Cassville aims to bring brand of physicality on the road

BY KYLE TROUTMAN ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

On a high-intensity Homecoming night — against a Mt. Vernon squad that defeated Lamar the week prior — the Wildcats football team took the lead and never looked back en route to a 39-28 victory.

Clay Weldy, Cassville football coach, said the second win in a row for the Wildcats at home was a step in the right direction in the second half of the season.

“Before the Harrisonville game [on Sept. 26], I told the guys we are at a crossroads, with two doors in front of us,” Weldy said. “One door opens to the right direction, and the other leads to obscurity. We are on the right path with two wins in a row. Now we have to win on the road.”

Sky Yang, senior defensive lineman, said the second straight victory felt incredible.

“This feels amazing — it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this,” he said. “My pass rush was good, and the guy I was playing against was big and physical.”

Cassville opened the contest with a 68-yard drive, utilizing a 53-yard Colton Roark catch to reach the 1-yard line, where Easton Hughes punched in the score.

After forcing a Mountaineer punt, the Wildcats went 83 yards, with the marquee play of the drive being a 51-yard Kamden Beebe run where he escaped three tacklers to reach the 13-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Jaren Stearns kept the ball up the middle 5 yards to put the Wildcats up 14-0 as the first quarter neared its end.

Following a 1-yard touchdown run by Mt. Vernon, Cassville drove to the Mountaineers’ 15-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. Three plays later, Roark picked an errant pass at the 24-yard line, and the Wildcats worked their way to paydirt, finishing with a 3-yard Stearns run.

Mt. Vernon had 1:16 left in the half to score, but a long pass fell incomplete as time expired.

After the break, Mt. Vernon brought the score to 20-13 with a 32-yard touchdown pass. The onescore difference was short-lived, as Beebe returned the ensuing kickoff through the masses 84 yards to score.

The Mountaineers answered with a 62-yard drive, most of which was chewed up by a 50-yard touchdown run.

Overcoming a holding penalty negating a long Masin Bryan run, the Wildcats stayed the course and capped a 63-yard drive with a 3-yard Hughes touchdown.

After trading punts at the start of the fourth quarter, Carlos Barrientos came up with an interception, and the Wildcats capitalized on the turnover again with a 75-yard drive ending with a 17-yard swing pass to Hughes.

Mt. Vernon added a late score against the Wildcats’ junior varsity defense to provide the final scoreline, as Cassville kneeled out the remaining 26 seconds.

Weldy said the Wildcats made a bad habit of mistakes early in the season, and after six weeks, that trend is thinning.

“We made a ton of mistakes in the early part of the season, and we’re making less now, but it’s still tough for us to get off the field,” he said. “Tonight, we had two roughing the punter penalties, and on the second one, we were in safety and said not to rush. We are making mistakes, but we are playing hard and finding ways to win games.”

A highlight to Cassville’s offense in recent weeks has been its versatility, with 10 Wildcats logging positive yardage on the ground or through the air.

“Most games, we have three to five backs, then add Colt and Jaren in there,” Weldy said. “Jadon Castleberry also got his first catch of the season tonight. We want to be healthy, but if we’re not, we want to have guys who come in and still don’t miss a beat and be effective.”

With the offense on the upswing, Weldy said the key in coming weeks will be the defense’s ability to play physically and stop time-consuming drives.

“We have to play physical like we have at home,” Weldy said. “Silly mistakes on the road will be a big thing now. Nevada is very physical, and at times they will hold possession and make the game shorter, so we have to take care with possession on offense, because they will make you pay if you make big mistakes.”

Yang said taking the home vigor on the road will be key.

“I think we need to go out with a lot of intensity and be able to keep it up to get a win on the road,” he said. “I look forward to the next game and lots of physicality. Big hits motivate us to go even harder and make plays to get our offense back on the field and score more points.”

Stat-wise, Stearns was 7-for-8 through the air for 136 yards and one touchdown. Beebe led on the ground with 100 yards on 9 carries, and Hughes carried 14 times for 62 yards. In the air, Roark led receivers with five catches for 111 yards.

Cassville travels to Nevada on Friday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.