Wildcats maul winless Tigers, 42-14
October 16, 2019
Lee Stubblefield
The Cassville Wildcats displayed an embarrassment of riches on Friday night, blowing out the Nevada Tigers 42-14 at Wildcat Stadium. Cassville’s offense scored five times in the first half on just 18 snaps.
The lone second half touchdown for the Wildcats came on a one-play drive, a 43-yard burst by Jericho Ferris.
The performance by the Wildcats in front of the home crowd was as crisp as the cold front that blew through southwest Missouri, bringing real football weather to the Ozarks for the first time this season.
Cassville running backs accumulated 229 yards on just 18 carries for a dizzying 12.7 yards per carry. Ferris ran just 5 times for 85 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the ground assault. Bowen Preddy carried 5 times for 86 yards and a score, and Zach Coenen rushed 5 times for 41 yards and a score.
Deven Bates lit up the Nevada secondary early, hitting DJ White with a 73-yard catch-and-run for Cassville’s second touchdown. Bates would finish the night 5 of 11 for 158 yards and a touchdown. All 5 of those completions went to White.
The Cassville scoring parade started early.
Bowen Preddy finished a 3-play, 62-yard drive with a 33-yard sprint off right tackle for a 7-0 Cassville lead.
Bates and White teamed up for the 73-yard, single-play drive and a 14-0 lead.
Ferris crashed the line for a 6-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead.
Coenen plowed in from 5 yards out for a 28-6 score.
Then Ferris took a perfect option pitch from Bates and scored from 13 yards out for a 35-6 halftime score.
The Wildcats sputtered on their first two possessions of the second half. A rare three-and-out ended with a Drake Reese punt. Then on a 4th-and-12 at the Nevada 40-yard line, Bates flipped a center screen to White, but Cassville’s star receiver was decked for a short gain.
But Ferris exploded through the line for a 43-yard score late in the third quarter to run the lead to 42-6.
Incredibly, none of Cassville’s six scoring drives took more than 5 plays.
Overlooked in the scoring spree, Drake Reese was a perfect 6 for 6 on PAT attempts.
Injuries decimated Nevada’s backfield early on, and the undermanned Tigers have not been able to crack the win column.
But Nevada did not lay down against Cassville. The Tigers put together an 18-play, 78-yard drive to cut the Cassville lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter. That drive, which started with 7:14 left in the first quarter, consumed 9:28 off the game clock. Then the Tigers put together an impressive 20-play, 80-yard drive to score with just 25 seconds left in the game.
Beaten but unbowed, this Nevada team earned a lot of respect under difficult circumstances.
Nevada fell to 0-7 with the loss, and has challenging upcoming games against Lamar and Monett to finish the regular season.
Cassville improved to 6-1 with the victory and will host Reeds Spring on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.
Big 8 West scores
Cassville 42, Nevada 14
Monett 47, East Newton 0
Lamar 49, McDonald County 28
Big 8 East scores
Mt. Vernon 21, Seneca 12
Springfield Catholic 33, Rogersville 14
Marshfield 32, Reeds Spring 7
Hollister 20, Aurora 6
Big 8 West standings
Cassville 6-1
Monett 5-2
Seneca 4-3
Lamar 4-3
McDonald County 2-5
East Newton 1-6
Nevada 0-7
Big 8 East standings
Mt. Vernon 7-0
Springfield Catholic 5-2
Reeds Spring 4-3
Marshfield 4-3
Hollister 2-5
Rogersville 2-5
Aurora 1-6
Lee Stubblefield
The Cassville Wildcats displayed an embarrassment of riches on Friday night, blowing out the Nevada Tigers 42-14 at Wildcat Stadium. Cassville’s offense scored five times in the first half on just 18 snaps.
The lone second half touchdown for the Wildcats came on a one-play drive, a 43-yard burst by Jericho Ferris.
The performance by the Wildcats in front of the home crowd was as crisp as the cold front that blew through southwest Missouri, bringing real football weather to the Ozarks for the first time this season.
Cassville running backs accumulated 229 yards on just 18 carries for a dizzying 12.7 yards per carry. Ferris ran just 5 times for 85 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the ground assault. Bowen Preddy carried 5 times for 86 yards and a score, and Zach Coenen rushed 5 times for 41 yards and a score.
Deven Bates lit up the Nevada secondary early, hitting DJ White with a 73-yard catch-and-run for Cassville’s second touchdown. Bates would finish the night 5 of 11 for 158 yards and a touchdown. All 5 of those completions went to White.
The Cassville scoring parade started early.
Bowen Preddy finished a 3-play, 62-yard drive with a 33-yard sprint off right tackle for a 7-0 Cassville lead.
Bates and White teamed up for the 73-yard, single-play drive and a 14-0 lead.
Ferris crashed the line for a 6-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead.
Coenen plowed in from 5 yards out for a 28-6 score.
Then Ferris took a perfect option pitch from Bates and scored from 13 yards out for a 35-6 halftime score.
The Wildcats sputtered on their first two possessions of the second half. A rare three-and-out ended with a Drake Reese punt. Then on a 4th-and-12 at the Nevada 40-yard line, Bates flipped a center screen to White, but Cassville’s star receiver was decked for a short gain.
But Ferris exploded through the line for a 43-yard score late in the third quarter to run the lead to 42-6.
Incredibly, none of Cassville’s six scoring drives took more than 5 plays.
Overlooked in the scoring spree, Drake Reese was a perfect 6 for 6 on PAT attempts.
Injuries decimated Nevada’s backfield early on, and the undermanned Tigers have not been able to crack the win column.
But Nevada did not lay down against Cassville. The Tigers put together an 18-play, 78-yard drive to cut the Cassville lead to 14-6 early in the second quarter. That drive, which started with 7:14 left in the first quarter, consumed 9:28 off the game clock. Then the Tigers put together an impressive 20-play, 80-yard drive to score with just 25 seconds left in the game.
Beaten but unbowed, this Nevada team earned a lot of respect under difficult circumstances.
Nevada fell to 0-7 with the loss, and has challenging upcoming games against Lamar and Monett to finish the regular season.
Cassville improved to 6-1 with the victory and will host Reeds Spring on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.
Big 8 West scores
Cassville 42, Nevada 14
Monett 47, East Newton 0
Lamar 49, McDonald County 28
Big 8 East scores
Mt. Vernon 21, Seneca 12
Springfield Catholic 33, Rogersville 14
Marshfield 32, Reeds Spring 7
Hollister 20, Aurora 6
Big 8 West standings
Cassville 6-1
Monett 5-2
Seneca 4-3
Lamar 4-3
McDonald County 2-5
East Newton 1-6
Nevada 0-7
Big 8 East standings
Mt. Vernon 7-0
Springfield Catholic 5-2
Reeds Spring 4-3
Marshfield 4-3
Hollister 2-5
Rogersville 2-5
Aurora 1-6
The Cassville defensive line put in work on Friday night, repelling most of Nevada's touchdown attempts and doing their best to secure turnovers. Pictured above, from left to right: Andrew Prier, defensive end; Jacob Hall, defensive tackle; Garrett Kritz, defensive tackle; and Jaiden Reibert, defensive end.
Breaking away from Nevada's defense, wide receiver DJ White dodges around to score a touchdown in the opening minutes of the first quarter.