Cardinals don’t go away after fast start by Rogers
Posted on Sunday, September 7, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/Sports/65494/
ROGERS — Webb City, Mo., coach John Roderique was impressed with his first look at the Rogers Mounties.
Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock left Webb City very impressed with the Class 4 A powerhouse and its smashmouth football.
The Cardinals’ splitback veer offense racked up 275 yards on 56 carries in a 36-33 comeback victory against a big, physical Rogers team.
“ I was very concerned after we came up from warm-ups, ” Roderique said. “ After seeing those guys on the field, it was like ‘ Holy cow, they’ve got some good looking players. ’ ”
Those jitters may have lasted into the first quarter as the Mounties (0-1 ) jumped to a quick 14-0 lead on senior Caleb Hill’s interception return and senior Michael Tibbs’ long touchdown run.
But the Cardinals (2-0 ) didn’t go away. After a tough game last week — where Webb City saw a 14-0 lead disappear to three-time Missouri Class 3 A champion Harrisonville before pulling out a 27-21 win — Roderique knew his team had the ability to chip away.
The steady running game powered by quarterback Mack Kyle (6-foot-1, 190 pounds ) and running backs Braxton Baker (5-11, 180 ) and Seth Helton (5-9, 170 ) produced five rushing touchdowns, including the winner with 3: 27 left.
Three of their scoring drives — covering 77, 74 and 36 yards — featured all running plays.
“ I was impressed with their running backs, ” Peacock said. “ They pounded it. We smashmouthed. We hit ’em, hit ’em, hit ’em and it didn’t slow them down at all. They were tough and you have to be tough in that offense.
“ We just couldn’t stop them. ”
Roderique is happy to point out his team won’t likely see another “ physical, good looking bunch” like Rogers the rest of the season.
“ I told our kids after the game I was proud of them, ” Roderique said. “ If we would have been on the short side of that one, I would have been dang proud of them. ”
• • • Webb City has won 13 straight games at recently renovated Cardinal Stadium, which was filled to capacity on the home side.
The Mounties will put their own 13-home game win streak
on the line this week when the host Kansas City (Mo. ) Westport in the first game at brand-new Mountie Stadium.
• • • The hard-hitting game left the Mountie offense a little shaky. Tibbs, who missed most of fall practice, had his hamstring tighten up during the game and senior running back / linebacker Justin Reed injured an ankle during the loss. Tibbs finished with 118 yards on 12 carries and had just five carries in the second half. Reed picked up 42 yards on three carries, including a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He had no carries in the second half. Peacock said junior quarterback Andy Couture was also hit hard a couple times on running plays, so the Mounties tried to go to the air a little bit more to spare him. “ We were trying to keep our kids healthy and not lose them in the first game of the year, ” Peacock said. “ It limits our offense a little bit. ”
• • • The Cardinals kicked off four consecutive times after tying the game at 21 in the second quarter. The initial kickoff was blown dead by an inadvertent whistle, so officials had Webb City kicker Jake Brasfield do it again. His next two kicks went out of bounds and the Mounties forced him to kick again, backing him up 5 yards each time. His fourth kick stayed inbounds but the Mounties still started their scoring drive from the Rogers 34. They scored with 35 seconds left for a 27-21 halftime lead.