Webb City’s offense has long been associated with grinding, time-consuming “ground-and-pound” drives that eat up plenty of real estate. But the 2009 version of the Cardinals offense, at least on Friday night, displayed an uncharacteristic big play flavor against the visiting Harrisonville Wildcats.
After stifling Harrisonville’s seven-play opening drive, the first Webb City play of the new season saw senior quarterback Patrick Drake fake a handoff and dash around the far end for a quick 81-yard run.
Other Webb City big-play scores included a tipped 70-yard interception score by back-up sophomore outside linebacker Breckin Williams; a 48-yard dash by senior running back Braxton Baker, which included a textbook stiff arm of Wildcat cornerback Charlie Moore; and a 90-yard kick-off return by junior Maddy Johnson that put the Cardinals up 33-0 to start the second half. “It was a night of big plays,” Webb City Coach John Roderique said after the game, citing the 81-yard touchdown dash by Drake to open up the scoring at 9:02 in the first quarter.
The only other Webb City score was a more conventional two-yard dash by Baker in the waning minutes of the first quarter, at the time putting the Cardinals up by 14 points.
Roderique did admit he had a flashback to last year’s game, when the Cardinals struck for 14 early points, only to have the Wildcats come storming back to knot the game up by halftime. Webb City eventually won that game by six points, 27-21. This year, the Cardinals had those 27 points against the four-time champions by the halfway point.
“Getting up by 27 points (at the end) of the first half, you have to feel pretty good about that,” Roderique said.
The Drake run, made possible by senior running back Jeremiah Box’s block of a charging outside linebacker, energized the crowd, which school officials believed was the largest ever to view a regular season game.
After the Wildcats went three-and-out, Baker’s two-yard dash, highlighted by an 11-yard pass from Drake to junior wide out Austin Daniel, put the redbirds up by 14.
Following an illegal downfield received penalty negated a 20-plus pass completion from Harrisonville’s senior quarterback Sam Cooper and a tipped Harrisonville punt that duck-tailed out of bounds at Harrisonville’s 48, Baker took the feed from Drake, went up the gut, was pushed back, bounced out to the side, demonstrated a textbook perfect stiff arm out in the flat and dashed untouched to pay dirt 48 yards away.
“That’s what good players do,” Roderique said of Baker’s run. “They make the big plays.”
Harrisonville was again forced to go three-and-out, but senior Boo Rodgers fumbled the catch, and the Wildcats recovered the ball. Three plays later, however, Williams snagged Cooper’s soft toss and ran it 70 yards for the score.
Harrisonville’s only points came at 3:32 in the fourth quarter, when Cooper kept the pigskin and rumbled seven yards for the touchdown. It looked as if the Wildcats might tack on a second touchdown within a minute when they recovered an onside kick, taking over at Webb City’s 29 yard line. However, a sack and a fumble recovery sealed the deal for the Cardinals.
Webb City’s Baker garnered 101 yards on the ground, while Drake added 82. Cooper led the Wildcats in rushing with 56 yards.
Webb City was playing without the benefit of their best lineman, junior Hunter Luna (6-3, 250), a two-way starter who is recovering from off-season knee surgery.
Webb City, now 1-0 in the Central Ozark Conference Large Division, travels south to face the Rogers, Ark. Mountaineers in a non-conference battle next Friday night.
