‘Cats best Cubs in Barry County Brawl, 47-18

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

For the last three years, the Cassville football team put up more than 40 points on cross-county rival Monett in the Barry County Brawl, and the Wildcats repeated the feat on Friday, besting the Cubs, 47-18, in a Week 1 victory at home.

Clay Weldy, Cassville coach, said the Wildcats, playing the Brawl in Week 1 for the first time in the game’s history, performed well on both sides of the ball.

“I thought our kids played well. I’m proud of them,” Weldy said. “I didn’t know how the score was going to go. I thought it’d be a close game, but our kids started getting some stops in the second quarter. Offensively, I thought we played really well.”

The Cubs struck first, driving deep into Cassville territory on their opening possession before scoring on a crossing route at the goal line with 9:42 remaining in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead.

Cassville answered with a long drive, but a bobbled snap ended the possession and Monett recovered at its own 13.

The Wildcats’ defense then forced a safety when a long snap went over the Monett punter’s head and into the end zone, cutting the deficit to 6-2 with 6:13 left in the first quarter.

Cassville took its first lead later in the quarter. Senior Easton Hughes helped move the Wildcats into the red zone before Kamden Beebe finished the drive from the 1-yard line. The touchdown gave Cassville a 9-6 advantage with 2:41 remaining in the opening period.

Monett regained the lead early in the second quarter, scoring on a 3-yard pass. A successful 2-point conversion was called back for an illegal shift, and junior Mace Bredeson intercepted the ensuing conversion attempt.

Cassville again quickly answered.

The Wildcats moved the ball with a completion to senior Masin Bryan and a run by sophomore Kellen Weldy. Bryan then broke tackles for 7 yards before Hughes found a hole and raced 39 yards for a touchdown, putting the Wildcats went ahead 16-12 with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter.

Hughes said the rotation among Cassville’s running backs helped the offense throughout the contest.

“It’s perfect,” he said. “We all get our touches, and we’re all equally as good. We have our own skills, and we all get to rotate in and do what we can do.”

Cassville’s defense forced another stop when Logan Parsons recorded a sack on third down and the Wildcats eventually took over after a Monett punt.

The Wildcats added another touchdown when Weldy took a handoff left before cutting back to the right and jaunting 47 yards for a score. 

Monett threatened to answer, but the Cassville defense held on downs after Tyler Hodge nearly intercepted a fourth-and-long pass.

The Wildcats then moved into scoring range in the final seconds of the half. Senior Jaren Stearns completed a pass to Bredeson for a first down at the Monett 20 with 20.6 seconds remaining, and Dade Zajac converted a 41-yard field goal as time expired, putting the Wildcats up, 26-12, at the break.

Cassville extended its advantage in the third quarter.

After the Wildcats recovered a Monett fumble, Hughes helped move the offense across midfield. Stearns converted a first down with a run, Weldy gained 13 yards and Bryan moved the ball to the 3.

Cassville eventually faced fourth-and-goal from inside the 1 after a penalty erased a touchdown, and Hughes finished the drive with a touchdown run.

Monett failed to convert on fourth down on its next possession, giving Cassville the ball at the Cubs’ 38. Hughes moved the Wildcats inside the Monett 10 before pushing the ball to the 1 as the third quarter ended. Stearns then scored on a quarterback keeper with 11:56 remaining, extending Cassville’s lead to 40-12.

Monett mounted another drive in the fourth quarter, moving into Cassville territory, but the Wildcats stopped the Cubs on downs at their own 39.

Cassville’s offense was forced to punt, but Bredeson intercepted a tipped pass on Monett’s next possession, giving the Wildcats the ball at the Cubs’ 30.

Stearns then went left and threw across his body to Bredeson for a 24-yard touchdown, putting Cassville ahead 47-12 with 7:20 remaining.

Monett answered with an 80-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 47-18 with 6:08 left, but Cassville controlled the ball for the remainder of the game.

Hughes said there’s not much like beating the Cubs in the regular season

“It feels great,” he said. “Everyone was prepping all week. We knew this was a big game going into the summer. That’s all we were prepping for all summer long, just to get to keep the trophy.”

The win was particularly meaningful for the senior class, as that group has now beat Monett in all four years they played.

“To have that consistency every year, It’s electric,” he said. “To know that the program’s coming back and we’re just going to keep building on in. Hopefully this younger class can keep it going.”

Hughes said opening the season with the rivalry game added to the excitement.

“It’s random, but it’s a lot more exciting because your first week, you got Barry County Brawl,” he said. “It just made it even more exciting, I feel like.”

Though it’s an impressive win in the books, Weldy said Cassville has a lot of work ahead.

“We got a lot to clean up,” he said. “There were a lot of mistakes and some little things that we have got to teach some kids. There’s some silly things got to fix, but overall, we played really well.”

Knowing Monett is a more pass-heavy offense, Weldy credited the defense with settling in after Monett’s early success through the air.

“I thought early they found some stuff for us, and then we kind of settled down, and I thought in the second half, we played really well,” he said. “Outside of one big play. We were right there. Their quarterback, Dylan Washick is a really good quarterback. You know they’re going to get one or two. It’s going to happen. So, I thought we played really well for what they are. It’s really tough stopping that,  but to keep them the 18 points, I’m really proud of that and our defense.”

Weldy said Cassville will now turn its attention to the road.

“We were excited all summer, and I hope that we build up the confidence we got from this win,” Weldy said. “Now, we talked about our schedule, and it’s set up where we have four home games guaranteed. That’s it. We have got to earn home games. So, we got a lot of road games and we’re hoping that next week we start playing well on the road at Aurora. I’m glad we played well here, but we have got to find some road ones too.”

Cassville is now 10-4 overall in the Brawl, with Monett’s last wins coming in 2022 and 2016. The Wildcats have also outscored the Cubs 403-261 in the series.

In Friday’s contest, Stearns went 7-for-10 through the air for 91 yards and 1 touchdown. He added 10 yards on 5 carries and 1 touchdown on the ground. Hughes led rushers with 163 yards on 16 carries and 2 scores. Kellen Weldy carried 6 times for 112 yards and a score. As a team, Cassville rushed for 383 yards on 47 tries, scoring 5 touchdowns.

In the air, Carlos Barrientos and Mace Bredeson each caught 3 passes, garnering 21 and 54 yards, respectively. Bredeson added the touchdown.

Defensively, Spencer Drollinger led the Wildcats with 4 tackles and 3 tackle assists. Hughes and Bredeson also each recorded 3 tackles, Kellen Weldy has 2 tackles and 3 assists, and Baxton Cornell contributed 1 tackle and 3 assists. Tyler Hodge and Logan Parsons recorded a sack each, and Bredeson had 2 pass breakups and one interception.

Cassville faces Aurora on the road on Friday. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.