By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Monett, Mo. — Monett leaned on its seniors in Friday night’s district semifinal against rival Cassville. For the Cubs, that’s nothing new. After a one-point win over the Wildcats back in September, that experience provided the backbone needed for Monett’s fast start in a 35-21 win that booked its ticket to the Class 3—District 4 title game.
Touchdown runs from seniors Ian Meyer and Michael Branch put the Cubs up 14-0 early in the second quarter, a far cry from the 20-7 hole Monett found itself in the last time Cassville visited Burl Fowler Stadium.
CLICK FOR CASSVILLE VS. MONETT PHOTO GALLERY
“Last time we played them, we didn’t have a lot of things going good for us in that first half,” Monett coach Derek Uhl said. “[Cassville] had some big plays and did a great job. We focused on getting out to a faster start tonight, and it’s nice having a good corps group of seniors to lean on.”
Top-seeded Monett is set to host 4-seed Mt. Vernon in next Friday’s district championship after the Mountaineers upset 2-seed Reeds Spring on Friday, 26-20. The Cubs beat Mt. Vernon on the road, 42-28, on Sept. 2.
“I like [Mt. Vernon coach] Tom Cox,” Uhl said. “He does a great job. He said to me that hopefully we see them in the finals, so, he’s a genius. He’s a fortune teller I guess.”
Monett is looking for its first district title since 2014, when it beat Reeds Spring in the championship, 20-0.
Cassville looked ready to threaten a comeback when sophomore quarterback Shannon Haney capped a 94-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown scramble, giving the Wildcats some momentum. But that momentum died a quick death on the legs of a 65-yard Onis Howard kickoff return that eventually turned into a three-yard score from Branch, his second of the night.
Going into the half, it seemed any hopes of a Cassville second-half surge disappeared when star halfback River Phelps was helped off the field on the final play of the second quarter. Phelps, who entered the game with 1,632 yards and 27 touchdowns, didn’t play in the second half.
Monett had success limiting Phelps even before the injury, not allowing Cassville any big plays on the ground.
“Our focus was on Phelps,” Uhl said. “He’s a very good player. He’s shown that the last few weeks with five or six touchdowns. I thought our defense did a good job containing him, but he’s scary because he can pop one any time. We tried to make them throw the ball a little bit by loading the box. We did enough. We bent defensively, but we didn’t break.”
The Wildcats were able to open the third quarter with a drive spanning 7:45 that ended in a three-yard Anthony Tolbert touchdown, but Cassville would get no closer than that 21-14 score and would lose Haney to injury on the drive.
Branch scored his third touchdown of the night on a 24-yard touchdown run with 1:28 remaining in the third quarter.
After Cassville fumbled on the final play of the third quarter, Meyer hit senior Brian Parra-Navarro from 36-yards out to put the Cubs up 35-14 with 11:57 remaining in the game.
Backup quarterback Troy Rose would lead a late scoring drive for Cassville, bringing the Wildcats to the final 35-21 deficit.
