Football 

Seniors lead Mexico to 33-19 win vs Warrenton

Mexico didn’t feel like itself early Friday night at home against Warrenton.

The Bulldogs then kept it simple by relying on its option to score four unanswered touchdowns to defeat Warrenton 33-19 and go into the Class 3 District 5 Tournament as the No. 2 seed. All five of Mexico’s touchdowns were scored by a senior on Senior Night, with Anthony Shivers running for two and Morgan Grubb, Jordan Shelton and Andrew Runge each going for one.

Head coach Steve Haag said even though Mexico (4-5) scored five touchdowns on the ground and seemed to rattle off big run after big run, the Bulldogs were in a “funk” early in the game. Trusting in what has worked for so long was the answer.

“We just weren’t who we were towards the end of the first half, and then the second half, I think we became more who we were,” Haag said. “We got back into our option game. We were running a little bit of it, but I think sometimes you outthink yourself. We just got in our base formation and started running our option, and it worked out for us.”

Haag said the offensive line did a nice job blocking despite senior right guard Kendyr Taylor having to leave the game due to injury. Freshman Tucker Hutchinson did well filling in, Haag said, as the Bulldogs were still able to move the ball “at will” and could’ve scored more.

Grubb scored the first touchdown a minute into the game after getting loose for 43 yards. Warrenton (3-6) then showed some big-play capabilities through the air as quarterback Charlie Blondin completed five passes of at least 20 yards.

Warrenton didn’t need to travel far for its first touchdown, however, as the Warriors went 31 yards after a Mexico fumble and tied the game at 6 after Blondin hopped to hit tight end Aidan Bond from two yards out.

In the second quarter, Blondin then dropped a pass into the arms of Ben Peth for a 54-yard gain prior to him finding the leaping Peyton Dawson in double coverage for a 20-yard touchdown, making it 13-6.

The Bulldogs took advantage of a Warrenton fumble on a punt that eventually turned into a five-yard Shivers score to tie the game at 13 and then Shelton ran for a 46-yard touchdown on the fourth play of a 63-yard drive to make it 19-13 Mexico at halftime.

Two minutes deep into the fourth quarter, Runge weaved through the defense before running along the right sideline for a 45-yard touchdown to give Mexico a 33-13 lead. The touchdown also made Runge the fourth Bulldog senior to score on the same night seniors in football, cheerleading, band, cross country, girls golf and girl tennis were recognized before the game.

“They’re a talented group,” Haag said. “The bad thing is it was all scored by seniors so you know you don’t get any of those guys back (next year). They’ve been a good class for us. They did that last year and this year, and hopefully they can score a few more.”

Boonville defeated Eldon 34-24 at home but stays at the No. 3 seed in Mexico’s district after the Bulldogs took care of business. Mexico earns a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed and hosts the winner of No. 3 Boonville (5-4) and No. 6 Fulton (1-8) at 7 p.m. Nov. 4. Moberly (4-5) remains the No. 1 seed even after losing 58-14 to Jefferson City at home in Week 9.

Centralia unable to contain Linear, mistakes in 20-14 loss at Macon

Centralia and Macon ended up as advertised on Friday.

The Class 2 top-10 Clarence Cannon Conference teams were locked in a defensive battle most of the night only for Macon to score the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter and hand the Panthers a 20-14 loss to end the regular season. Macon quarterback MyKel Linear totaled 206 yards of total offense and ran for the winning score to give him two touchdowns in the game.

Centralia’s offensive line still was stout as the Panthers (7-2, 5-2 CCC) ran for 205 yards on 29 carries, only being outgained by the Tigers’ running game by 26 yards. Kyden Wilkerson finished with 174 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns – one for 43 yards and another for 54 yards – in the first half. Centralia had 33 passing yards, and quarterback Cullen Bennett threw two interceptions, including one that sealed the game for the Tigers (8-1, 6-1 CCC) in the remaining minutes of the game.

Head coach Tyler Forsee said the game could’ve had a different result had Centralia played a more refined brand of football. This goes beyond turnovers as he said the offense wasn’t as smooth this time.

“We’d have an unforced error, like a bobbled snap or something like that, that might put us behind the chains a little bit,” Forsee said. “We had a tough time recovering from that.”

Forsee said Centralia was aware of Linear but also had several other athletic Tigers to deal with defensively. Running back Mickey Martie finished with 86 yards on 19 carries, Isaac Kauffman added 37 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, and Boston Douglas caught five passes for 61 yards.

“They got a lot of pretty good athletes on the offensive side of the ball that could cause some problems,” Forsee said. “You’ve got to spread out pretty thin on defense to try to cover as many as you can.

“(Linear) can run so well, and he’s got a really strong arm. He can extend plays, he can throw on the run and he’s a good athlete. When they needed a big play, it seemed to always come from him, whether it was running or hitting an open guy on a scramble.”

Following its bye on Friday, No. 2 seed Centralia hosts the winner of No. 3 Hallsville (4-5) and No. 6 Palmyra (1-8) at 7 p.m. Nov. 4. The Panthers defeated Hallsville and Palmyra earlier this season. Bowling Green (9-0) will be the No. 1 seed after securing its third straight conference title and second straight undefeated regular season in Week 9.

North Callaway win streak snapped by Starks, Bowling Green in 61-12 loss

It took the fifth-best team in the state to end North Callaway’s winning streak Friday night.

Bowling Green, who was ranked No. 5 in Class 2, clinched its third straight Eastern Missouri Conference title and second straight undefeated regular season by defeating North Callaway 61-12. The Thunderbirds allowed 408 yards on the ground, including 231 yards and five touchdowns (of a total six touchdowns) on 16 carries from Marcus Starks, and trailed 48-6 at halftime.

Still, the 61 points is a season-low for the Bobcats that have averaged 70.9 points per game (a 20-point increase from last year) and allowed 7.9 points per game, which is half of what they surrendered a season ago. On Senior Night, senior quarterback Braydn O’Neal threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 15-for-32 passing while being intercepted three times. Senior AJ Siegel, who finished with 92 yards on six catches, caught the first touchdown pass in the back of the end zone early in the second quarter that made it 24-6 at the time. Lane Kimbley caught the second touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Head coach Kevin O’Neal said he is proud of his players not quitting considering the physicality that comes with facing Bowling Green.

“I thought our kids played hard,” O’Neal said. “We knew Bowling Green was going to be a physical team, and I thought we matched that physicality up front. We just didn’t execute like we needed to.”

The Thunderbirds finished with a season-low 37 yards on 21 carries but will look forward to the first-round of the Class 2 District 2 Tournament. North Callaway goes in as the No. 5 seed and will visit No. 4 Father Tolton (7-2), who defeated Fayette 40-36 at home in Week 9, at 7 p.m. Friday. Blair Oaks (9-0) sits atop as the No. 1 seed.

“I think we learned a lot about ourselves tonight,” O’Neal said. “We can compete at times with good football teams, and hopefully we can build off of that.”

Van-Far loses sixth straight game, fourth straight Farmer’s Cup in 64-8 loss at Mark Twain

Van-Far hasn’t been able to correct its recent skid.

The Indians dropped their sixth consecutive game on Friday by losing 64-8 at Mark Twain, tying the season-high total they surrendered to Bowling Green earlier in the season. Van-Far (1-8, 1-6 EMO) also lost its fourth straight Farmer’s Cup trophy, a prize awarded to the winner between the Eastern Missouri Conference rivals that are about 20 minutes apart in driving distance.

Four different Tigers finished with multiple touchdowns and were led by the three rushing scores that totaled 157 yards from Lakoda Preston.

Preston had a 69-yard touchdown under his belt when Mark Twain (4-5, 3-4 EMO) led 20-0 at halftime but quickly broke away for an 85-yard score that eventually saw the Tigers leading 64-0 late in the game.

Van-Far has averaged 13 points per game and has allowed an average of 46.3 points during this six-game losing streak.

Head coach Lucas Gibson said the Indians have been losing personnel to injuries and other reasons this season, which resulted in an ugly result on Friday. He said is hopeful the team’s small numbers don’t prevent the No. 7 seed Indians in the Class 1 District 2 Tournament from traveling to No. 2 Brentwood (8-1), who defeated Sparta 48-0 at home in Week 9, at 7 p.m. Friday.

“I’d love to see us get back to the competitive team with grit that we started this season with,” Gibson said.

Paris loses seventh straight in consistent struggle with Marceline

Paris wanted to snap its losing streak in the final week before districts, but someone familiar on Friday was sure to make it difficult.

Lewis and Clark Conference foe Marceline started its season 0-4 prior to winning four straight and then making it five in a row after handing Paris a 35-0 loss. It is the Coyotes’ 13th straight loss to the Tigers and sixth time in that 12-year span that they were shut out in the rivalry.

Paris’ offensive troubles continued against Marceline (5-4, 5-1 L&C) as the Coyotes (1-8, 0-6 L&C) didn’t eclipse the 10-point threshold since their 36-0 victory at Missouri Military Academy in Week 2.

For Senior Night, Paris recognized its 10 seniors, including quarterback Leo Bounds, running back Drew Williams and lineman Owen Totten, prior to the game. The day before, the seniors painted their numbers into the hill by the sidewalk around Warbritton Field, demonstrating they are the “band of brothers” head coach Joseph Utterback has described them to be.

Paris goes into the Class 1 District 6 Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will travel to top seed and state No. 1 Monroe City (9-0), who defeated Clark County 50-0 at home in Week 9, at 7 p.m. Friday.

Check for the full stories in the Oct. 26, 2022, edition of The Mexico Ledger and on the website on the same day.