By Brock Sisney (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
MONETT — It has been said that winning ugly is better than losing pretty, and the McDonald County Mustangs are saying exactly that after their 13-7 victory Friday night over Big 8 West rival Monett at Burl Fowler Stadium.
McDonald County missed opportunities to extend the lead early in the fourth quarter and then surrendered a long pass play late that set up the Cubs at the McDonald County 5. With 25 seconds remaining, Monett sophomore quarterback Daven Madrid punched in a 1-yard TD run on fourth down and instantly made it a far more interesting game. The subsequent onside kick took a favorable bounce for the Mustangs, who recovered and ran out the clock by taking one knee.
McDonald County, who scored at least 35 points in each of the first three games, improved to 3-1 headed into their Week 5 game against Seneca.
“It’s one of those where an ugly win is better than a pretty loss,” Mustang head coach Kellen Hoover said. “Our defense played really well and that was a defensive battle, just two teams that play good defense. We did and they did. It was just a matter of we broke a big play coming out at half. That was a huge play in the game. They were physical. We were physical. You’ve got two teams just running right at each other and something’s got to give. We’ve got a few to give, but not as many as we like.
“We should have got one more (score) I feel like. The penalty on the goal line and then the interception. We should have punched that one in. That just comes down to little things. It was just a matter of holding your water upfront and there was a (Monett) guy that was wide open on that pass play. We just didn’t see him. It’s nice to have a win and be able to say there’s a lot of things we’ve got to fix.
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“We’re still a program that’s learning a lot of things. We’re learning how to come back from a big win like we had last week (42-41 at home against Lamar, one of the premier football programs in Missouri over the last decade with seven consecutive Class 2 state titles from 2011-2017 their calling card) and we’ve got to understand that we’re playing another really good team this week in Monett. Now, we’ve got a really good team next week in Seneca. The Big 8 is just week after week after week, you’ve got to have a great week of preparation and play your A-game. We snuck away with not necessarily our A-game tonight.”
Monett came out strong on its opening possession and the Cubs gave their guests a heavy dose of 5-foot-10, 185-pound senior running back Dru Guinn, handing No. 6 the pigskin on the game’s first eight plays from scrimmage. The Cubs, in the words of the late football mastermind Hank Stram, just kept matriculating the ball down the field, eventually with a first-and-goal at the Mustang 2. Two plays later, though, McDonald County sophomore defensive lineman Junior Eliam recovered a fumble and the Cubs finished their 15-play, 75-plus yard drive empty-handed. The Cubs, however, achieved their goal of keeping McDonald County’s offense off the field for 7-plus minutes.
The Mustangs did not swing field position to their advantage until the second quarter and then engineered their best drive of the evening with a Bailey Lewis 4-yard TD run 1:56 before halftime capping off a 10-play, 56-yard drive that lasted 4:14. Jack Parnell started the drive in style with a 16-yard run and the Mustangs kept it alive with a pair of third down conversions, the first on a Cole Martin 2-yard run and the second on a 15-yard pass from Martin to Levi Malone, one of his favorite receivers.
After that precision opening possession, Monett struggled offensively almost the rest of the contest. The Cubs’ subsequent first half possessions ended in a turnover on downs and back-to-back punts.
Just 21 seconds into the second half, Lewis’ 55-yard TD run quickly made it a 13-0 game.
Monett then showed its first sign of life offensively since the opening drive, as Madrid and senior receiver Dylan Lynch connected on their first big play of the second half, a 57-yard pass-and-catch down to the Mustang 18. Four plays later, though, Martin intercepted a pass and Monett came away empty-handed in the red zone for the second time Friday night.
Penalties hurt the Mustangs on their next two possessions. A false start penalty to start the fourth quarter moved them back five yards from a first-and-goal at the Monett 2. Two plays later, Monett senior Matthew Bahl intercepted Martin in the end zone.
McDonald County’s final possession ended when Martin’s fourth down pass to Malone missed the mark, then Madrid to Lynch for 46 yards set up Monett’s only score. McDonald County held Monett scoreless for 47:35.
The Mustangs return home — where they are 2-0 this season — to welcome a Seneca squad that fell to 1-3 after a 26-13 defeat Friday night against county and conference foe East Newton.
The Mustangs and the Indians are currently headed in opposite directions, with the former on a three-game winning and the latter on a three-game losing streak.
Monett, 2-2 overall, faces the nearly 90-minute trek up north to face Nevada in Week 5. The Tigers have lost two straight in Big 8 West play — 47-28 Cassville, 44-28 Lamar — since beginning their season with victories against East Division opponents Logan-Rogersville and Hollister.
