See all our photos from the game at: https://cassvilledemocrat.zenfoliosite.com/2025-cassville-football?ct=3

Cassville shows promise in 6-point loss to Seneca

BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

In the last two seasons, Seneca had outscored Cassville 147-16 over three contests, and the Wildcats are hoping a one-possession loss to the Indians on Friday can be a springboard for the rest of this season.

With a new quarterback and some special teams magic, Cassville fought to a 33-27 finish at home, scoring with under 2 minutes and attempting but not recovering an onside kick, allowing the Indians to kneel out the clock.

For their efforts, the Wildcats on Monday earned the No. 9 spot in the Class 3 2025 Missouri Media football rankings.

Clay Weldy, Cassville football coach, said overall, the performance was promising.

“Our kids were physical, and the last couple of years, we’ve come out and they’ve hit us in the mouth, and we didn’t respond well,” he said. “[On Friday], we hit them in the mouth off the bat, and I was proud of how hard we played. The big thing was we were right there in the game. The kids played hard; we just made mistakes, like procedure penalties and missed tackles.

“So, the good thing is this is stuff we can work on and get better at. I think we’re a way more mature team this year, mentally and physically, and hopefully, that carries on the rest of the season.”

The Wildcats struck first in the contest with an 8-play, 65-yard drive, culminating with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jaren Stearns to Colton Roark on third-and-6, with Roark beating double-coverage to pull down the pass.

Seneca knotted the score at 7-7 shortly after on a 7-yard run at the end of a 58-yard drive.

Cassville’s second drive got a boost from a newer face, Kamden Beebe, who returned the kickoff to the 45-yard line. The drive ended with a lob to Roark in the corner of the end zone, intercepted in another double-coverage situation.

The Indians then marched 80 yards to score from the 4-yard line, and trading possessions, Cassville went into the break down 14-7.

In the third quarter, the Wildcats came out with purpose, forcing the Indians to punt and striking quickly with a 34-yard Mace Bredeson touchdown catch.

Seneca then broke free for a 41-yard touchdown run, and after a Cassville punt, added a short touchdown run to go up 27-14.

Another Cassville punt gave Seneca the ball at the turn of the fourth quarter, when the Indians’ quarterback struck with a 44-yard touchdown run.

The Wildcats, however, showed no signs of quit. On the ensuing kickoff, Beebe bobbled the recovery but scooped the ball up and found a hole, going 77 yards to paydirt.

The Wildcats then forced a fumble, with Baxton Cornell recovering at the Cassville 9-yard line. After a few short gains, Beebe broke free again down the home sideline to the Indians’ 18-yard line, with Roark capping the drive on a goal line push with 1:30 to play and the score at 33-27.

Cassville’s onside kick was recovered by the Indians, who ran two plays and kneeled after a Cassville timeout to secure the win.

Despite the loss, Stearns said the performance was one that will breed confidence in the ‘Cats.

“I’m proud of what we did as a team,” he said. “We made some little mistakes we will have to control, but being our first game against the No. 1 ranked team, we’re pretty confident. We’re really close to being a dangerous team.”

It was the first varsity start for Stearns, a junior, and Weldy said he was happy with his new signal caller’s play.

“I thought Jaren played really well,” Weldy said. “He did a good job on his first start: threw the ball well, ran the option game really well. I thought our backs ran hard and fought for each other. We rotated quite a few guys in there. I thought everyone played really hard and gave their all for us. I was very proud of everybody.”

Stearns said all the options in the backfield helped him, as well as his options at receiver.

“We had a lot of options to choose from at running back, and we have one more who is hurt,” he said. “We also have a lot of weapons at receiver.”

Weldy said injuries have hampered Cassville at times in recent seasons, and some who missed out last year and played on Friday were major factors. Weldy also noted the newer weapons on the team, two of whom found the end zone.

“Those guys were all big forces,” he said. “Mace came in and had some big catches in the game and played corner for us, and Kamden is a kid that we are excited about. He’s a good track kid I have in the spring that can run really well. You saw his speed tonight. We’ve got a little more speed in the field this year. We’ve got some playmakers.”

Weldy said he hopes that trend continues.

“Usually, good teams make a big jump from Week 1 to Week 2,” he said. “So, I told our guys I hope we solve our mistakes, because we made a lot of self-inflicted wounds. We’re playing hard, which I love. We’re playing physical. If we do those things, and we start controlling some of those mistakes, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”

Being his first start, Stearns said he was honored to take the field and is excited to see more of the gridiron this season.

“It was a dream come true,” he said. “I remember being in third grade and looking up to the high school kids — and now I’m one of them.

“This game gave us a lot of confidence as a team. Now, we know there is no one we can’t compete against. If we can play Seneca this close, we can compete with anyone in the conference.”

Cassville hits the road on Friday for another Big 8 contest, traveling to Anderson to face McDonald County at 7 p.m.