By Chris Parker (cparker@ky3.com)
The regular season is done and it is win or go home time for the area’s football teams.
Before we look ahead at the upcoming week, let’s look back on the best of week 9.
See the top plays of Week 9 in the video above.
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF THE DISTRICT BRACKETS
Team of the Week: Springfield Catholic
Steve Hancock’s turnaround of the Irish is one of the better stories of this football season. It reached a peak on Friday with the Irish taking down Reeds Spring to secure a share of its first COC Small football title with the Wolves and Bolivar.
Catholic didn’t have its best game by any stretch, as Reeds Spring out-gained Catholic 264 yards to 128 yards. Blake Gronvold had 121 yards on the ground by himself for Reeds Spring What mattered in the end was the defense. The Irish blocked a 32-yard field goal attempt in the final minute to secure the win and a share of the COC Small title.
Five others that stood out
Cassville
Cassville is now 7-2 and has won three in a row after surviving a scare from Mount Vernon. The Wildcats were also the beneficiary of a blocked kick late to hold onto the win. Cassville was able to hold on to the No. 3 seed in their district with the victory.
River Phelps led the way yet again with 25 carries for 187 yards and a touchdown to go with three catches for 46 yards.
Glendale
Congratulations to the Falcons on running through the regular season with an unblemished record. The Falcons dispatched Camdenton in a 63-35 win. They were challenged by a Camdenton defense that abandoned its base defense in favor of a no-linemen look.
Alex Huston, who cleared the 10,000 yard mark for his career, threw for 515 yards and seven touchdowns against just one interception. Luke Montgomery caught nine of those balls for 137 yards and three touchdowns.
Another big play came from Datryell Nash won intercepted Camdenton in his own end zone and returned it for a touchdown, effectively a 14-point swing on one play.
Kyle Doran keyed the defense as he always does with 31 total tackles and a fumble recovery.
Glendale gets the week off as the Falcons await the winner of Branson and Waynesville in the opening round.
Jasper
The Eagles pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the week by narrowly defeating state-ranked Lockwood and denying the Tigers an outright SRVC title. Jasper led 21-0 at the half and then held on in the second half to win 21-19. The Eagles intercepted Lockwood quarterback Will Beerly in the end zone in the final minute of the game to preserve the win.
Joplin
Joplin won a wild 38-25 decision over Hillcrest using an astounding 82 carries for 507 yards and five touchdowns. Quarterback Jokiem Crawford had 25 of those carries for 174 yards and three touchdowns. Dustin Hunter led in total yards with 27 carries for 194 yards. Chris Jones chipped in 19 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Solomon Garcia keyed the defense yet again with 10 tackles and he caused a fumble and recovered one.
Crawford has been one of the most productive players in Southwest Missouri through nine games. He has thrown for 1,216 yards and nine touchdowns with 215 carries for 1,173 yards and 22 touchdowns.
The Eagles are the No. 7 seed in their district and have a road trip to Class 6 No. 10 Lee’s Summit West to open district play on Friday.
Monett
I haven’t talked about Monett as much as they have deserved this year, but the Cubs are rolling. They have outscored opponents 126-27 in the last three games which included a 56-13 win over East Newton on Friday.
Michael Branch turned three carries into 94 yards and two touchdowns. On the year, Branch has 146 carries for 1,183 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Ian Meyer was an efficient 10-for-12 for 167 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Brody Crawford caught two of those balls for touchdowns. Brian Parra-Navarro and Mason Swearingen caught the other two touchdowns.
Meyer has thrown for 1,329 yards and 16 touchdowns so far this season. Pierce City transfer Brian Parr-Navarro has been is top target with 15 catches for 214 yards and five touchdowns. The latter two are team-highs.
Monett gets Seneca in the opening round before a likely rematch with Cassville in the semifinals. Monett may be a two seed in the district, but the Cubs are my favorite to win it.
IN THE ZONE: WEEK 9 RECAP
Player of the Week: Zeke Wall – Carl Junction
The numbers are not going to jump off the page. Wall had seven total tackles and forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. He also caught on ball for a touchdown.
It was how he accomplished these plays that stood out for the big defensive lineman from Carl Junction.
Watch this
There may not be a harder hitting player in Southwest Missouri than Wall. He is a key cog on the defensive line and one of the best players in the COC Large.
10 Others that stood out
Dayton Austin – El Dorado Springs
Austin had the biggest stat line of the weekend in a 50-42 loss to Skyline. The Bulldog running back rushed 19 times for 360 yards and three touchdowns.
CHECK OUT HIS FIRST PLAY ON THIS VIDEO
Austin shows some outstanding balance on the way to a touchdown from more than 80 yards out.
John Berry – Lebanon
John Berry is officially back. The Yellowjacket running back torched Parkview for 319 yards on 27 carries while scoring three touchdowns.
CHECK OUT THE PURE SPEED HE DISPLAYED ON THIS 68-YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN
Payton Evans – Aurora
It has been a rough year for the Houn’ Dawgs coming off of a state semifinal appearance a year ago. Aurora picked up its second win of the year on Friday over McDonald County. Evan keyed the offense with 266 yards and four touchdowns passing.
He had a lot of time to operate thank to his line. The pass that stood out to me comes at the 20-second mark of this video.
He puts releases the ball before the receiver has ever looked at him and hits him on the money for a touchdown in the back corner of the end zone. It was an outstanding play all the way around.
Keegan Hoopes – West Plains
Hoopes has made more appearances in this column than any non-Glendale player. When you put up numbers like he has, he cannot be ignored. He had another 200-yard night with 32 carries for 240 yards and two touchdowns. He is now over 2,000 yards for the season with 32 touchdowns.
He is the area’s top rusher and it is not all that close. West Plains gets Camdenton on Friday to open district play. Hoopes went for 210 yards and four touchdowns the first time they played.
Carter Otwell – Mountain Grove
The Panthers dismantled Thayer 63-8, and the Mountain Grove quarterback had a day. Otwell needed just seven carries to run for 224 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw for 66 yards and another touchdown. Defensively he had eight tackles.
Brayden Lumley – Fair Grove
Fair Grove wrapped up an undefeated run through the regular season. Lumley had another solid day at quarterback throwing for 118 yards and three touchdowns on an efficient 12-for-14 passing. He also rushed for 69 yards and another touchdown.
Haden Parton – Hillcrest
It wasn’t quite enough, but Parton did everything he could for Hillcrest on Friday. The quarterback was 22-for-35 for 421 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Erik Savage was his top target with five catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns. Bolivar awaits in the opening round of district play.
Tyler Stebbins – Liberal
Stebbins was key in Liberal’s second win of the season. Stebbins carried the ball eight times for 142 yards and three touchdowns. He also had an interception to help preserve the six-point win.
CLICK HERE TO SEE GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Hunter Vanlue – Webb City
Webb City had no trouble with Branson and neither did Hunter Vanlue. He had six carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns.
75 OF THOSE YARDS CAME ON THIS TOUCHDOWN RUN
Kensen White – Strafford
Strafford is 3-6 on the season, but five of those losses have come by eight points or less. White quarterbacked the Indians to their third win on Friday, which was a 33-7 victory over Ash Grove. The junior quarterback was 17-for-23 for 144 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also rushed for 24 yards and another touchdown.
O-ZONE PODCAST: CLICK PLAY BELOW TO LISTEN
How important are seeds in district football?
The answer is very important.
In the last two years, only one of 88 11-man districts were won by a four seed or lower. Just nine of those 88 were won by a three seed. This means that 78 of 88 district football championships were won by a top two seed. That is 88 percent.
This takes on a bigger meaning when you look at how close Mount Vernon was to a three seed after falling to Cassville by one point.
Thanks to Pittsburg (Kan.) getting a win, Webb City gets a 2-7 Marshfield team at home and to host in the semifinal instead of a likely trip to Camdenton. Camdenton gets a very tough West Plains team and then would have to trek more than two hours down the road to Webb City.
Upsets do happen, but they are the exception and not the rule in this stage of the season. Getting outside the top two seeds means you have to beat two quality teams in back to back weeks on the road.
Games of the Week
Bolivar at Hillcrest
This is a 4-5 match up and one that I am looking forward to immensely. Hillcrest has been potent on offense by scoring at least 30 points in six games this season. Bolivar got off to a rough start with three straight losses. The Liberators then won five in a row before taking a loss to Ozark in the season finale.
This could be the last time was see the record-setting duo of Connor Sechler and Brandon Emmert on the field together for Bolivar.
West Plains at Camdenton
Camdenton beat West Plains 54-41 back in Week 2. This one is going to be interesting for the Lakers. They just saw a pass happy offense in Glendale. Now they have to prepare for a run-heavy offense triggered by Keegan Hoopes.
I could see this one going either way. It will come down to who can create turnovers and get a couple stops. Expect a high-scoring affair again.
Parkview at Willard
I always like to see the Ozark Conference teams stepping out of league and playing some new foes. Parkview is banged up with both starting quarterback Mario Sanchez and back-up quarterback Trevor Boice injured according to head coach Anthony Hays. This likely means more Blake Delacruz and Aerion Hawkins in the running game. Delacruz has 738 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in his sophomore season. Hawkins has 556 yards and four touchdowns in his junior season.
On the other side, Willard is rolling. The Tigers have rattled off two straight wins to close the season by margins of 28-0 and 40-7. Prior to that, Willard lost by just four points to Carl Junction and Ozark. The Tigers are one of the more dangerous lower seeds in my opinion. They have proven they can hang with anybody.
Strafford at Ava
As I referenced above, Strafford is a few things going their way from having one of the best records in the area. Ava presents a brutal rushing attack and has outscored its opponents 238-75 since losing to Mountain Grove in Week 4.
Strafford is the underdog, but a good showing in this game can help prepare the Indians for next season when many of their key players will be back.
