By Derek Shore (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SENECA — Gavyn Hoover and the Seneca Indians were looking to take a shot early after getting excellent field position to open the game.
The first play did not disappoint.
Taking advantage of a short squib kick and then offsides call on Cassville, Hoover connected with wide receiver Ethan Altic over the middle for a 47-yard touchdown strike. The 6-foot senior quarterback ran in the 2-point conversion as the Indians grabbed an 8-0 lead and never looked back in a 44-0 rout over Cassville on Friday night at Tom Hodge Field.
“It felt great — first play of the game — that set the tone,” Hoover said. “We were just like, ‘Let’s take a shot.’ It paid off. We scored. From that moment on, we were fired up the rest of the game.”
Seneca, ranked third in Class 3, improved to 3-0 on the young season. The Indians have posted three shutouts to open the 2023 season, outscoring the opposition 143-0.
“I thought it was our most complete football game we’ve played so far,” Seneca coach Cody Hilburn said. “That’s a pretty good football team over there. We had success Week 1 and Week 2, but we just didn’t feel like we played complete football games. Tonight, I feel like we did.”
On the next Indian drive, Hoover went deep again. He found Blake Skelton for a 34-yard pass to push Seneca deep into Cassville territory.
Jackson Marrs’ 2-yard TD run was set up by his 13-yard scamper, extending the Indians’ advantage to 14-0 after a failed 2-point conversion with 5:09 to play in the first quarter.
Cassville’s offense showed signs of life on the ensuing drive, pushing the ball to the Seneca 37. But once again, the Indians defense stepped up and forced a punt.
Hoover then fired a 37-yard pass to Altic for their second TD of the half, giving the Indians a 22-0 lead with 10:46 to play in the second quarter. Marrs ran in the 2-point conversion.
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The Wildcats went three-and-out on the ensuing drive. Seneca went into halftime with a 30-0 lead after Marrs scored from 3 yards out with 6:57 to play in the half.
The play was set up by a 27-yard pass from Hoover to Morgan Vaughn, putting the Indians at the goal line.
Seneca amassed 368 yards of total offense in the first half, 225 of which came through the air.
“They were really putting their safeties down in the box to stop our run game,” Hilburn said. “We knew that would be the case. We ran a lot of plays over the top and we took our shots vertically throughout the game.”
On the opening drive of the second half, the Indians collected a pair of sacks and forced the Wildcats to go three-and-out. Seneca blocked the punt and got excellent field position.
Marrs put the game on ice with a 7-yard run to paydirt, giving the Indians a 38-0 lead after he also ran in the 2-point conversion. That score started the running clock with 8:14 to play in the third quarter.
Seneca put in its reserves in the fourth quarter. Sophomore QB Brodie Probert accounted for the Indians final score with a 34-yard run to paydirt with 6:32 to play in the game.
“I think we prepared correctly at practice all week,” Hoover said. “We worked really hard. We knew Cassville was 2-0 and they were also going to come in with a lot of fire. We just wanted to come in with more energy.”
Hoover completed 8 of 10 passes for 225 yards with two TDs while adding 97 yards on the ground in 12 attempts.
Hilburn had high praise for his all-state quarterback following the game.
“We put a lot on his shoulders, and I coach him extremely hard,” the coach said. “He’s an extremely coachable kid. I couldn’t love him enough.”
Marrs netted 72 yards on 13 carries and tallied three rushing TDs. Altic had four catches for 148 yards and two scores. Skelton hauled in two passes for 49 yards.
Cassville fell to 2-1. Kyle Bailey led the Wildcats with 47 rushing yards in 14 carries and received one pass for a dozen yards.
Seneca travels to face Lamar next Friday night, a rematch of last year’s Class 2 state semifinal game. The Indians, who moved back up to Class 3, ended 2022 with a 56-14 loss to the Tigers.
Lamar, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 2, upended Monett 40-7 to keep pace with Seneca and Nevada (3-0) atop the Big 8 West standings.
“I don’t think you can make it bigger than it is,” Hilburn said. “Last year, they were in our same class. We knew there was a good chance we’d see them again. I think it will be a good gauge to find out where we are as a football team.”
