By Chad Hayworth (For Ozarks Sports Zone)
NEOSHO – Colby McGehee rumbled into the end zone in overtime to give Neosho a 44-38 win over visiting Glendale on Friday night.
He also gave the Week 1 crowd perhaps the first chance to catch their collective breath in more than a quarter of football.
Glendale trailed 38-23 going into the fourth quarter, but scored twice in the final frame to tie the game at 38 with less than 5 minutes to play.
Neosho’s Blayne Patterson then threw his only interception of the night, but Glendale couldn’t capitalize on either of its final two possessions in regulation, including a 50-yard pass play from Cash Newberry to Camden Bellamy as time expired.
The Wildcat defense knocked away two Newberry passes in overtime, and the Falcons turned the ball over on downs.
“We just battled all night,” Neosho Coach Brandon Taute said. “There were a lot of huge plays by our kids tonight, but it’s more mental toughness than anything.”
Glendale opened the game with a 64-yard touchdown strike from Newberry to Joelle Rover, giving the Falcons a quick 7-0 lead.
Neosho answered with a 12-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game at 7.
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The Wildcats zone read offense consistently chewed up yard after yard with Patterson, McGehee and running back Keisean Rhone all finding success running behind the Neosho offensive line.
“We’ve got some big boys up front that have worked extremely hard, and we have a running back and quarterback that spent a lot of time in the weight room,” Taute said. “We knew we could control the line of scrimmage so that was a big part of our game plan.”
Rover caught another long pass, for 43 yards, on the first play of Glendale’s second drive, but was held to just two more catches all night.
“More safety help over the top made him less of a target,” Taute said.
“That’s a really good football team over there,” he said. “They have some really good athletes. But credit to our kids for adapting and making the changes we needed on defense.”
Neosho got a touchdown from McGehee and another on a 65-yard bomb from Patterson to Lincoln Howard to push the Wildcat lead to 27-14 with 3:18 left to play in the half.
Neosho added two more touchdowns in the third quarter, with a Falcon touchdown in between, that gave the Wildcats a two-score lead going into the fourth quarter.
Newberry finished with 457 yards passing, completing 23 of 34 attempts with four touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He also ran for 132 yards on 21 attempts.
Glendale’s Trevor Heman caught nine balls for 154 yards and a touchdown, while Rover finished with four catches for 140 and the opening score of the game. Bellamy finished with six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown, which Jacan Seats caught three balls for 58 yards and a score. Samari Pickett ran 10 times for 24 yards and a touchdown.
Patterson finished with 224 yards passing, completing 15 of 24 attempts and two touchdowns and an interception. He ran for 70 yards on 19 carries.
Rhone led the Wildcats with 191 yards rushing and a touchdown in 33 attempts. McGehee finished with 46 yards and two touchdowns.
Howard caught five passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, while Haven Plummer also had five catches for 79 yards and a score.
The Wildcats travel to Kickapoo next Friday, while Glendale returns home to face Willard.
