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An undermanned Sarcoxie Bear football team gave the No. 5 team in Missouri Class 1 all it could handle before finally succumbing 21-0 Friday at Miller.
“We knew we had a dogfight, we talked about that in the locker room at halftime,” said Miller Head Coach Dustin Baldwin. “They’re fighting tooth and nail and you’ve got to match their intensity. I thought they came out with more intensity than we did to be honest. The very first possession we had them third-and-12 and we let them get a first down. Then they had some good runs but fortunately for us we caused a turnover.”
Sarcoxie’s Aaron Parsons rushed 10 times for 83 yards and Nate Bloss caught three passes for 27 yards, but turnovers were the key to sinking Sarcoxie’s hopes of ruining Miller’s home opener.
“It was a very hard fought game,” said Sarcoxie Head Coach Jeff Kabance. “We played well. We had a couple of turnovers early in the game that kind of turned the momentum around and I think that’s crucial, you can’t make mistakes against a solid football team. They’re fifth in the state and they’re very solid. I thought we played hard, we just couldn’t execute when we needed to get in the end zone.”
Sarcoxie got a first down on their first possession of the game by converting on a third-and-13, then got a big run of 32 yards from Parsons on the next play, but the first drive ended with a pass interception.
Sarcoxie’s defense forced Miller to go three and out, then the offense went back to work, mounting a 14-play drive from Sarcoxie’s 32 to Miller’s 19 before the Bears fumbled the ball away.
That drive included a fourth-down conversion by Parsons and consumed more than six minutes, but resulted in nothing.
Both teams went deep into the second quarter before Miller was able to put seven points on the board. Miller Quarterback Tyler Hinshaw, standing in for the injured starter Justin Jack, connected with Running Back Daniel Pascal for an 11-yard touchdown with 1:50 left in the half and Pascal hit the point after touchdown.
“Quite frankly, we held them to seven in the first half and those are good things,” Kabance said. “We’ve got some positives, we’ve got to make sure we focus on the things we need to improve.”
Sarcoxie tried to mount a quick scoring drive, managing nine plays and advancing the ball from their own 25 to Miller’s 49, but three straight incomplete passes by Quarterback Nathan Freeland left the Bears stranded at halftime.
An undermanned Sarcoxie Bear football team gave the No. 5 team in Missouri Class 1 all it could handle before finally succumbing 21-0 Friday at Miller.
“We knew we had a dogfight, we talked about that in the locker room at halftime,” said Miller Head Coach Dustin Baldwin. “They’re fighting tooth and nail and you’ve got to match their intensity. I thought they came out with more intensity than we did to be honest. The very first possession we had them third-and-12 and we let them get a first down. Then they had some good runs but fortunately for us we caused a turnover.”
Sarcoxie’s Aaron Parsons rushed 10 times for 83 yards and Nate Bloss caught three passes for 27 yards, but turnovers were the key to sinking Sarcoxie’s hopes of ruining Miller’s home opener.
“It was a very hard fought game,” said Sarcoxie Head Coach Jeff Kabance. “We played well. We had a couple of turnovers early in the game that kind of turned the momentum around and I think that’s crucial, you can’t make mistakes against a solid football team. They’re fifth in the state and they’re very solid. I thought we played hard, we just couldn’t execute when we needed to get in the end zone.”
Sarcoxie got a first down on their first possession of the game by converting on a third-and-13, then got a big run of 32 yards from Parsons on the next play, but the first drive ended with a pass interception.
Sarcoxie’s defense forced Miller to go three and out, then the offense went back to work, mounting a 14-play drive from Sarcoxie’s 32 to Miller’s 19 before the Bears fumbled the ball away.
That drive included a fourth-down conversion by Parsons and consumed more than six minutes, but resulted in nothing.
Both teams went deep into the second quarter before Miller was able to put seven points on the board. Miller Quarterback Tyler Hinshaw, standing in for the injured starter Justin Jack, connected with Running Back Daniel Pascal for an 11-yard touchdown with 1:50 left in the half and Pascal hit the point after touchdown.
“Quite frankly, we held them to seven in the first half and those are good things,” Kabance said. “We’ve got some positives, we’ve got to make sure we focus on the things we need to improve.”
Sarcoxie tried to mount a quick scoring drive, managing nine plays and advancing the ball from their own 25 to Miller’s 49, but three straight incomplete passes by Quarterback Nathan Freeland left the Bears stranded at halftime.
Freeland connected on seven of 21 passes for 54 yards and an interception.
Miller mounted a 16-play 66-yard drive to open the second half and overcame second down and 26 yards to go because of consecutive penalties to score again with 6:44 left in the second quarter.
The Cardinals scored their final touchdown on a seven play, 48-yard drive with 6:38 to go in the fourth quarter.
“We’re not a passing team, I’d like to think we’re a little bit more balanced than we have been but we’re not,” Kabance said. “We’re not a drop-back passing team, we’re an option run team first. It’s the breaks of the game, some of them didn’t go our way and they’re a very good football team.”
Sarcoxie moves on to play Pleasant Hope next week.
