5-1 Cardinals dominate second half at Willard, gear up for week 7 at Carthage

October 4, 2023

Webb City’s football game at Willard Friday was a nail-biter – until the third quarter started. That’s when the visiting Cardinals – trailing by 2 points – went on to score 29 unanswered points for a 43-16 win.

Next up this week for 5-1 Webb City will be a road game at Carthage, where the 3-3 Tigers have won three straight games – most recently 34-20 at Ozark.

The Cardinals even spotted Willard 13 points, and after taking a 14-13 lead went to the lockers at halftime trailing 16-14.

As the third quarter started, though, Mason Williams stole the ball from Willard for the first of his two interceptions.

Then, in one play, Webb City retook the lead as Noah Durman ran for a 32-yard touchdown. Joseph DeGraffenreid caught a pass on a 2-point conversion to put Webb City ahead 22-16.

Braden McKee, on a flea flicker, threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jonah Spieker for a 29-16 lead.

Webb City’s possession after Williams’ second interception stalled and Cooper Boyd punted. But after Willard touched the ball, the Cardinals recovered the punt and got extra yardage on a penalty.

McKee ran the ball in from 10 yards out to extend Webb City’s lead to 36-16.

The Cardinals held Willard on downs before Kyler Wood scored a 2-yard touchdown for the final score, 43-16.

Coach McFarland’s comments

It was good to see our players have to face some adversity and respond. At halftime we were able to refocus, and our players responded by scoring 29 second-half points while holding Willard scoreless for a 43-16 win.

We knew that Willard had a really strong and physical defensive line, and I was happy with how our OL won the battle at the line of scrimmage from the second quarter on. Noah Durman led the way on offense with over 100 yards rushing and 3 TDs.

Our Defense continued to play at a high level. Willard’s offense has a 3-year starting quarterback to go along with other playmakers. Our defense did a great job of containing both the run and the pass. Brody Eggleston, again, led us in tackles with 8.

Slade Hurd (RB), Jackson Lucas (QB) and Mason Williams (DB) all got their first starts of the year. Williams was filling in for the injured Brett Korth and Hurd was filling in for the injured Andrew Elwell. All three of these players played well. Mason had 6 tackles and 2 interceptions and Slade rushed for over 50 yards.

Week 7

This is a big game Friday night. Not only is it “Carthage week,” but this game will go a long way in determining seeding for districts. Carthage is 3-3 on the year with 6-point losses to Republic and NIxa. They had the opportunity to win both of those games.

Carthage graduated a big senior class last year and they have had to play some underclassman this year. They have gotten better each week and you can see their team gaining confidence.

We should have Brett Korth and Andrew Elwell back for the game Friday. We are hoping to get Omai Jackson and Gabe Johnson back at some point before districts.

Noah Durman – touchdown.

Noah Durman – again.

Cohen Epler

Slade Hurd

The defensive line holds the Tigers for no gain.

Webb City fans cheer the Cardinals recovering their own punt and an unsportsmanship flag thrown against the Tigers.

Mason Williams runs back the first of his two interceptions Friday at Willard.

Receivers and secondary coach Trey Derryberry is as excited as Mason Williams is about his interception.