Cassville falls to No. 7-ranked Tigers, 44-21

The final result against Nevada, ranked No. 7 in Class 4, did not go Cassville’s way on Friday, but the Wildcats found many pillars on which to build in the 44-21 loss at home.

Cassville (3-3) has played back-toback games against Class 4 schools, falling to McDonald County (3-3) and Nevada (6-0). Clay Weldy, Cassville football coach, said though both games ended with losses, bright spots in the Wildcats’ play shone through.

“We did better against Nevada,” he said. “I’m proud of how we battled and played hard. The line blocked extremely well, and the tight ends and backs played hard. We did a lot of good things last week too, and most of this game, we played well. We had a couple turnovers, but for the O-line, that’s one of the better games they’ve played all year.”

The Tigers struck first in the contest, marching 80 yards in six plays, with a 43-yard run setting up a 14-yard sweep for a score.

Undaunted, the Wildcats answered quickly, moving the ball 48 yards across midfield to allow Bryson Jacobson to go 17 yards then 16 more into paydirt.

Nevada took the lead again with a 58-yard touchdown, and Cassville turned the ball over on downs but forced a turnover on downs at their own 27.

The Wildcats capitalized on the stop, fighting through a penalty and to a close, Cassville threw an interception but held Nevada to a 22-13 lead at the break.

The second half, much like it did against McDonald County in Week 5, went the way of Cassville’s opponent.

A fumble on Cassville’s first drive allowed Nevada to score from 6. A Cassville punt then gave way to a clock-chewing Tigers drive, capped by a 38-yard touchdown run.

The highlight of the second half was a Colton Roark run on third-and-8, going 45 yards up the home sideline to the end zone, bringing the score to 37-21 with 7:07 to play.

An onside kick attempt by Cassville failed to make it 10 yards, and Nevada took the clock down to 2:49 as they scored a 13-yard rushing touchdown for the final scoreline.

Weldy said though the Wildcats played great in areas, putting together a full four quarters is still on the top of his list of improvements to make.

“For whatever reason, we come out and play a great half,” Weldy said. “Last week, that third quarter was our worst of the season, and this week, we made some mistakes offensively, and the fourth quarter was a battle but we had too many wounds already.”

Joesph Reuter, senior lineman, said he was happy the Wildcats put more points on the board, but play overall has to be more consistent.

“We played a good first half, but in the second we fell apart,” he said. “We have to play more consistently in the second half to compete better. We also need to work on conditioning. We had a lot of guys going both ways, so we need to be ready to play four quarters no matter who we’re up against.”

Weldy said it will be on the team’s shoulders to put together four quarters of solid play.

“We’ve screamed and yelled at halftime and we’ve done the rah-rah stuff, too,” he said. “We play a valiant first half, and it’s not about adjustments or anything, it’s just not controlling what we can.

“But, we see a lot of positives. We’re a very inexperienced team getting more experience, and at some point, we will put a four-quarter game together and be more consistent as a whole team. As we play better teams, we will have to play four quarters.”

Reuter said the Nevada game was encouraging, and he aims to keep the Wildcats moving forward.

“The offense did pretty good and moved them a lot,” he aid. “We got more yards than last week, and they were pretty big up front, so that was good. We are a young team, so we are still getting better every week. We want to play our best the next three weeks and then play Cassville football in districts.”

Coming off two underdog match-ups, the Wildcats will switch roles this week for Homecoming, welcoming an 0-6 Springfield Catholic bunch that has only scored one touchdown this season and given up at least four in each contest.

Despite the opponent disparity, Weldy said the Wildcats will continue business as usual.

“We are focused on getting better throughout the week during practice,” Weldy said. “Our goal is to play a four-quarter game this week, and have our best effort we’ve had this season.”

A unique challenge to the week may be the Homecoming festivities, and Weldy said extra effort is being put into staying focused on outcome on the field.

“We told them to remember what is the most important thing this week, and that is us performing our best on Friday night against Catholic,” he said. “I want them to enjoy the week but never lose sight of what is the most important part of the week.”

To come up with a favorable scoreline, Weldy said along with a complete game, he hopes the Wildcats can shore up play when it comes to turnovers.

“Playing a complete four-quarter game, and not just one good half, [is the big area of focus],” Weldy said. “We have turned the ball over far too much this season; that will remain an area we are working on.”

Kickoff on Friday is at 7 p.m. Homecoming festivities, including the crowning of the king and queen, will begin at 6:30 p.m.