McDonald County football handled by CJ

When you spend all week preparing for a star running back only to discover that he will not play on Friday night, that’s usually a good thing.

Not so much for the McDonald County Mustangs.

With leading rusher Nick Thompson out for Carl Junction, Aaron Moore, a sophomore backup, ran wild for the Bulldogs, leading them to a 44-20 win over the Mustangs in Class 4 District 11 action.

“(Moore) ran extremely hard,” McDonald County coach Chris Gwartney said. “He ran more physical than anyone we’ve seen for (Carl Junction) this season on film and they ran more inside with him than we’ve seen all year from Thompson. It definitely caused us to try to make some adjustments.”

Moore scored five touchdowns in the win.

The sophomore got to work early, scoring on a 16-yard  run on the game’s opening drive to give the Bulldogs (3-5) a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing McDonald County possession, the Mustangs marched down the field on the Bulldogs’ defense. Then, on a fourth-and-short play from inside the Carl Junction 25-yard line, momentum swung.

McDonald County’s Jansten Lynn was stuffed for no gain and the Bulldogs took over on downs.

A few plays later, Moore shredded the Mustangs’ defense for a 52-yard score and a 15-0 Bulldogs’ lead after a successful two-point attempt.

On the next drive for the Mustangs, the offense showed promise once again by picking up a pair of first downs. However, the drive ended with an interception.

Carl Junction quarterback Keegan Pittman connected with Moore on an eight-yard swing pass to put the Bulldogs up 23-0 late in the second quarter and that was the score at the half.

After the failed fourth down attempt, McDonald County struggled to get much going in the first half offensively.

“Their defensive line and linebackers are very good,” Gwartney said of the Carl Junction defensive front seven. “We lost Chance Buttram and Zack Peck in the first half. After than, (Carl Junction) was able to load up the box to stop our run.”

On the first drive of the second half, the turnover bug bit McDonald County again. The Mustangs fumbled the ball at their own 21-yard line and Carl Junction recovered. Two plays later, Moore punched it in again, giving the Bulldogs a 30-0 lead.

McDonald County got on the board in the third quarter after a long drive resulted in a nine-yard touchdown run by Lynn. Quarterback Cody Hobbs then hit Buttram for the two-point conversion to make it 30-8.

“We got Chance (Buttram) back in the third quarter. There was quite a bit of swelling in his shoulder, I mean he played great but, he was playing hurt,” Gwartney said. “But having him on the field opened up some running lanes because CJ had to respect him outside. We score to try and get back in the game, and then (Carl Junction) breaks the big one.”

After a mishandled kickoff by the Bulldogs forced them to start their drive from their own two-yard line, Moore took a handoff up the middle.

Surely, the idea was to gain a few yards for some breathing room. But Moore had other plans. He exploded through the line, broke a tackle and sprinted 98 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 37-8 lead early in the fourth quarter.
McDonald County would score two more touchdowns. First, Hobbs found Buttram for a 51-yard touchdown strike and then, late in the game, Lynn punched one in from two yards out.

The Bulldogs scored on a 10-yard run by Chris Whelan between those two Mustang scores.

“The kids played hard throughout,” Gwartney said. “I am proud of the way our kids keep battling even when their backs are against a wall.”

Next week, McDonald County welcomes the No. 1 team in the state.

“We have to play our absolute best game to play with Webb City,” Gwartney said. “We’re not quitting though. We are going to go out and give (Webb City) the best game we can. We know this Webb City defense can really get after you.”

Carl Junction travels to Carthage in the other district game Friday.