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The score makes it seem so much worse than what it really was.
In a game in which Neosho was within one score for most of the night, the Branson Pirates left town with a 35-13 victory Friday night.
For the second week in a row, the Wildcats’ offense gained more than 300 yards. For the second week in a row, Neosho outgained its opponent. And, for the second week in a row, turnovers cost Neosho dearly. The Wildcats coughed the ball up four times in the loss.
“I thought there were a lot of good things that came from our football team tonight. The effort was there and we had an opportunity to win the game tonight,” Neosho football coach Jared Schoonover said. “Most of the kids made plays tonight that we haven’t seen them make consistently throughout the year.”
In the second quarter, with Branson leading 14-0 on a pair of big touchdown runs, Neosho went on a long drive. On third-and-goal from the 14, Tyler Rathmann found Ryan Taylor standing in the middle of the end zone and completed the pass for the Wildcats’ first passing touchdown of the year. The passing game was effective if not stellar for the second straight week. Rathmann and Justin McKee combined to throw for 175 yards in the loss.
“Obviously, Tyler had a good game tonight. Outside of a couple of mistakes, he played a very good all-around football game for us tonight,” Schoonover said. “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the offensive line. They have come a long way and they are playing better than they have all season long. As the season progresses, there are some young guys that are getting better and better. Dalton Harris stepped in and has played well, Gavin Rainwater has played incredible football for the last month and a half on both sides of the football and he did again tonight. In the passing game, you have to have time to throw. Early in the season we didn’t, now we do and that’s the difference.”
Branson took a 14-7 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was uneventful until late in the quarter when Branson’s star running back, Malachi Daniels, ran in an 11-yard touchdown. After the extra point, it was 21-7 Branson. It was the only time that Neosho got burned by the senior, all state running back.
The score makes it seem so much worse than what it really was.
In a game in which Neosho was within one score for most of the night, the Branson Pirates left town with a 35-13 victory Friday night.
For the second week in a row, the Wildcats’ offense gained more than 300 yards. For the second week in a row, Neosho outgained its opponent. And, for the second week in a row, turnovers cost Neosho dearly. The Wildcats coughed the ball up four times in the loss.
“I thought there were a lot of good things that came from our football team tonight. The effort was there and we had an opportunity to win the game tonight,” Neosho football coach Jared Schoonover said. “Most of the kids made plays tonight that we haven’t seen them make consistently throughout the year.”
In the second quarter, with Branson leading 14-0 on a pair of big touchdown runs, Neosho went on a long drive. On third-and-goal from the 14, Tyler Rathmann found Ryan Taylor standing in the middle of the end zone and completed the pass for the Wildcats’ first passing touchdown of the year. The passing game was effective if not stellar for the second straight week. Rathmann and Justin McKee combined to throw for 175 yards in the loss.
“Obviously, Tyler had a good game tonight. Outside of a couple of mistakes, he played a very good all-around football game for us tonight,” Schoonover said. “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the offensive line. They have come a long way and they are playing better than they have all season long. As the season progresses, there are some young guys that are getting better and better. Dalton Harris stepped in and has played well, Gavin Rainwater has played incredible football for the last month and a half on both sides of the football and he did again tonight. In the passing game, you have to have time to throw. Early in the season we didn’t, now we do and that’s the difference.”
Branson took a 14-7 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was uneventful until late in the quarter when Branson’s star running back, Malachi Daniels, ran in an 11-yard touchdown. After the extra point, it was 21-7 Branson. It was the only time that Neosho got burned by the senior, all state running back.
“Our goal defensively tonight was to stop Malachi Daniels. He ended up with 25 carries for 80 yards,” Schoonover said. “You stop Malachi Daniels and hold him to around three yards a carry. That’s big time and that’s how you stop a team like Branson this year.”
After a Neosho punt in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats desperately needed a big play from their defense to gain some momentum.
Sophomore defensive end Aaron Scroggins provided the spark.
Branson quarterback Chandler Hall was drilled by a defensive lineman as he threw the ball from inside his own 20-yard line. Scroggins snagged the ball out of the air and ran into the end zone untouched, sending the lineman and his defensive teammates into a frenzy. The extra point on the score was no good to make it 21-13.
On the ensuing kickoff, Isaiah Daniels, Malachi’s younger brother, returned the ball deep into Neosho territory, giving Branson a great opportunity to snatch momentum back from Neosho. After a pair of first downs, the Pirates had first-and-goal from the 8-yard line.
On the first two plays inside the 10-yard line, the Neosho defense stiffened, not allowing the Pirates to have any running room.
With Neosho trailing 21-13 and just under seven minutes to play, the Wildcats’ defense held Malachi Daniels out of the end zone on a third-and-goal play from the 4-yard line. When the Pirates’ kicking team came onto the field to attempt a field goal, there was a bad snap and the holder was forced to pick it up and run for the end zone.
He dove for the pylon on the far sideline and appeared to go out of bounds. However, the referee signaled touchdown and, after the extra point, Branson went up 28-13.
“That’s a big play,” Schoonover said. “That’s a swing play right there.”
In effect, Neosho went from being down one score and potentially driving down the field to tie the score, to trailing by two scores with 6:30 to play.
The final blow came on the ensuing Neosho drive when Branson’s Austin Burke jumped in front of a pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.
On the play, a handful of Branson players appeared to get away with taunting and late hit penalties. McKee was absolutely flattened by a Branson player after the play was over, but there was no whistle.
Apparently that made the Neosho sophomore angry. Because on the next drive, McKee scrambled outside of the pocket to his left and sprinted downfield. He got a big block late in the run and strolled into the end zone for what appeared to be the longest scoring play of the season for the Wildcats.
But there was a penalty flag on the play. According to the official, a Neosho offensive lineman had a little too tight a grip on Branson defender for the referee’s liking.
The play was called back and Neosho ended up with nothing on the drive.
“We made our share of big plays and tonight (Branson) just made more big plays. And there were some huge momentum swingers,” Schoonover said. “We had a huge penalty on a big kickoff return that gets called back, we’ve got another one on a big touchdown run around the left side that gets called back. I want to make sure that our kids understand that it’s a mistake to blame outside factors for a loss. We need to control what we can control and that’s what we can do in between the white lines on Friday night.”
The kick return that Schoonover referred to came in the third quarter after Branson went up 21-7. McKee got a seam down the near sideline, broke one tackle and accelerated to the Branson 26-yard line.
However, an official threw a flag for an illegal block on the other side of the field and the play was called back.
“Justin is an athlete. He can play any skill position on the field and he is a good football player. He is learning and getting better every week and he knows that he still has a long way to go to reach his potential. But, I think he is a kid that will absolutely reach his potential,” Schoonover said. “I think the sky is the limit for him as far as what he can do as a football player. I am pleased with his progression and pleased with the way he has stepped up as a young man this season.”
Like in most games this season for Neosho, the defense played far better than the score would indicate.
“Yeah, they scored 35 points but you’ve got to look at the fact that with six and a half minutes to play, we were down by only eight points and had a stop on the 4-yard line. They botch the hold on a field goal and our contain man got hooked and they get in the end zone,” Schoonover said.
“They had a couple of big runs early in the first half. Take those out of the equation and our defense played a stellar football game.”
The coach was also happy with the execution by his players on the defensive side of the football.
“They had a pick six for one touchdown and they had a short field when they returned a kickoff down to (our) 30-yard line for another one,” Schoonover said. “Coach (Zac) Nelson’s gameplan was executed very well by our players. Our linebackers made plays, but when linebackers are making plays that means the defensive linemen are holding their blocks to keep linebackers free. Aaron Clardy played a great game tonight, Aaron Scroggins played a good game tonight, Kyler Finley played well. I saw some big plays on the defensive line tonight. And then Ethan Pogue, a kid that people don’t talk about a lot, but he is a kid that you can count on to be in the right spot every time to make a play. Ethan played a great game on both sides of the ball, the best game he’s had as a high school football player. I was very pleased with Ethan Pogue tonight.”
For Neosho, turnovers and a handful of bad breaks cost them. In addition to holding the Pirates’ star running back to 80 yards, they also forced him to fumble twice. However, both times the ball bounced off the grass and right back into the Pirates’ hands. One of the Wildcats’ interceptions came off of a deflection. The touchdown on the botched field goal attempt most likely would have been overturned if they instituted replay in high school football.
Despite all of that, the Wildcats were one stop away from potentially tying the football game late in the fourth quarter.
“We put ourselves in position in the fourth quarter that we could have won,” Schoonover said. “I was really pleased with the effort from my seniors. They really came out and gave us a great effort tonight. I’ve already talked a little about Dalton Harris and Gavin Rainwater and Tyler Rathmann. Johnny Lowe came out in the second half and had some big catches for us. Aaron McDonald did a good job on the defensive line. Dalton McDaniel came in and did a great job on both sides of the ball and he’s been very consistent in the last month. He hasn’t played football since his freshman year and he hasn’t missed a beat. He lays it all on the line every week.”
Friday, Neosho will travel to Springfield for their final road game of the season against Kickapoo. The Chiefs come into the game with a 5-2 record. After a 37-7 loss to Nixa last week, Kickapoo is 0-1 in district play.
