By Chad Hayworth (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SENECA — Roman Miller scored five touchdowns Friday and the Indians defense forced three turnovers in a dominating 47-14 win over Cassville to capture Seneca’s fifth-straight district title.
Miller, named last month as the Big 8 Conference’s offensive and defensive Player of the Year, ran the ball 40 times on Friday, amassing 263 yards.
“You’ve gotta be able to run the ball and then stop the run when November comes,” said Indian Coach Cody Hilburn. “We had nice weather tonight, but bad weather is coming, and teams that can win at the line of scrimmage more often than not have the best chance of winning.”
Miller ran the ball 10 times in Seneca’s opening drive, a 12-play, 72-yard effort, including his first score of the night from 11-yards out.
On Cassville’s first play from scrimmage, junior Masin Bryan was hit at the line and the ball popped free, falling to Seneca’s Blaze Graham, who returned it for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
“That kinda set the tone for the whole night,” said Cassville Coach Clay Weldy. “We had some bad bounces, but they were the better team. Give them all the credit, they outplayed us.”
Seneca forced a three-and-out on the Wildcats’ second drive, and the Indians took over with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
Miller continued his punishing runs, carrying the ball 10 more times, interspersed by runs from senior quarterback Brodie Probert, who has been slowly building back to early-season form after a knee sprain midway through the season.
“I wouldn’t say he’s 100 percent, but he’s close,” Hilburn said.
Miller capped the drive with a 1-yard dive into the end zone, giving Seneca a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter.
In all, Cassville had the ball for just 1:10 in the first quarter.
“It’s disappointing, because we’ve been playing so well the last two months,” Weldy said. “The way we played tonight had a lot to do with Seneca themselves, but we made a lot of mistakes that were unforced. That’s frustrating.”
Cassville turned a defensive pass interference call against the Indians on third and 11 from the Wildcat 34-yard line, into its first points of the game. After the penalty gave Cassville a fresh set of downs at the Indian 49-yard line, junior quarterback Jaren Stearns broke off a 43-yard run – Cassville’s longest play of night. A play later, senior Colton Roark scored on a 12-yard run to cut the lead to 20-7 with 8:41 to play in the half.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
But Miller and Indians answered immediately. On first and 10 from the Indian 44, Miller broke loose down the home sideline for a 56-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 27-7 with 5:52 to play in the half.
Graham got back in the action again on the next Cassville drive, picking off Stearns’ pass near the 25-yard line. Six plays later, he found himself all alone behind the Cassville defense, catching Probert’s pass for a 39-yard touchdown.
Graham’s success is well deserved, Hilburn said. He was tasked this week with determining where Roark was lining up on offense and setting up to take him away from the Cassville game plan.
“We were hard on him all week in practice,” he said. “He had to play his technique differently, but it was such a valuable role for us.”
Cassville scored on the opening drive of the second half, an 11-play, 65-yard effort, capped by Easton Hughes’ 6-yard run, cutting the lead to 34-14.
But Seneca recovered the ensuing onside kick and after a 30-yard run from Graham, Miller carried three times for 18-yards and a touchdown, pushing the lead to 40-14.
Seneca again put a stranglehold on the clock across the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters with a 15-play, 53-yard drive that ate up over seven minutes. Miller again scored from the 1-yard line, pushing the lead to 47-14.
Seneca got another interception midway through the fourth quarter from senior Hunter Hanes, allowing the Indians’ second-string some playing time on offense.
Probert finished the night with 12 carries for 58 yards, while completing 3 of 4 passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Graham had one carry for 30 yards, the fumble recovering for a touchdown and an interception.
Stearns led Cassville with 63 yards rushing on six carries. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 71 yards. Hughes had 23 yards on five carries, while Roark gained 14 yards on seven carries.
Seneca will travel to Mountain Grove next weekend.
Hilburn said the time for reflection on Seneca’s accomplishments in the past half-decade will come later.
“Every year has been different and special on it’s own,” he said. “We’re just happy to get another week together.”
