Undefeateds clash Friday in home game against Lamar

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

Cassville reached the halfway point of its football season with another strong road performance Friday, rolling past East Newton, 49-14, to improve to 5-0.

With three consecutive road wins, Wildcats Coach Clay Weldy said the Wildcats have embraced the challenge of playing away from home.

“We talk all the time to our kids about how good teams will win on the road, so I’m very proud of our kids that we’ve really traveled four times, including the jamboree, and I feel like all four times, we’ve played well.”

Cassville opened the scoring midway through the first quarter when Jaren Stearns connected with Chase Ruark on a 25-yard touchdown pass. Ruark found the end zone again later in the quarter, hauling in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Stearns to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead.

Cassville continued to pull away in the second quarter. Stearns found Mace Bredeson for a 65-yard touchdown strike with 10:20 remaining in the half, and Masin Bryan added a defensive touchdown less than 5 minutes later when he intercepted an East Newton pass and returned it for a score.

Stearns then found Carlos Barrientos for another touchdown late in the half, giving Cassville a 35-0 advantage with 1:28 remaining.

East Newton scored just before halftime, but Spencer Drollinger broke up the two-point conversion attempt to keep the score at 35-6.

The Patriots’ offense struggled to sustain drives throughout the first half as Cassville repeatedly forced punts and turnovers.

Cassville continued to control the game after halftime, putting together a 16-play, 76-yard drive that consumed more than 7 minutes to open the second half.

Stearns capped the drive by finding Baxton Cornell for a 12-yard score, pushing the lead to 42-6 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.

With the 35-point margin, the turbo clock was activated.

Cassville’s second unit took over in the fourth quarter, with Drollinger scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 49-6.

East Newton scored in the final seconds to produce the final margin.

While the Wildcats have relied on several of their established offensive weapons throughout the season, Weldy said Friday also provided opportunities for some of the team’s veteran receivers who have done much of the less visible work earlier in the year.

“We got a bunch of old receivers in Baxton Cornell and Chase Ruark, Carlos Barrientos, Mace Bredeson,” he said. “Mace has had some big plays this year. Those other three have kind of had plays here and there, and I was really proud of those guys having some big catches for us and scoring touchdowns last week.”

Weldy said the receivers have contributed in other ways throughout the season, including blocking on the edge, before getting their opportunities to make plays in the passing game.

“They’ve done a lot of dirty work for us this year, blocking the edge and doing their things, and they had opportunities and took advantage of them, catching the ball and get some yards for us,” he said.

Cassville has also continued to work several sophomores into the lineup on both sides of the ball and special teams. Weldy said the young group has handled the increased responsibility well and has become an important part of the Wildcats’ future.

“We got quite a few young guys, sophomores that are playing for us and have been playing well for us all year, and it’s a good class for us,” Weldy said. “They’ve been contributing both sides of the ball and special team.”

The Wildcats now turn their attention to Lamar, which will visit Wildcat Stadium on Friday for a key Big 8 Conference matchup.

Weldy said Cassville handled its responsibilities during the first half of the season, but the focus now shifts to the undefeated Tigers.

“We took care of business in the first five games, so we’ve done what we need to do,” Weldy said. “Lamar is undefeated and they’re playing really well and big and physical. So that’s our focus right now is with Lamar and trying to figure out what we can do to beat them.”

Having the game at home is something Weldy said will be valuable after Cassville’s busy stretch of road games.

“Lamar is very well coached,” Weldy said. “They’ve got a lot of older guys playing for them; a lot of multi-year starters on their team.”

Weldy said Lamar presents a physical challenge on both sides of the line and has multiple players capable of making plays with the ball. 

The Tigers also use misdirection extensively, something Cassville will spend the week preparing to defend. The key, Weldy said, will be discipline and trusting assignments rather than chasing the various fakes and motions.

“You’ve got to rep it in practice, and obviously it’s not going to be as good as how they do it, but we’re going to try to get as best we can for our kids,” Weldy said. “We’re going to have keys that we’re going to watch and try to make sure our guys’ eyes are in the right place.”

Cassville will need that discipline across all three levels of its defense.

“It’s going to be important that our guys trust their keys this week, and on all three levels of our defense to make sure we don’t get caught up in all the misdirection stuff and get going the wrong way,” Weldy said.

Against East Newton, Stearns went 8-for-9 passing for 247 yards and 5 touchdowns. Easton Hughes led the Wildcats on the ground with 12 carries for 62 yards. Drollinger had 27 yards on 5 carries and a score, and Kamden Beebe rushed for 31 yards on 5 carries. Eight total Wildcats logged rushing stats in the contest.

Bredeson led Cassville through the air with 116 yards and a score on 2 catches. Ruark has 2 catshces for 42 yards and 2 scores, Cornell had 2 catches for 53 yards and a score, and Barrientos had 36 yards on 2 catches and a score.

Defensively, Hughes led with 5 tackles, 4 assists, 2 tackles for loss and a combined sack with M’Quade Farris. Van Thang had 4 tackles, 2 assists, 2 tackles for loss and 2 sacks; Logan parsons added 3 tackles, 3 assists, 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks; Tyler Hodge had 3 tackles, 4 assists and 1 sack; and Braydyn Sizemore tallied 3 tackles 4 assists and 1.5 sacks. 

Bodie Hodge broke up 3 passes alongside 3 tackles and 3 assists. Bryan and Bredeson each came up with interceptions. A dozen Wildcats logged 2 tackles or more throughout the contest.

Cassville hosts Lamar on Friday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.