Seniors shine in Grin Iron Classic

Seven athletes from Barry and Lawrence counties put the football pads on for one more high school football game, the Sertoma Grin Iron Classic, which was held at JFK Stadium in Springfield on Friday.

Jeff Craft, of Monett; Wayne Joe Sooter, of Pierce City; and Ricky Nichols, Trey Rose, Josh Lannum, Garrett Barnes and Justin Pflug, of Cassville helped the West All-Stars secure a 34-14 victory.

Jarvis Jones, a recent Webb City graduate, had an 83-yard touchdown pass reception to open the third quarter to help the West pull away.

Jones' long touchdown pass, from Nixa quarterback Sam Rehegan, came in the middle of a furious 17-0 streak by the West that broke a scoreless tie and was interrupted only by halftime.

Cassville's Garrett Barnes kicked a 28-yard field goal with 1:11 left in the second quarter for the game's first points. An East three-and-out and long punt return set up Rehegan's 17-yard touchdown pass to Stockton's Dalton Freeze with just 25 seconds left before halftime.

Less than a minute into the second half, Rehegan -- the West's offensive MVP -- found Jones behind the defense for an 83-yard score.

The East narrowed the gap to three at 17-14 late in the third quarter, but Rehegan and Freeze hooked up for two more touchdowns and Barnes kicked a 36-yard field goal for the final margin.

Although the competition was the main attraction, the participants helped raise $15,000 for the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, a mobile dental clinic for at-risk children that have no access to dental care.

Since its inception in 2002, the Tooth Truck has helped over 12,000 children with dental treatment and prevention education valued at more than $7.4 million through 33,000 dental appointments.