Webb City’s trademark veer offense sliced and diced the Hillcrest Hornets for a 55-10 Class 4, District 4 title Monday night.
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The Cardinals’ quick-hitting run game gashed Hillcrest in the first half as Webb City led 34-10 at halftime. Webb City took the lead for good on the second play from scrimmage when senior quarterback John Roderique kept the ball on an option read and raced 72 yards to the endzone.
“They’re just a better football team than we are. That’s all there is to it,” said Hillcrest coach John Beckham. “Obviously you want to get off to a good start and we didn’t get off to a good start. But one play wasn’t going to make a difference in this game, that’s for sure.”
Webb City would get touchdown runs from Cooper Smith and Phoenix Johnson to lead 19-3 after the first quarter. Smith and Johnson each had three rushing touchdowns.
“It takes a team to stop the veer. We all have to do our jobs, and we didn’t do it as well tonight as we should have,” said Hornets senior defensive lineman Cristian Antal. “They’re a team that has good offensive linemen who come off the ball fast, and they use a lot of double teams.”
Trailing 27-3 midway through the second quarter, Matt Rush and Juwan Johnson would help Hillcrest get its only touchdown of the game.
Rush caught a quick out pass from quarterback Jonah Hill that was nearly intercepted and turned it into a 60-yard gain to the Webb City 16. Johnson ended the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Webb City’s defense kept the Hornets held down all night. Hill was sacked twice on Hillcrest’s first drive of the game and briefly left the game in the second half due to injury after being sacked by two Webb City defensive linemen. Hill would eventually return to the game before giving way to backup senior QB Micah Liming.
Webb City, which didn’t punt during the game, recovered and quickly took advantage of the short field. Smith found room on the edge and took a 40-yard carry all the way to paydirt for a 27-3 Webb City lead.
The Cardinals lost two starting linemen, seniors Mason Kent and Seth Watkins, to injuries on back-to-back plays in the first half, although both would return to the game.
“When you don’t see our offense, it takes a little while to catch up to it and understand the speed of it,” said Webb City coach John Roderique. “I thought our guys up front made a difference in the game. We had two starters go out, but I was really proud of our backup guys that stepped in there for them.”
Webb City 55, Hillcrest 10
Hillcrest 3 7 0 0 --- 10
Webb City 19 15 14 7 --- 55
First quarter
Webb City – John Roderique 72 run (Easley kick)
Webb City – Cooper Smith 8 run (kick failed)
Hillcrest – Boston 35 kick
Webb City – P. Johnson 53 run (2-point try failed)
Second quarter
Webb City – Smith 40 run (Williams run)
Hillcrest – Johnson 4 run (Boston kick)
Webb City – P. Johnson 18 run (Easley kick)
Third quarter
Webb City – Smith 2 run (Easley kick)
Webb City –P. Johnson 4 run (Easley kick)
Fourth quarter
Webb City – Tyler Davison 4 run (Easley kick)
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