‘Cats headed to State! Cassville blanks Trinity Catholic in semifinals
On Saturday, Cassville relied heavily on ball control and runs to gain a lead over the Titans. Pictured above, running back Zach Coenen, 23, charges through tackles to get the Wildcats to a first down.
In a rare breakaway moment, Cassville running back Zach Coenen, 23, charged down the field for 67 yards, stopping just short of the Titans end zone.
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Head Coach Lance Parnell as he rallies his team during a time out late in the first quarter.
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December 4, 2019
Lee Stubblefield
Remember the WILDCATS.
The Cassville Wildcats pitched a shutout against the Trinity Catholic Titans in their Class 3 semifinal game on Saturday at Wildcat Stadium, defeating the defending state champions, 13-0. Cassville’s stalwart defense made stop after stop, and the offense turned opportunity into scores in the biggest win so far in Lance Parnell’s tenure.
There were a lot of questions about Trinity Catholic going into Saturday’s semifinal at Cassville. The defending state champions have had an eventful season to say the least. Before their first game, star running back/receiver Deriyon Cooper withdrew from Trinity to enroll at Pattonville. Then, the school fired head coach Terrence Curry just three games into the season.
Curry led Trinity to a state title in 2018, but his Titans dropped their first two games this year before destroying Bishop Dubuorg 90-6 in a game that was mercifully called after three quarters. Curry was then dismissed by the school in what was described as a “personnel matter.”
John Randle was elevated to the head coaching position, and Trinity reeled off eight consecutive wins to reach the state semifinal on his watch.
Even without Cooper, the Titans’ roster boasts more college-bound recruits than most Missouri conferences, a roster that includes 17 seniors. Consider that the annual tuition for attending this school is over $10,000, with a number of the athletes receiving scholarships from a booster fund that, according to the school website, exceeds $1.9 million annually. The Trinity Catholic football program is a textbook example of the advantages of being a private school in a large metro area.
Cassville, a rare underdog at home, had survived a playoff gauntlet to reach this game. After breezing past Aurora in the first district playoff game, the Wildcats survived tough challenges from Monett and Seneca before taking down Blair Oaks, the top-ranked Class 3 team in the state and last year’s Class 2 state champions.
But Cassville had not played a team with the combination of size and skill on Trinity’s roster. Still, some stats favored Cassville. The Wildcats had a huge numbers advantage as Trinity only dressed 37 players for this contest. The weather favored the home team, too. Torrential rains softened the field, negating some of that speed advantage of the St. Louis area team.
A windy disadvantage
Then, there was the wind. A south wind howled as the game progressed, affecting both the kicking and passing games. Much of the Titans’ high octane offense comes from their passing game. But the relentless wind shredded Trinity’s long passing game as pass after pass sailed over wide open receivers.
Clay Weldy, Cassville’s wily offensive coordinator, seemed to read the tea leaves better than his counterpart on the opposing sideline. Weldy adjusted his play calling to account for the poor field and wind conditions. Cassville’s Deven Bates threw sparingly in the contest in stark contrast to the pass happy Trinity offense. The Wildcats committed to the run game early on, playing an old school game of field position.
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “He who rides the tiger can never dismount.”
Likewise, Cassville could not abandon the ball control game without playing into Trinity’s hands. Also, even though many of those runs netted only a yard or two, the cumulative effect of the physical ground attack wore down the Titans and their short bench.
The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and drove out to the 46-yard line where they faced 4th-and-2. Parnell gambled, hoping to maintain possession in an afternoon of keepaway. But Bates gained only a yard on the option keep, and Trinity took over on downs.
The Titans swept into the red zone in four plays. But on 3rd-and-goal at the 6-yard line, DJ White made a leaping interception in the end zone.
Cassville could not move the chains, and Trinity quickly drove to the Cassville 4-yard line. Trinity’s kicking game is weak and the Titans did not hesitate to go on 4th-and-goal. Chris Cotton, Trinity’s freshman quarterback, threw incomplete as the Wildcats dodged another bullet.
Missed chances
Wasted big plays by both teams in the second quarter capped off a scoreless half.
On the first play of the second quarter, James Frenchie broke off left tackle for an apparent 5-yard Titans touchdown, but that score was negated by a penalty.
Later, Zach Coenen broke into the secondary and raced 67 yards to the Trinity 9-yard line. But a fumble on the next play gave the ball back to the Titans.
Then, with no timeouts and the clock running down, Cotton found Scott Preston for 51 yards to the Cassville 4-yard line. With the endzone tantalizingly close, the clock ran out before the Titans could snap the ball.
Special teams
After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, the Titans quickly squandered that advantage as the third quarter started. Drake Reese boomed the wind-aided kickoff through the uprights. Then disaster struck the Titans.
Turnovers and special teams often decide big games. Especially when turnovers occur on special teams plays.
On 4th-and-12 at the 31-yard line, Trinity punter Chris Moore saw the long snap dribble through his legs. Moore scrambled back to recover with Jericho Farris all over him, and Cassville took over on downs at the Trinity 9-yard line.
On 3rd-and-goal at the one-yard line, Bates squeezed into the end zone with the wishbone backs bulldozing him from behind. Reese added the PAT, and the Wildcats claimed a 7-0 lead with 7:47 left in the third quarter.
The Bates sneak would be the only touchdown of the game.
Trinity came out throwing after the Reese kickoff, and struggled to a three-and-out. A Titans punt died in the gale-force wind, and the Wildcats took over at the Trinity 28-yard line. Then, Cassville fumbled the ball back to the Titans.
Defense
Cassville’s defense rose up again. Two incompletions and a holding penalty pushed Trinity back before Cotton found Lake Wilson open for a 30-yard gain. On the next play, big Andrew Prier fought through the mammoth Trinity line and ran Cotton down in the backfield. Prier’s crushing sack jarred the ball loose and a pile of Wildcats recovered at the Cassville 47-yard line.
The Cats mounted a drive to the Trinity 16-yard line, where they faced 4th-and-5. Parnell called a timeout with just seconds remaining in the quarter so Reese could attempt a field goal with the wind at his back. That 33-yard kick gave Cassville a 10-0 lead with a quarter remaining.
#DJ
With time slipping away, Trinity was forced to try to convert every fourth down going forward. They failed on consecutive attempts, and the Wildcats took advantage to drive close enough for another field goal attempt. This was another 33-yard try, but this one would be into the teeth of that south wind.
Bates set the ball on the tee and Reese blasted a high rainbow toward the posts. The ball, struggling in the wind, barely cleared the crossbar. Reese’s true kick boosted Cassville’s lead to 13-0 with just 3:50 left on the clock.
The Titans mounted their best drive of the half, reaching the Cassville 5-yard line. Three incompletions later, Cotton tried to squeeze a pass between defenders, but White came up with his second interception of the game.
Two interceptions, both in the end zone.
With the clock running down, Bates knelt twice in the victory formation to finish the win and send Cassville back to the state championship game for the first time since 2009.
Misleading stats
Trinity Catholic backs ran for 179 yards and Cotton and Frenchie combined to pass for 181 yards as the Titans rolled up 360 total yards of offense.
Cassville ran for 171 yards but had no passing yards in the game as Bates finished 0/3. But all-conference receiver DJ White made what might be the most important catches of his career, intercepting Cotton twice in the end zone to preserve the shutout.
Big 8
Cassville’s performance makes one wonder just how good the Big 8 Conference is compared to the rest of the state. Four times in the last seven years, a Big 8 team has played for the Class 3 state title. If Cassville defeats Odessa in Saturday’s championship game, a strong case could be made for ranking Seneca, Mt. Vernon and Monett in the 2-3-4 spots in the final poll.
GO CATS!
The Wildcats (12-2) will play undefeated Odessa (14-0) at 11 a.m. at Mizzou’s Faurot Field in Columbia next Saturday.
Cassville’s defense rose up again. Two incompletions and a holding penalty pushed Trinity back before Cotton found Lake Wilson open for a 30-yard gain. On the next play, big Andrew Prier fought through the mammoth Trinity line and ran Cotton down in the backfield. Prier’s crushing sack jarred the ball loose and a pile of Wildcats recovered at the Cassville 47-yard line.
The Cats mounted a drive to the Trinity 16-yard line, where they faced 4th-and-5. Parnell called a timeout with just seconds remaining in the quarter so Reese could attempt a field goal with the wind at his back. That 33-yard kick gave Cassville a 10-0 lead with a quarter remaining.
#DJ
With time slipping away, Trinity was forced to try to convert every fourth down going forward. They failed on consecutive attempts, and the Wildcats took advantage to drive close enough for another field goal attempt. This was another 33-yard try, but this one would be into the teeth of that south wind.
Bates set the ball on the tee and Reese blasted a high rainbow toward the posts. The ball, struggling in the wind, barely cleared the crossbar. Reese’s true kick boosted Cassville’s lead to 13-0 with just 3:50 left on the clock.
The Titans mounted their best drive of the half, reaching the Cassville 5-yard line. Three incompletions later, Cotton tried to squeeze a pass between defenders, but White came up with his second interception of the game.
Two interceptions, both in the end zone.
With the clock running down, Bates knelt twice in the victory formation to finish the win and send Cassville back to the state championship game for the first time since 2009.
Misleading stats
Trinity Catholic backs ran for 179 yards and Cotton and Frenchie combined to pass for 181 yards as the Titans rolled up 360 total yards of offense.
Cassville ran for 171 yards but had no passing yards in the game as Bates finished 0/3. But all-conference receiver DJ White made what might be the most important catches of his career, intercepting Cotton twice in the end zone to preserve the shutout.
Big 8
Cassville’s performance makes one wonder just how good the Big 8 Conference is compared to the rest of the state. Four times in the last seven years, a Big 8 team has played for the Class 3 state title. If Cassville defeats Odessa in Saturday’s championship game, a strong case could be made for ranking Seneca, Mt. Vernon and Monett in the 2-3-4 spots in the final poll.
GO CATS!
The Wildcats (12-2) will play undefeated Odessa (14-0) at 11 a.m. at Mizzou’s Faurot Field in Columbia next Saturday.
Lee Stubblefield
Remember the WILDCATS.
The Cassville Wildcats pitched a shutout against the Trinity Catholic Titans in their Class 3 semifinal game on Saturday at Wildcat Stadium, defeating the defending state champions, 13-0. Cassville’s stalwart defense made stop after stop, and the offense turned opportunity into scores in the biggest win so far in Lance Parnell’s tenure.
There were a lot of questions about Trinity Catholic going into Saturday’s semifinal at Cassville. The defending state champions have had an eventful season to say the least. Before their first game, star running back/receiver Deriyon Cooper withdrew from Trinity to enroll at Pattonville. Then, the school fired head coach Terrence Curry just three games into the season.
Curry led Trinity to a state title in 2018, but his Titans dropped their first two games this year before destroying Bishop Dubuorg 90-6 in a game that was mercifully called after three quarters. Curry was then dismissed by the school in what was described as a “personnel matter.”
John Randle was elevated to the head coaching position, and Trinity reeled off eight consecutive wins to reach the state semifinal on his watch.
Even without Cooper, the Titans’ roster boasts more college-bound recruits than most Missouri conferences, a roster that includes 17 seniors. Consider that the annual tuition for attending this school is over $10,000, with a number of the athletes receiving scholarships from a booster fund that, according to the school website, exceeds $1.9 million annually. The Trinity Catholic football program is a textbook example of the advantages of being a private school in a large metro area.
Cassville, a rare underdog at home, had survived a playoff gauntlet to reach this game. After breezing past Aurora in the first district playoff game, the Wildcats survived tough challenges from Monett and Seneca before taking down Blair Oaks, the top-ranked Class 3 team in the state and last year’s Class 2 state champions.
But Cassville had not played a team with the combination of size and skill on Trinity’s roster. Still, some stats favored Cassville. The Wildcats had a huge numbers advantage as Trinity only dressed 37 players for this contest. The weather favored the home team, too. Torrential rains softened the field, negating some of that speed advantage of the St. Louis area team.
A windy disadvantage
Then, there was the wind. A south wind howled as the game progressed, affecting both the kicking and passing games. Much of the Titans’ high octane offense comes from their passing game. But the relentless wind shredded Trinity’s long passing game as pass after pass sailed over wide open receivers.
Clay Weldy, Cassville’s wily offensive coordinator, seemed to read the tea leaves better than his counterpart on the opposing sideline. Weldy adjusted his play calling to account for the poor field and wind conditions. Cassville’s Deven Bates threw sparingly in the contest in stark contrast to the pass happy Trinity offense. The Wildcats committed to the run game early on, playing an old school game of field position.
There’s an old Chinese proverb that says, “He who rides the tiger can never dismount.”
Likewise, Cassville could not abandon the ball control game without playing into Trinity’s hands. Also, even though many of those runs netted only a yard or two, the cumulative effect of the physical ground attack wore down the Titans and their short bench.
The Wildcats took the opening kickoff and drove out to the 46-yard line where they faced 4th-and-2. Parnell gambled, hoping to maintain possession in an afternoon of keepaway. But Bates gained only a yard on the option keep, and Trinity took over on downs.
The Titans swept into the red zone in four plays. But on 3rd-and-goal at the 6-yard line, DJ White made a leaping interception in the end zone.
Cassville could not move the chains, and Trinity quickly drove to the Cassville 4-yard line. Trinity’s kicking game is weak and the Titans did not hesitate to go on 4th-and-goal. Chris Cotton, Trinity’s freshman quarterback, threw incomplete as the Wildcats dodged another bullet.
Missed chances
Wasted big plays by both teams in the second quarter capped off a scoreless half.
On the first play of the second quarter, James Frenchie broke off left tackle for an apparent 5-yard Titans touchdown, but that score was negated by a penalty.
Later, Zach Coenen broke into the secondary and raced 67 yards to the Trinity 9-yard line. But a fumble on the next play gave the ball back to the Titans.
Then, with no timeouts and the clock running down, Cotton found Scott Preston for 51 yards to the Cassville 4-yard line. With the endzone tantalizingly close, the clock ran out before the Titans could snap the ball.
Special teams
After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, the Titans quickly squandered that advantage as the third quarter started. Drake Reese boomed the wind-aided kickoff through the uprights. Then disaster struck the Titans.
Turnovers and special teams often decide big games. Especially when turnovers occur on special teams plays.
On 4th-and-12 at the 31-yard line, Trinity punter Chris Moore saw the long snap dribble through his legs. Moore scrambled back to recover with Jericho Farris all over him, and Cassville took over on downs at the Trinity 9-yard line.
On 3rd-and-goal at the one-yard line, Bates squeezed into the end zone with the wishbone backs bulldozing him from behind. Reese added the PAT, and the Wildcats claimed a 7-0 lead with 7:47 left in the third quarter.
The Bates sneak would be the only touchdown of the game.
Trinity came out throwing after the Reese kickoff, and struggled to a three-and-out. A Titans punt died in the gale-force wind, and the Wildcats took over at the Trinity 28-yard line. Then, Cassville fumbled the ball back to the Titans.
Defense
Cassville’s defense rose up again. Two incompletions and a holding penalty pushed Trinity back before Cotton found Lake Wilson open for a 30-yard gain. On the next play, big Andrew Prier fought through the mammoth Trinity line and ran Cotton down in the backfield. Prier’s crushing sack jarred the ball loose and a pile of Wildcats recovered at the Cassville 47-yard line.
The Cats mounted a drive to the Trinity 16-yard line, where they faced 4th-and-5. Parnell called a timeout with just seconds remaining in the quarter so Reese could attempt a field goal with the wind at his back. That 33-yard kick gave Cassville a 10-0 lead with a quarter remaining.
#DJ
With time slipping away, Trinity was forced to try to convert every fourth down going forward. They failed on consecutive attempts, and the Wildcats took advantage to drive close enough for another field goal attempt. This was another 33-yard try, but this one would be into the teeth of that south wind.
Bates set the ball on the tee and Reese blasted a high rainbow toward the posts. The ball, struggling in the wind, barely cleared the crossbar. Reese’s true kick boosted Cassville’s lead to 13-0 with just 3:50 left on the clock.
The Titans mounted their best drive of the half, reaching the Cassville 5-yard line. Three incompletions later, Cotton tried to squeeze a pass between defenders, but White came up with his second interception of the game.
Two interceptions, both in the end zone.
With the clock running down, Bates knelt twice in the victory formation to finish the win and send Cassville back to the state championship game for the first time since 2009.
Misleading stats
Trinity Catholic backs ran for 179 yards and Cotton and Frenchie combined to pass for 181 yards as the Titans rolled up 360 total yards of offense.
Cassville ran for 171 yards but had no passing yards in the game as Bates finished 0/3. But all-conference receiver DJ White made what might be the most important catches of his career, intercepting Cotton twice in the end zone to preserve the shutout.
Big 8
Cassville’s performance makes one wonder just how good the Big 8 Conference is compared to the rest of the state. Four times in the last seven years, a Big 8 team has played for the Class 3 state title. If Cassville defeats Odessa in Saturday’s championship game, a strong case could be made for ranking Seneca, Mt. Vernon and Monett in the 2-3-4 spots in the final poll.
GO CATS!
The Wildcats (12-2) will play undefeated Odessa (14-0) at 11 a.m. at Mizzou’s Faurot Field in Columbia next Saturday.
Cassville’s defense rose up again. Two incompletions and a holding penalty pushed Trinity back before Cotton found Lake Wilson open for a 30-yard gain. On the next play, big Andrew Prier fought through the mammoth Trinity line and ran Cotton down in the backfield. Prier’s crushing sack jarred the ball loose and a pile of Wildcats recovered at the Cassville 47-yard line.
The Cats mounted a drive to the Trinity 16-yard line, where they faced 4th-and-5. Parnell called a timeout with just seconds remaining in the quarter so Reese could attempt a field goal with the wind at his back. That 33-yard kick gave Cassville a 10-0 lead with a quarter remaining.
#DJ
With time slipping away, Trinity was forced to try to convert every fourth down going forward. They failed on consecutive attempts, and the Wildcats took advantage to drive close enough for another field goal attempt. This was another 33-yard try, but this one would be into the teeth of that south wind.
Bates set the ball on the tee and Reese blasted a high rainbow toward the posts. The ball, struggling in the wind, barely cleared the crossbar. Reese’s true kick boosted Cassville’s lead to 13-0 with just 3:50 left on the clock.
The Titans mounted their best drive of the half, reaching the Cassville 5-yard line. Three incompletions later, Cotton tried to squeeze a pass between defenders, but White came up with his second interception of the game.
Two interceptions, both in the end zone.
With the clock running down, Bates knelt twice in the victory formation to finish the win and send Cassville back to the state championship game for the first time since 2009.
Misleading stats
Trinity Catholic backs ran for 179 yards and Cotton and Frenchie combined to pass for 181 yards as the Titans rolled up 360 total yards of offense.
Cassville ran for 171 yards but had no passing yards in the game as Bates finished 0/3. But all-conference receiver DJ White made what might be the most important catches of his career, intercepting Cotton twice in the end zone to preserve the shutout.
Big 8
Cassville’s performance makes one wonder just how good the Big 8 Conference is compared to the rest of the state. Four times in the last seven years, a Big 8 team has played for the Class 3 state title. If Cassville defeats Odessa in Saturday’s championship game, a strong case could be made for ranking Seneca, Mt. Vernon and Monett in the 2-3-4 spots in the final poll.
GO CATS!
The Wildcats (12-2) will play undefeated Odessa (14-0) at 11 a.m. at Mizzou’s Faurot Field in Columbia next Saturday.