With an offensive line pushing past the 260 lbs mark, a little fresher can certainly pay big dividends. At 6’4” and 295 lbs, Martin Eidson’s solid play helped key Willard’s attack.
“We played super-super well,” Eidson said. “We kept our pads low, and we kept going downfield. There were stretches where we ran the same plays four or five times in a row.”
Led by Nate Swadley’s 193 yards and Brock Howard’s 157, Willard went ground-and-pound early and often against the Vikings. Swadley and Howard combined for five of the six Tiger touchdowns, as well.
Early scores not only helped the Tigers seize momentum, they put Parkview’s offense off the field and behind the 8-ball.
“I thought it was really important that we got the scores in early,” Swadley said. “We can get a little bit of motivation on our side, and then it sets up the rest of the game, the tone and the pace.”
Howard echoed his stablemate’s assessment and praised the line’s play throughout the night.
“It feels great,” Howard said. “Me, Nate, Christian [Smart], [Austin] Hymer … we all got perfect holes opened up all over the field. We could cut back and do just about everything. It felt fantastic.”
Howard’s big night included a thrilling 60-yard run in which the senior reversed direction and ran back across the field three different times.
Despite the big plays, Willard did get off to a slow start.
The Tigers turned the ball over on their very first series, giving Parkview excellent field position at the Tiger 33-yard line and a chance to steal early momentum in the game.
The Vikings were able to reach the four-yard line, but Willard’s goal-line stand on fourth down kept Parkview off the scoreboard.
With injuries to both starting quarterback Mario Sanchez and backup quarterback Trevor Boice, Parkview spent a good portion of the game with running back Blake Delacruz taking snaps.
With Parkview’s passing attack limited, each score made the Viking hole a bit deeper and more difficult to overcome. At the half, Parkview found itself staring at a 22-0 deficit.
“We lost our two main quarterbacks, and we’re down to Coy Fox, who spent most of the year playing at the JV level,” Parkview head coach Anthony Hays said. “When you get down 14 points, it does kind of seem insurmountable at that point,” Hayes said. “You try to do some things that are out of your game plan, and I think that’s where we got in trouble.”
Hays offered no excuses and was pleased with the way his team responded to the challenge.
“I thought we came out strong,” Hayes said. “I wish we could have punched in one of those two early drives to get an early lead and play with that confidence. Maybe that would have given us the confidence to play better the rest of the game, but we just came up short.”
Delacruz led the Vikings with 97 yards rushing and 102 yards passing.
For Willard, next up is a return match with No. 1 seed Carthage, who downed the black and white Tigers 41-30 during the regular season.
“They’re one of the best teams in Southwest Missouri,” Roweton said. “It’s fun anytime you go up to play a giant like that. If you’re a competitor, you like those games … I hope we have a cool night.”
Willard – 43, Parkview – 14
Willard 6 16 14 7 — 43 Branson 0 0 6 8 — 14
First quarter scoring
Willard Brock Howard 14-yd TD rush 6 – 0
(PAT missed)
Second quarter scoring
Willard Nate Swadley 4-yd TD rush 14 – 0
(Howard 2-pt conversion rush)
Willard Swadley 4-yd TD rush 22 – 0
(Ethan Burson 2-pt conversion rec from Quintin Batson)
Third quarter scoring
Willard Swadley 6-yd TD rush 29 – 0
(Brayden Swearengin kick)
Parkview Gage Clark 19-yd TD rec from Blake Delacruz 29 – 6
(2-pt conversion failed)
Willard Howard 2-yd rush TD 36 – 6
(Swearengin kick)
Fourth quarter scoring
Willard Austin Hymer 2-yd TD rush 43 – 6
(Swearengin kick)
Parkview Jevin Huddleston 4-yd TD rec from Delacruz 43 – 14
(Josh McCann 2-pt conversion rush)
