Hello, playoffs

The Carthage Tigers are bound for the playoffs.

And their opponent is a familiar one: Jefferson City Helias.

To set up Wednesday’s playoff game, Carthage won a no doubter at McDonald County 61-14 Thursday night, while Helias traveled to Bolivar and won 29-19 after trailing 19-15 in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers didn’t need any fourth-quarter heroics. In fact, any thoughts of a Mac County upset disappeared in the first minute in Anderson.

Kyle Reed returned the opening kickoff 58 yards to give the Tigers possession at the Mustangs’ 21-yard line, and Seth Beckner scored two plays later to give Carthage a 7-0 lead just 26 seconds into the game.

The Mustangs looked like they might make it a game on their first possession, driving to the Carthage 5 before Dalton Sprague intercepted a Cody Hobbs pass at the 1 and returned it 30 yards. Beckner rushed for 19 yards to the 50 on first down, then Jordan Musser passed to Zach Strubberg to the Mac County 22, and Beckner scored on first down to put Carthage up 14-0.

After that, it was all Carthage.

The Tigers got the ball back after a Mustangs’ punt at their own 35, and Beckner scored again on first down, giving the running back three touchdowns in his first four carries.

“It’s pretty fun,” Beckner said afterwards. “We just wanted to come out and get this win so we can get into the playoffs.”

Another Mac County punt gave Carthage the ball at the Mustangs’ 43. Sam Carlton rushed for 29 yards on a reverse on a third and eight, and three plays later it was Beckner again standing in the end zone to give the Tigers a 28-0 lead.

The Mustangs responded with a 63-yard touchdown pass on first down of their following possession, but it wasn’t as impressive as it sounds. A pair of Carthage defensive backs went up for the underthrown pass, but the ball deflected into the hands of Chance Buttram, who took it for a touchdown.

Carthage scored with 9:04 left in the second quarter on a reverse pass from Carlton to Reed for 38 yards, then went up 42-7 on a 19-yard Beckner touchdown.

Gabe Franklin intercepted a Hobbs pass with four minutes left in the half, and Sprague scored on a 16-yard run with 2.3 seconds left in the quarter to send the Tigers into the half with a 49-7 advantage.

Beckner, who was pulled in favor of some backups in the second quarter as the game turned into a blowout, finished the game with 10 carries for 180 yard and five touchdowns.

In less than a half.

“He had a great first half,” Carthage head coach Jon Guidie said. “We took him out about midway through the second quarter, but he did a great job running the football. Our receivers blocked very well on the perimeter too, and when he got out we were able to spring some because of that.”

The Mustangs fumbled on their first possession and first play of the second half, but scored again when Sprague fumbled and Jordan Moffett returned it for a touchdown with 8:11 left in the third quarter.

But Carthage responded with the dynamic duo of sophomore quarterback Gabe Franklin and sophomore receiver EJ Morgan, who connected on a 49-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers a 55-14 lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter and the courtesy clock running.

Franklin threw for another touchdown in the fourth when he found senior Jason Eckels for a 46-yard pass.

“We were crisp offensively,” Guidie said. “The offensive line came out and controlled the line of scrimmage. That makes life easy for Seth to run the ball. The defense played great. We just muffed that one pass there in the first half and he caught it, made a great catch off the bounce, but the defense played well.”

And how about the Carthage junior varsity and freshman players who stood toe to toe with Mac County’s varsity in the second half?

“Our JV came in and did a great job,” Guidie said. “In fact, Gabe to EJ has been a good combination for JV and these guys are getting it done in the varsity time. We have six freshen that decided to stay out with us for the remainder of the season and we got all six in, so it was nice to see them get some varsity time tonight.”

And don’t forget about the Tigers’ offensive line, who made the offensive explosion possible.

“They were blocking really good,” Beckner said. “They got everybody and then they got more going downfield.”

Now, Carthage has another short week to prepare for a football game, but the Tigers are alive and well in the hunt for a Class 4 title.

“It feels great,” Guidie said. “We’re very excited about it. We don’t know who we’re playing yet, but whoever it is we’re going to get after it. Players are going to play hard and the coaches are going to coach hard.”

Guidie and his team now know that opponent will be Helias, who finished the regular season 6-4 but won all three district games by a combined score of 147-19.

The Crusaders beat Carthage 34-13 in the first round of playoff action a year ago before falling 35-21 at Webb City on Nov. 8.

“It feels great,” Beckner said. “We’re just going to come out and play as hard as we can.”