Bob Foos
There’s one football game left before districts – and it’s Friday night at Joplin.
After losing by a point (43-42) at home last year, the 5-3 Cardinals are hungry for a win against the 4-4 Eagles. The rivals have been separated by one point in three of the last five seasons, 40-41 in 2020 and 40-41 in 2021, besides last year’s game. Joplin won them all, plus the 24-28 win in 2022. Webb City won 38-21 in 2023. In 2018, when Joplin joined the Central Ozark Conference and started playing Webb City again, the Cardinals won 47-27. Joplin won in 2019, 35-28.
So in the seven games since 2018, Joplin has won five to Webb City’s two.
This year, the teams are comparable against common opponents, except Joplin lost to Lebanon. They both lost to Carthage, Nixa and Republic and both defeated Kickapoo, Neosho and Willard.
The Cardinals tied last week’s game at Carthage at 14-14 early in the third quarter, but couldn’t answer the Tigers’ third touchdown.
After punting at the end of the third quarter, the Cardinals were on defense almost all of the fourth quarter as Carthage used up 10:35 of the clock on a 77-yard drive that ended with a touchdown and only 1:27 left on the clock.
Mason Young, in at quarterback, led the team to the Carthage 23 before the game ended 28-14.
Braden Strickland, the starting quarterback, was the leading ground-gainer for the Cardinals, with 78. He threw a 55-yard pass to Trae Turner for the Cardinals’ first touchdown.
Mason Williams, Webb City’s leading rusher for the season, capped the team’s 65-yard drive in the third quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run.
Carthage running back Landon West averaged 5.6 yards on his 39 carries for 219 yards.
Leading tacklers for Webb City were Ethan Keller, 11; Bryson Bard and River Lenker, 10 each, and Karsen Myers, 8.
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