By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It didn’t end how the Mustangs wanted, but the 2023 season won’t soon be forgotten by the McDonald County football team.
Eight days after winning the program’s first ever district championship, McDonald County’s season ended on Saturday in the Class 4 quarterfinals in Anderson, with visiting Jefferson City scoring in the final minutes to grab a 31-28 victory and advance to next weekend’s semifinal round.
“Our kids fought the whole time,” McDonald County head coach Kellen Hoover said. “Not very many teams end the year on a win. It hurts right now. It’s going to hurt, there’s just not a lot you can do about it. When you put your heart and soul into something like these guys have, it’s going to hurt and it shows you care and shows you’ve got a lot invested into it. I’m just proud of how they bought into each other. They played for each other and I’m just proud of how they fought and clawed.”
The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Mustangs, who finished with an 8-5 record. Jefferson City (9-4) will face Kearney in the semifinal round, while Lutheran North and Hillsboro meet on the other side of the bracket.
With barely three minutes left on Saturday, though, McDonald County was inching closer to a win.
The Mustangs had taken a 28-24 lead following a 2-yard touchdown by quarterback Destyn Dowd and extra point from Richard Gasca with 9:28 remaining, and then Slyte Osborne intercepted a pass off the hands of a Jays receiver to give the Mustangs the ball at their own 43 with eight minutes on the clock.
McDonald County moved the chains twice, but faced a fourth-and-3 at the Jefferson City 26-yard line. Dowd rushed to his right and delivered a fierce blow to a Jefferson City defender, but was stopped for a one-yard gain with 3:16 on the clock.
Jefferson City then struck for a 46-yard pass on first down and eventually punched in a 6-yard touchdown with 1:58 on the clock for the lead.
McDonald County’s last gasp ended with a pair of incompletions, and then the visitors took a knee to end what had been a back-and-forth contest all afternoon.
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The Mustangs jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind a 6-yard touchdown from Sam Barton and a 6-yard score by Dowd. Jefferson City tied it with 4:07 left in the half and then took a touchdown lead on a 42-yard pass with a minute remaining.
McDonald County opened the third quarter with a 14-play scoring drive that took more than seven minutes; Malosi Sosef scored from the 1 to tie it at 21.
Jefferson City answered with a 30-yard field goal to lead 24-21 with 2:21 left in the third.
The Mustangs followed with another long scoring drive, and led 28-24 after Dowd’s 2-yard score.
“We really didn’t make a lot of adjustments offensively,” Hoover said. “We just had to clean some things up whether it be penalties or reads, just different things we had to clean up and kind of lean on them a little bit and do what we do best. Our kids just needed reminded that what we do works and they bought into that, came out and played a really physical second half. I’m proud of how they came out after halftime where things weren’t necessarily going our way.”
When it was over, Hoover gathered the team’s seniors in a corner of the end zone and tried to put the season into context for the Mustangs, telling his players they’ll get to look up at a banner in the gymnasium with a 2023 district championship on it.
“It’s never been done before,” he said later. “They’re able to visually see their direct impact on the program, their impact on the history of this program and look and know that was the first one, the very first district championship in program history. They’ll be able to come back together with their classmates and their teammates from this year and say look what we did. And they’ll be able to just look at that and hopefully relive some of these great moments from this season. I also just wanted to let them know they’re a part of our family forever. They’re a part of the fabric of who we are. We always want our seniors to know that when they leave that they have such a special place in their coaches hearts and a special place in our program.”
