Middleton Momentum

It took a 7 minutes, 2 seconds drive for the Seneca Indians football team to not only take a lead over Neosho, but to get momentum in their favor.

Then, in a matter of seconds, 21 in fact, were all it took for the No. 7 ranked Neosho Wildcats to roar back. Jake Middleton fielded a kick after the touchdown and was off the races for a 84-yard touchdown return.

And, the Wildcats never stopped roaring from there. Neosho rattled off 28 straight points and rolled to a 42-18 victory over No. 10 ranked Seneca in the Newton County Clash, the annual match up between the two schools, Friday at Earl Campbell Stadium.

The first half, at the end of the first 24 minutes, was a competitive one. Neosho went up 14-0 on a pair of touchdown runs by quarterback Alex Wise.

Seneca rallied behind a short touchdown run by Allen Frost and a 43-yard touchdown pass from Jake Rhoades to Nick Chasten with 8.5 seconds left in the second quarter. Both point after attempts failed, so Neosho held onto a 14-12 lead at halftime.

At that point, the Indians had scored two straight touchdowns and then got the ball to open the second half.

Seneca did what Seneca is traditionally known for — running the ball and pounding the opposition into near submission. The Indians, starting at their own 20-yard line, put together a 14-play drive that featured 13 running plays. Frost scored his second TD of the game, on a 3-yard run. The PAT failed again, but Seneca grabbed an 18-14 lead and the Indian faithful were up and cheering.

Could an upset be brewing?

Middleton, a senior, made sure it wasn’t. He fielded the kick, made a cut, and ran untouched up the Seneca sideline for a score. It took him 21 seconds to run 84 yards for the score.

“After the first kick return, I knew I could make a cut,” Middleton said. “Coach told me to look for the hole and I did … and it was huge. Will (McDaniel) led a big hit on someone and I followed him. I saw the open field and I told myself I couldn’t get caught from behind.”

Both coaches described the play as the turning point in the contest.

“We never seemed to get any momentum back after that point,” Seneca coach Rob Townsend said.

Said Neosho coach Shawn Flannigan, “They had our backs against the wall. They score and go up 18-14. Momentum was set for the rest of the second half after that touchdown.

“Momentum is huge. Once you have it, it snowballs quickly and the other team can get in trouble if they can’t stop it. Our defense had a long time on the field (to open the third quarter) and they had a whole new energy after the touchdown. It changed. It is like they hadn’t played all night. The defense definitely fed off of it.”

Neosho gave up a first down on the next drive, but forced Seneca to punt after six plays.
The Wildcats got the ball late in the third quarter and ran five plays before the clock expired. The drive continued into the fourth quarter and on 3rd-and-12 from the Seneca 28-yard line, Wise scrambled and dumped a pass off to his tailback, Jared Shurley, who ran up to the Neosho sideline for a touchdown. Logan Burr’s PAT made it 28-18.

The Indians had a four-and-out drive and Neosho’s offense took the field and scored again. Wise ran for his third touchdown of the game, this one from 13 yards out. Neosho went up 35-18 after Burr’s PAT.

“My line played great and did exceptionally well blocking,” Wise said.

The Neosho defense created its first turnover of the season on the next possession, when a ball was stripped on a 28-yard completion. Neosho took over at Seneca’s 33-yard line and took four plays to score.

Shurley ran for a  23-yard gain and then took it in for the score from 1-yard out when he took a direct snap. With 4:34 left in the game, Neosho went up 42-18.

The win for Neosho was the third in the row for a series, the first time that has happened for either team since the turn of the decade and it was also Neosho’s highest point total it has had against Seneca dating back to 2000. The previous high in recent years was 34, which occurred twice.