Cassville defended a total of 89 plays against Monett in the Barry County Brawl on Friday, and after 14 total touchdowns between the cross-county rivals, the game came down to a single play.

On fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line and down by 8 points, Monett took a timeout with 2.1 seconds to play. The Cubs’ quarterback rolled out right and found a receiver to cut the lead to 2 as time expired, setting up a 2-point conversion attempt to take the game to overtime.

An inside crossing route pass was complete, but senior Tristan Thompson slammed the door on the score and sealed the 48-46 victory.

“I saw the lineman come up, saw the receiver come in from the outside underneath him, and I just got over as fast as I could,” Thompson said. “Someone hooked his ankle, and I just came in and plowed him.

“This win feels awesome. It’s our last year to play them, and to beat them [in Monett] is even better. Just this year, we’ve had such a turnaround. I’m so excited for it. I hope and pray we can go on all the way, or almost all the way.”

Clay Weldy, Cassville football coach, said the Wildcats knew the game would be an intense one, especially with Monett’s pass-heavy, hurry- up offense.

“Coach [Ben] Mauk does a really good job calling offensive plays, and [their quarterback] is so much better than he was a year ago. So, we knew it’d be really tough. We knew we had a weather storm there a little bit. We got a little two score lead there in the fourth quarter, and I knew they’d come back and probably score again.

“We had some mistakes on our own end, but overall, we found a way to win at the end there. I’m very proud of our kids.”

Compared to the rest of the game, the first quarter was the tamest. Cassville forced a turnover on downs but fumbled the ball back a few plays later. Forcing a Cubs punt, the Wildcats opened the scoring with a 37-yard rushing score by Mace Bredeson as the first 8 minutes wound down to the final seconds.

Seven more touchdowns were scored in the next frame. Monett added points on a 73-yard pass, a 9-yard run, a 27-yard pass and a 69-yard pass, and Cassville scored on a 50-yard Masin Bryan run, a 60-yard Thompson interception and a 31-yard Colton Roark catch on a Jaren Stearns pass.

After 16 minutes, the game was knotted 28-28.

The Wildcats added 20 points in the third quarter, scoring on a 33-yard catch by Roark on fourthand- 11, a 1-yard Easton Hughes run and a 35-yard Roark interception.

Down 48-34, Monett brought the deficit to 8 with a 5-yard touchdown pass, failing the two-point conversion when Chance Freed broke up a pass to the back of the end zone.

Following a Cassville punt, the Cubs’ final drive spanned 70 yards, with the 2-point conversion no good to provide the final scoreline.

“We told the guys they’re going to score points, and all we got to do is create some turnovers,” Weldy said. “Then we get to pick sixes in the game, and when I look back, especially after they got an onside kick recovery, we’re able to come back and get those two picks. That was the difference the game, besides one conversion.”

“When I got the pick six, I couldn’t breathe,” Thompson said. “Somehow, I made it in the end zone, but just the team morale went up. I think both of those interception touchdowns helped us tremendously.”

The victory moves the Wildcats to 5-3 on the season and extends their streak to four — two home and two away.

“The first part of the season, we had some guys who were hurt, and we got those guys back, so that’s helped out quite a bit,” Weldy said. “But, we’re also playing better defensively. And the score in this game, that’s a good score and big plus for this offense. We’re finding ways to score and just getting better right now.”

Cassville goes into the regular season finale against Aurora (2-6) on Friday in strong position in Class 3, District 6. Seneca, undefeated at 8-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 3, leads the district, with Cassville slotted in second currently. Mt. Vernon, Hollister, Aurora, East Newton and Reeds Spring, in that order, fill out the standings.

If noting changes after Friday, the Wildcats will host Reeds Spring in the opening round of postseason play. Seneca would receive a bye and face the winner of Hollister and Aurora, and the other quarterfinal matchup would be Mt. Vernon and East Newton.

Stat-wise on Friday, Stearns was a perfect 8-for-8 through the air for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Roark had both scored and tallied 137 yards on 7 catches.

On the ground, Bryan led on the day with 77 yards on 9 carries. Six Wildcats rushed for 204 yards total in the contest, with Bryan, Hughes and Bredeson each providing touchdowns.

On the other side of the ball, Freed led with 7 tackles, Van Thank added 6, and Hughes and Bredeson each contributed 5. Thang, Sky Yang and Tyler Hodge hurried the quarterback 3 times each, with Thang logging a pair of sacks and Yang adding 1. Freed also broke up 3 passes on the day.

Kickoff at Wildcats Stadium against Aurora on Friday is at 7 p.m.