By Greg Morse (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Lamar Tigers won their 13th District Title on Friday night with an impressive 53-6 win over the Sarcoxie Bears.
After Sarcoxie failed to score on its first drive, Lamar took over. The Tigers got on the board first with a 5-yard touchdown run from sophomore Logan Crockett. It would be Crockett’s first of three scores on the night, and he would go on to have over 140 yards from scrimmage. With the missed extra point, the Tigers led 6-0.
“Our linemen had a couple of powerful blocks,” said Crockett, “I was able to just pound it in there. I’m looking forward to seven more days with my brothers and continuing to play this game that we love.”
On the ensuing drive, the Bears fumbled and Tiger senior Case Tucker recovered in Sarcoxie territory. Tucker was playing on both sides of the field, finding success both on defense, and as the quarterback on offense. After the fumble recovery Tucker hit Junior Mason Gastel for a 30-yard touchdown.
“That passing touchdown was probably my favorite of all of them,” said Tucker, “Getting to throw the ball around was a lot of fun. Growing up in Lamar, that’s not something we do a whole lot.”
Tucker wasn’t done though as he intercepted a pass from Bear sophomore Jaron Malotte on the Bears’ next drive. A few plays later, Tucker would take the ball in himself on an 11-yard quarterback keeper. With another missed extra point, the Tigers led 19-0 at the end of the first quarter.
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The Lamar defense continued to impress in the second frame, forcing another Sarcoxie punt. This led yet another Tiger touchdown, this time to sophomore Austin Wilkerson on a 19-yard rush. The Tigers once again failed to convert the points after, this time attempting to go for two, leading to a 25-0 lead.
Sarcoxie kept battling, forcing the Lamar defense to dig in, and after a couple of successful first downs, the Bears had to turn the ball over on downs. This led to Logan Crockett’s second touchdown of the night, this time on a 40-yard run. This time the Tigers did convert the 2-point conversion and had a 33-0 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half.
Following another Sarcoxie punt, Case Tucker once again made his presence known by scoring on another quarterback keeper, this time for 36-yards. By the end of the first half, Tucker had made huge impact on both sides of the ball with a fumble recovery and interception on defense in addition to his offensive contributions.
“Tonight, having the interception and fumble recovery, I’m not used to that. I have to say I probably enjoyed being on the defensive side tonight,” said Tucker, “I’m obviously used to the offensive side of the ball, so it was fun to have a big night on defense.”
As the clock ticked down to halftime, the Tigers saw one more possession turn into points, as Logan Crockett got his third touchdown of the game on a huge 66-yard run. Lamar headed into the locker room with a 47-0 lead.
“Our linemen got a couple of nice blocks, and the whole thing just opened up like the Red Sea,” said Crockett of the big run.
Both teams came back out and put together a couple more impressive drives in the second half. The Bears forced a turnover on downs on the Tiger’s opening drive. Then they recovered a fumble on Lamar’s second drive. They took advantage of the turnover and had a solid drive fueled by Sarcoxie senior Justin Mandera and Junior Terio Asterio. They capped off the drive with Mandera getting into the endzone as the third quarter expired on a 1-yard run.
Tiger Sophomore Terrill Davis had the last score of the evening, a seven-yard run that gave the Tigers a 53-6 win, and their 13th straight district championship.
“Our kids put in a lot of work, and this district championship is a payoff of that. It’s what they’ve earned and deserve, and it feels good to be a Lamar Tiger,” said head coach Jared Beshore. “We’re going seven days at a time. We are going to enjoy this win tonight, but tomorrow we reset. Our motto right now is simple: just get seven more days.”
Lamar travels to face MV-BT Liberty in the state quarterfinals.
