Bears, once again, struggle offensively in SRVC opener

The intensity and the improved performance over last week were there, but those two things weren’t enough for the Sarcoxie Bears to overcome Miller’s speed, explosiveness and  size advantage.

Despite the score, Sarcoxie controlled the ball offensively, but just couldn’t punch it over the goal line when it needed to. The result was a 43-13 victory for the Cardinals putting the Bears at 0-2 on the season.

The good news in the game is that Sarcoxie didn’t have to punt. The bad news is that the Bears gave up the ball on downs three times and twice on turnovers.

“I thought we improved and played with more intensity tonight,” said Sarcoxie coach Jeff Kabance.

“Miller is a tremendous football team and to stay with them as long as we did I thought was great. They are very, very talented and very explosive.”

It was Miller’s speed that was the difference in the game. Darin Clark, a junior running back for the Cardinals, has explosive speed and once he gets in the clear, it is hard for anyone to stop him. The same can be said for quarterback Justin Jack.

Miller scored in just seven plays in the first quarter after recovering a Sarcoxie fumble, effectively stopping a long and time-consuming drive.

Miller’s second scoring drive was even shorter – just one play. After taking over on downs at their own 38 at the beginning of the second quarter, the Cardinals took the Bears by surprise.

Quarterback Justin Jack hit Jeremy Gulick with a pass up the middle and he scampered all the way to paydirt – 62 yards. The extra point was good giving Miller a 15-0 lead.

Sarcoxie took possession two more times, both times giving the ball up on downs. The second time, Miller scored on a nine-play drive over 95 yards. The drive was culminated by Clark who went up the middle and ran 27 yards for the touchdown.

Sarcoxie then got on the board in dramatic fashion. On fourth down and with the ball on the Miller 18, quarterback Nathan Freeland pitched to Aaron Parsons for a halfback pass. Being pursued, Parks was grabbed and as he was going down, he heaved a Hail Mary pass that was caught in the end zone by Brandon Vaught, with just 47 seconds left in the half.

But the Cardinals weren’t done. Taking the ball on the kickoff on their own 45, the Cardinals needed just one play to score – again. Jack hit Tyler Hinshaw with a pass who ran 55 yards for the touchdown. The PAT was good and Miller took a 29-6 lead into the locker room.

In the third quarter, Miller scored on its first possession on a seven-yard pass from Jack to Tyler Abama. The PAT increased the Cardinal margin to 36-6.

The final Miller score was set up when Josh Harlow intercepted a Sarcoxie pass and was brought down on the Bears’ four. Hinshaw broke through the line and scored the final Miller touchdown.

Sarcoxie completed the scoring when Freeland hit Dave Maggard with a pass who then ran 76 yards for the six-pointer.

The PAT was good and the final score was 43-13.

Sarcoxie will look for its first win when it will host Pleasant Hope on Friday.