Cassville football players will need little motivation this week. Friday’s regular-season finale is one of the biggest games on the schedule — the annual Barry County Brawl against Monett.

Clay Weldy, Cassville football coach, said having the high-energy contest a week before districts is a positive.

“I think the kids will be ready to go this week,” he said. “They are excited to have this game right before districts, and every year we play Monett, regardless of what week it’s in, the school and community get excited. It’s a fun night and week leading up to it.”

The Wildcats enter the contest at 4-4, coming off Friday’s 41-13 loss to Lamar. The Cubs are also coming off a loss, 48-7 to Nevada on the road.

“I think this year’s game will be exciting because we are very evenly matched,” Weldy said. “Last year’s game was back and forth and came down to one point. I don’t think it will be any different this year.”

Weldy said Cassville will have to watch for Monett’s line play, as the Cubs have some size.

“The big thing is the guys up front,” he said. “We have to win the war in the trenches. They have some good athletes, and they run an offensive option system out of flexbone, so we will have to be disciplined. If we make a mistake, it could be big.”

Weldy said the teams are so evenly matched, he doesn’t see anywhere on the field the Wildcats have a big edge.

“I think it will come down to the team that plays the most disciplined,” he said. “Whoever takes the most penalties and gives up the most turnovers will probably lose the game. It will come down to the little things.”

The Wildcats gave a full effort on Friday against a stout Lamar foe.

Cassville put up a defensive stand on Lamar’s first drive, forcing a fourth-and- 11, but the Tigers’ quarterback scrambled 30 yards to the 6 and scored on the next play.

After a Cassville punt, Lamar again used agile running to reach the 5 and score again.

The Wildcats’ offense hit on the next drive, with quarterback Bodee Rose jetting left to an open field more than 50 yards, overcoming a nasty horse collar that moved the ball to the 15.

Bryson Jacobson took a page out of Lamar’s red zone book and scored on the next play.

The Tigers put up two more scorers the same way, big plays to goal line packages to finish the drives.

Cassville recovered a fumble in the half, and on the next possession, a 47-yard completion to Garrett Ewing put the Wildcats in scoring range near the break. However, a 31-yard field goal try sliced left for a 27-7 scoreline two quarters in.

In the second half, penalties pushed Cassville to first-and-25, and despite nearly converting on third down, the Wildcats punted.

On Lamar’s first play of the half, the Tigers jetted 40 yards up the middle to extend the lead. On the next possession, they gained 25, then scored on a pass up the middle.

Cassville picked up some good pass yardage in the half, with Ewing reeling in a 44-yarder that led to Rose scoring from 6 out on a fourth-and-1 to provide the final scoreline.

Lamar slowly burned the clock for much of the remainder of the game. Cassville finished the contest with a 22-yard Tristan Thompson run as the clock expired.

“The kids battled and played hard the whole night,” Weldy said. “They just didn’t give up. Lamar is a good team. We knew it would be tough, but I’m proud of how the kids battled.”

Ethan Lamborn said the Wildcats did all they could against the Tigers.

“We all played as hard as we could, and we made some mistakes, but we can’t complain about the effort we showed for one another,” he said. “We matched them the best we could. They hit hard every play, and we tried to keep up with that hitting.”

Weldy said the successes Cassville did have were largely due to finding the right matchups.

“There were some matchups we thought we could do something with, and we missed a few, but Bodee passed the ball pretty well,” he said. “He had some guys open, and they got to it.”

Lamborn said looking ahead, he hopes the Brawl will be a game to remember.

“It will be fun playing our main rival,” he said. “We need to make sure we get our blocking assignments and execute on offense, and our defense has to keep doing what they do.”

Kickoff on Friday in Monett is at 7 p.m. At halftime, the districts’ superintendents will face one another in a punt, pass, kick competition, and people who bring a hygiene item to donate can be entered to win a drawing for a prize valued at $50.