Week 9 Football Report BY ALAN BRAKE

Click to view image

R-2 FOOTBALL WILDCATS LOSE TO SOUTH CALLAWAY 34-20

The Montgomery County R-2 Wildcats football team hosted South Callaway last Friday in a key District 6 playoff game.  The Wildcats played one of their best overall games of the season, but came up short in the end and lost 34-20.

With this loss the Wildcats’ record fell to 6 wins and 3 losses.  Also with this loss, and a Hallsville victory on Friday, the Wildcats dropped to fifth place in the District 6 Playoff standings and Hallsville moved up to fourth place.  This means that Montgomery County will now play at Hallsville in the First Round game of the District Playoffs on Thursday, instead of hosting Hallsville (see accompanying article).

Both R-2 and South Callaway came into Friday’s game with high-powered offenses and solid defenses.  The defense for each team controlled the first half, while the offenses prevailed in the second half.

Neither team scored in the first quarter and part way into the second quarter, as South Callaway was forced to punt on each of its first three offensive possessions and the Wildcats had to punt on their first two possessions.  The Wildcats scored first on their third possession, as Nick Martin broke through the middle of the line to score a touchdown on a 66-yard run with 9:57 left in the first half.  Luke Longstreet kicked the extra point to give R-2 a 7-0 lead.

The Wildcats seemed to have the momentum going their way on the next two possessions for both teams, as the R-2 defense forced SC to punt after 3 plays on each of its two possessions.  The Wildcats’ offense was able to move the ball on its first possession, but was stopped at SC’s 36 yard line.  Then the momentum switched on R-2’s next possession, as SC blocked the Wildcats’ punt and recovered the ball on R-2’s 42 yard line with less than 3 minutes left in the first half.

South Callaway’s offense wasted no time scoring its first touchdown of the game.  On the fifth play of the drive Jason Kimminau completed a 10-yard pass to Corey Hanger in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.  Kimminau kicked the extra point to tie the game at 7-7 with :49 left in the first half, which was the score when the first half ended.

The Wildcats got the ball first to start the second half and hoped to get the momentum back, but that didn’t happened.  South Callaway forced R-2 to punt after only three plays and SC took control of the ball at its own 41 yard line.  Two plays later Garner Rudroff ran for a 58-yard touchdown on a sweep left play.  Kimminau kicked the extra point to give SC a 14-7 lead with 9:43 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats’ next possession got off to a good start, as they moved the ball from their 33 yard line to SC’s 42 yard line in just 3 plays.  However, on the fourth play the Wildcats fumbled the ball and the SC defense recovered it.  This time SC only took 3 plays to score as Kimminau completed a pass to Hanger for a 43-yard touchdown.  Kimminau kicked the extra point and SC led 21-7 with 6:35 left in the third quarter.

South Callaway then successfully tried an onside kick and took possession of the ball at the Wildcats’ 41 yard line.  However, the Wildcats showed that they were not about to give up or give in to SC.  South Callaway was able to move the ball down field on the next six plays, but on the seventh play the Wildcats defense stopped SC on a “fourth and 3 yards to go” inside the Wildcats 25 yard line.

The Wildcats offense responded to this with a quick scoring, 4-play drive.  With :55 left in the third quarter, Martin once again broke through the middle and scored a touchdown on a 28-yard run.  Longstreet’s extra point kick was blocked which made the score 21-13.

However, South Callaway took the momentum right back with a 13-play drive, covering 77 yards, and consuming 6 minutes of playing time.  The Wildcats’ defense kept SC from having any big-yardage plays, but they couldn’t stop SC’s offense when they needed to.  The drive ended with a 13-yard run by Hanger.  The extra point kick was no good, but SC led 27-13 with only 6:54 left in the game.

Once again, the Wildcats showed their determination to do their best to win the game.  The Wildcats put together an 11-play drive, covering 65 yards.  The Wildcats scored on a 7-yard pass from Evan Milner to Colt Ellis.  Longstreet kicked the extra point to cut SC’s lead to 27-20 with 2:23 left in the game.

The Wildcats tried an onside kick, but SC was able to recover the ball.  SC got a 10-yard gain on its first play, but then the Wildcats defense stood strong again and forced SC to punt the ball back to R-2 with a little over 1 minute left in the game.

Unfortunately the Wildcats last possession started on their own 7 yard line, and having used 2 of their allotted 3 time outs on defense, they only had 1 time out left.  Knowing that R-2 had to pass the ball, South Callaway put a great deal of pressure on Milner, the R-2 quarterback.  That pressure paid off as Hanger intercepted a Milner pass and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown (Hanger’s fourth TD of the game).  Kimminau kicked the extra point to make the score 34-20 with :40 left in the game.

South Callaway then had their second successful onside kick of the game and took control at the Wildcats’ 42 yard line.  From that point, SC simply ran out the clock and won the game.

Offensive team stats for Montgomery County were as follows:  188 yards rushing on 31 carries; 10 of 19 passes completed for 106 yards and 1 pass intercepted; 13 first downs; 5 penalties for 26 yards; and 3 turnovers (2 fumbles lost and 1 interception). 

South Callaway’s stats were as follows:  201 yards rushing on 46 carries; 9 of 15 passes completed for 102 yards and 0 passes intercepted; 16 first downs; 6 penalties for 45 yards; and 0 turnovers.

R-2’s individual offensive stats were as follows:

Rushing:  Martin 136 yards on 14 carries; Milner 38 yards on 13 carries; Jerad Jordan 9 yards on 2 carries; Dylan Skeens 7 yards on 1 carry; and Jake Kent –2 yards on 1 carry.

Passing:  Milner completed 10 of 19 passes for 106 yards and 1 interception.

Pass Receiving:  Jordan 3 receptions for 35 yards; Hall 1 reception for 25 yards; Martin 1 reception for 17 yards; Skeens 3 receptions for 16 yards; and Ellis 2 receptions for 13 yards.

R-2’s individual special team stats were as follows:

Kick-offs:  Longstreet 4 kicks for 165 yards.

Punts:  Sam Kroll 4 punts (1 blocked) for 94 yards.

Kick Returns: Martin 1 return for 9 yards; Ellis 1 return for 9 yards; Jackson Bishop 1 return for 0 yards.

R-2’s individual defensive stats were not available when this report was written.

Even though they lost the Wildcats are to be congratulated for their excellent effort and their refusal to give up in this important game.  Best wishes as you start the District Playoffs this Thursday.

EAST MISSOURI CONFERENCE STANDINGS 

                                                Record           Overall Record

1. North Callaway                5-0                  7-2

2. Montgomery County       4-1                  6-3

3T. Clopton/Elsberry            2-3                  3-5

3T. Wright City                      2-3                  2-6

5T. Bowling Green               1-4                  3-5

5T. Van-Far                           1-4                  2-6

FB WILDCATS PLAY FIRST ROUND DISTRICT PLAYOFF GAME

AT HALLSVILLE ON THURSDAY

As a result of Montgomery County R-2’s loss to South Callaway and Hallsville win last Friday, the Wildcats dropped to fifth place in the District 6 Playoff standings and Hallsville moved up to fourth place.  This means that these two teams will play at Hallsville this Thursday, October 25, with the game starting at 7:00 p.m.

The district standings are based on the average earned points per game for the first 9 games of the season.  The points earned are based the following factors:

A)   20 points for a win or 10 points for a loss.

B)   Points added or subtracted based on the point difference of the final score of each game, with a limit of 13 points per game gained or lost.

C)   The most deciding factor (and most complicated to figure) is the “strength of the schedule” of the teams you play in the first 9 games.  This is based on the won-loss record of each of your opponents (not counting the games you played against them).  You could also earn a bonus of 10 points for every team you played that is in a classification higher than the class your team is in.

Based on this point system here are the final standings for District 6 for Class 2 schools (based on high school enrollment numbers).

Seed/Team                                                    Record           Points

1. Blair Oaks                                                 8-1                  52.81

2. South Callaway                                       8-1                  45.15

3. North Callaway                                        7-2                  42.22

4. Hallsville                                                   6-3                  39.24

5. Montgomery County                               6-3                  38.08

6. Hermann                                                   4-5                  37.43

7. Lutheran (St. Peters)                               3-6                  34.62

8. Father Tolton Catholic                            1-6                  20.27 

As was mentioned at the beginning of this article, Montgomery County R-2 will play at Hallsville.  The other match-ups are as follows:  Blair Oaks will host Father Tolton; South Callaway will host Lutheran (St. Peters); and North Callaway will host Hermann. 

If the Wildcats win the Hallsville game, they will face the winner of the Blair Oaks/Father Tolton game next Wednesday, October 31, at 7:00 p.m.  The winners of the other two games will also play each other on Wednesday.  The District Championship game will be played on Monday, November 5 (site to be determined) at 7:00 p.m.