BY JIM HENRY
Through the years, Webb City's splitback veer offense has produced countless sustained drives that took several minutes off the clock.
But on Friday night, the Cardinals displayed a quick-strike attack.
Running back Dupree Jackson scored three touchdowns, and quarterback Cole Gayman tossed three touchdown passes as the Cardinals rolled past Ozark 49-28 in a Class 5 District 6 semifinal game at Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals (9-1) moved into next Friday's district championship game at Carthage (9-0). The Tigers had a tougher battle than expected before two late touchdowns completed a 55-35 victory over Branson.
"The district championship, that's what you play for," Webb City coach John Roderique said. "You play to have the opportunity to play
in that game, and we have an opportunity now."
Webb City went three-andout on its first series, but the Cardinals scored touchdowns on their next six possessions for a 42-7 halftime cushion. All six scoring drives lasted less than two minutes, and two of them took only 23 seconds.
In all the Cardinals had the ball for only 8 minutes, 28 seconds in the first half but led 42-7 at the break.
"If you can only (grind it out), eventually somebody is going to stop you and you have to be able to throw it," Roderique said. "We probably don't work near as much early in the season on the passing game. It's kind of like run first and then we'll eventually get to it.
"I think tonight was a good example of we've gotten better and continue to get better. Hopefully that's a trend that we keep working on. When you can throw the ball effectively with what we do offensively, it makes us a lot better."
Gayman overthrew his first passing attempt, but he completed his next five for 113 yards. And all five produced first downs or touchdowns.
His touchdown passes came during a 28-point second quarter and covered 11 yards to Jackson, 17 yards to Mekhi Garrard and 37 yards to a wide-open Cohl Vaden behind the secondary with 17 seconds left in the half. Vaden and Garrard had two catches apiece for 55 and 47 yards, respectively.
Jackson also scored on short runs in the first and second quarters for the first three-TD game of his career.
"It's pretty exciting," said Jackson, who had seven carries for 56 yards. "I couldn't do it all myself you know. Always
thank my O-line. We have a great O-line."
"(Dupree) played well, and I thought Devrin (Weathers) played really well," Roderique said. "He can be electrifying sometimes when he gets the ball in his hands."
Weathers broke free for a 33-yard touchdown for the Cardinals' second score and finished with 98 yards on seven carries.
Defensive back Shane Noel set up two scores with interceptions, returning the first off a deflected pass 53 yards to the Ozark 41-yard-line and the second 38 yards to the Tigers' 13.
"He's been a great player for us," Roderique said. "They had a pretty good drive going on the first one, and it was kind of a drive stopper. He made a great play on that one. Both of them the quarterback was throwing into the wind, so that was a disadvantage.
"He was the guy in the right place two times and made two great plays. And his running ability, that's why we have him over at running back, too, as a backup. He really does a lot with the ball."
Gayman's eight-yard keeper
on the Cardinals' first series of the second half was their seventh straight scoring drive, and it took only three plays and 81 seconds.
For the game, Webb City had the ball for almost 19 minutes to Ozark's 29 minutes. Webb City gained 321 yards on 39 plays while the Tigers had 386 yards on 61 snaps.
Ozark (6-5), which scored three TDs in the final 4:12, gained all of its yards on the ground, and 172 of them came on three touchdowns — 65 yards by Thomas Rushing, 74 yards by Tylr Bolin and 33 yards by backup quarterback Jace Easley.
Bolin also scored on a five-yard run and wound up with 153 yards on 20 carries.
Cooper Crouch and Treghan Parker paced the Webb City defense with eight tackles apiece, and Matt McDaniel and Jaystin Smith had seven and six stops, respectively.
Joplin Globe 11/07/2020 (Used by permission)