BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

A battle of Wildcat defenses played to a one-score result on Friday, with Cassville coming up just short on the road at Harrisonville, 13-7.

Only twice in the game did the ball get inside the red zone, and both of those Harrisonville possessions ended with turnovers to Cassville (2-3).

Clay Weldy, Cassville football coach, said despite the loss, the Wildcats took a number of steps forward, especially when it comes to playing on the road.

“Offensively, they won the war in the trenches,” he said. “Our running game struggled, and we hit a few passes here and there, but even that was hit and miss. They had some big bodies in there and played physical. When you play someone and you don’t know anything about them, that can happen. They are a more physical team than what we could see on film.”

On the other side of the ball, Cassville found the most success its seen on the road this season.

“Defensively, it was one of our better games,” Weldy said., “But, the way we play, if we can’t get the run game going, we’re in trouble, and that’s what happened.”

The Wildcats started with the ball after covering a low kickoff that hit the chest of a return team blocker. After three runs by quarterback Bodee Rose and a pass to Colton Roark at the 39, a sack put the ball at Harrisonville’s 40-yard line. Rose found Roark again on a seam route to put Cassville up 7-0 just 2:45 into the game.

Harrisonville nearly answered seconds later, returning the ensuing kickoff to the Wildcats’ 3-yard line. A pitch play gained a yard, then another pitch went awry and Cassville’s Chance Freed recovered the fumble at the 8-yard line.

After gaining a first, Cassville was forced to punt. Harrisonville took the ball at the 40-yard line, missed one pass, then ran in along the home sideline to bring the score to 7-6 in the Wildcats’ favor.

Cassville, however, was forced to punt four more times in the first half, and Harrisonville added a 24-yard touchdown run to go up 13-6.

In the third quarter, Harrisonville punted its first possession, and Cassville turned the ball over on downs. Harrisonville’s next possession spanned into the fourth quarter, where Riley James intercepted a pass in the end one form the 20-yard line to stop a potential scoring drive.

Another turnover on downs and Harrisonville punt later, the Wildcats took the ball at their own 3-yard line with 4:33 remaining.

On a crucial fourth-and-5 play, a pass to Roark was called for pass interference, giving Cassville life at the 34-yard line. However, a sack, intentional grounding penalty and incompletion brought fourth-and 23 with 1:43 left.

On the down, Rose scrambled to the left and threw across his body to James for first-down yardage along the Cassville sideline. James stretched with his toes to make the catch, but it was ruled out of bounds, allowing Harrisonville to take over on downs and kneel out the clock.

Weldy said though the result did not go in Cassville’s favor, he was proud of the effort.

“I thought we played hard,” he said. “It’s the best game we’ve had on the road. We made some minor mistakes, and we’re still struggling with that stuff. It’s things like letting their linebackers fly in and no movement up front.”

A shining effort in the contest came from sophomore Easton Hughes, who recorded 4 tackles, 6 tackle assists and 1.5 tackles for loss, also earning his first varsity carries as a running back since getting 2 carries and a touchdown against Springfield Catholic in the 2023 campaign. He carries 4 times for 17 yards against Harrisonville.

“Easton has had a good year at linebacker,” Weldy said. “Every week, he gets better, and we are excited about his future. He works with the offense during the week, and he got the chance today and ran hard, blocked too. He shined on both sides of the ball.”

Another player seeing some of his first action was senior Kyle Bailey, earning his first start at running back after recovering from injury.

“I was a little bit nervous, but once the game started, I felt great,” he said. “They were really strong up front, and we need to do a better job blocking and running downhill. I’m really proud of Easton running the ball, and it was scary when Colton looked like he got injured, but he came back in and made some great plays. Bodee also did a great job many times creating something out of nothing.”

Bailey said despite the loss, the team as a whole is improving.

“We took a step forward from our last road game, and I feel confident we are improving,” he said. “We have to have a greater on-the-road mindset.”

Cassville continues road play this week, returning to Big 8 Conference action with a game at Mt. Vernon (4-1). The Mountaineers have defeated Aurora, McDonald County, East Newton and Lamar, falling only to Seneca, 35-14, in Week 2.

“We know Mt. Vernon is a very good team this year, and they are playing extremely well,” Weldy said. “It will be a tough road game. But, as far as road games, we took a step forward [on Friday], we just didn’t do enough to finish the game with a win.”

As a team against Harrisonville, Cassville tallied 97 yards rushing and 97 yards receiving for a total of 194 yards total. The Wildcats allowed 232 total yards, 42 through the air and 190 on the ground.

Rose went 6-of-18 through the air with one touchdown, adding 20 rushes for 10 yards. Roark caught 5 balls for 83 yards and the score, and Bailey reeled in one catch for 14 yards.

Bailey also led on the ground with 9 rushes for 34 yards. Roark rushed 7 times for 25 yards.

Defensively, Bailey and Hughes had 4 tackles each, with Bailey logging 1 tackle for loss and Hughes credited with 1.5 tackles for loss. Tristan Thompson was next in the stats with 3 tackles.

Hughes also forced a fumble that was recovered by Harrisonville.

Kickoff on Friday at Mt. Vernon is at 7 p.m.