Wright, North Callaway put first half aside in 30-14 win vs Mark Twain

North Callaway in the first half on Friday turned the ball over four times and trailed Mark Twain 8-6 at the intermission.

North Callaway vs Mark Twain Photo Gallery

The Thunderbirds made the most of the second half, rolling with Tucker Wright and their running game and held on to the ball to defeat the Eastern Missouri Conference Tigers 30-14. Wright ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries – including three 34-yard runs – to lead North Callaway’s rushing attack of 323 yards on 47 carries.

Wright said the North Callaway coaches stressed to the players at halftime that the Thunderbirds (2-3, 1-2 EMO) couldn’t let up and had to make their run formidable. Safe to say North Callaway did just that, particularly when running off tackle as Wright broke free for his long runs with this tactic and Kyle Pennell went 60 yards to set up a touchdown pass from Lane Kimbley to Cashton Holloway.

“We had great blocks and great pulling guards,” Wright said. “We had vision to find the hole to run in.”

Head coach Kevin O’Neal said he wanted to have more players be involved in the offense in the first half. That worked out well when North Callaway scored on its first drive on a Kimbley 26-yard touchdown pass to Collin Moore, following a squib kick the Thunderbirds successfully recovered to open the game. But, four turnovers later and O’Neal thought his playcalling needed to be better in the second half.

“We worked really hard all week on blocking on the edge with our receivers blocking on the outside,” O’Neal said. “We thought we could get to the edge against these guys. They’re big in the middle, and they’ve got good linebackers. Our power game in the middle wasn’t getting us big chunks of yards. We thought we could get big chunks of yards on the outside, and I thought our receivers blocked well.”

O’Neal said Moore, Holloway and Carter Moore cleared a path for North Callaway’s running backs Wright, Pennell and Riley Humphrey. Pennell did a nice job blocking as well when he didn’t take the handoff, O’Neal said.

Wright was actually an addition to the team as he made his season debut after being unavailable. Having him in the backfield gives the Thunderbirds a huge boost, O’Neal said, as it helps keep everyone, including Humphrey, healthy and fresh. O’Neal said Wright seemed to have plenty of energy and was ready for a big game.

“He’s been itching all year, and he’s been working hard in practice,” O’Neal said. “He told me before the game that it was going to be his night, that he was ‘ready to play.’”

The first of Wright’s trio of treks down the field gave North Callaway a 14-8 lead in the third quarter following a two-point conversion run by Pennell. The Thunderbirds had been contained prior to that play and couldn’t sustain an offensive drive, so the touchdown made everyone shed some unease.

“It was pretty relieving after getting stopped a couple times,” Wright said. “Breaking through was definitely awesome.”

As North Callaway’s offense kept adding to its point total, the Thunderbird continued where it left off in the first half – this time with a cushion. Mark Twain (0-5, 0-3 EMO) managed to accumulate 114 passing yards – two of which happened on long touchdowns – but rushed for only 32 yards.

O’Neal was pleased with coach Ronnie Kimbley’s defense as the Thunderbirds only surrendered one touchdown pass over the top and a completion on a slant route that resulted in a touchdown. Cooper Wortmann led with six tackles, Pennell came away with two tackles for loss, Humphrey had an interception and Jaiden Galbreath sacked Tigers’ quarterback Nolan Epperson.

“We got back to fundamental football,” O’Neal said. “They were assignment-football-oriented tonight. We were a little slow at the beginning, but once they started trusting everything, I thought the defense flew around tonight and were really aggressive.”

North Callaway wants to continue its winning ways as it has four straight conference games, starting at 7 p.m. Friday at Van-Far (1-4, 0-4 EMO).

“I talked to the guys to congratulate them on their win but also don’t be satisfied,” O’Neal said. “The goal is to get better every week.”

Schmauch medals for North Callaway at Gans Creek Classic

Pressley Schmauch has run on the Gans Creek course plenty of times and has also medaled on it.

The North Callaway senior has three state appearances, including an all-state medal, and earned a medal at the championship site on Saturday in the Gans Creek Classic. Schmauch finished 11th out of 181 runners in the girls white division with a time of 20:44.

Grace Rasmussen had the next best North Callaway girls finish in 55th with a 24:06, Brooke Giboney was 137th with a 27:51 and Cassidy Murphy was 152nd with a 29:06.

For the boys, Emerson Reinhard was 160th out of 265 runners in the boys white division with a time of 21:74, and John Higgins was 220th with a 23:57.

North Callaway shows some thunder in two wins vs Moberly, Harrisburg

Late in North Callaway softball’s second game on Saturday in Harrisburg, thunder could be heard in the distance.

The Ladybirds wrapped up that second game by scoring four runs in the fifth inning to defeat district foe Harrisburg 7-4 — moving to 4-0 against district opponents — after defeating Moberly 14-1 in five innings. They were propped up by three big home runs as Ella Slater clubbed a grand slam in the first inning against Moberly, finishing 4-for-4 with five RBI in that game, and Kymorie Myers launched two long home runs to collect five RBI and then an intentional walk against Harrisburg.

North Callaway (13-7) had a combined 25 hits, starting with 12 against Moberly (8-8). Slater’s grand slam was the third hit in the first inning with no outs. Myers and Megan Schmidt each had two RBI, and Schmidt and Corynne Miller each scored three runs from the top two spots in the lineup. Schmidt even had a perfect game going with one out in the fifth inning until a home run spoiled it, leaving her with a line that included six strikeouts in five innings.

Myers’ first home run against Harrisburg (5-12) was a two-RBI home run that almost reached the creek behind the right center field fence at Harrisburg’s ballpark. In her next at-bat in the fifth inning, she hit another that cleared the creek and scored three to give the Ladybirds a 5-4 lead. 

Bri Prosser added a RBI later in the inning and finished 2-for-3. Liv Knoepflein pitched 4⅓ innings in relief with three walks and two hits.

Ladybirds lag behind state-ranked Fulton hit barrage in 18-3 loss

Yet again, North Callaway softball couldn’t keep up with the second-best team in Class 3.

North Callaway vs Fulton Photo Gallery

The Ladybirds hosted a different Class 3 team, Fulton, on Monday and lost 18-3 in four innings after allowing 15 hits and nine unearned runs on five errors. Earlier in the season, they lost 13-2 in five inning at Hallsville, who is tied with Fulton for the No. 2 rank in Class 3. 

Head coach Mariah McKee said North Callaway didn’t do itself any favors by allowing all of those unearned runs within the first three innings before the lineup could settle in the second time through against southpaw Brilee Ash. Regardless of defense, McKee said Fulton’s offense presents a big problem as six Lady Hornets had multiple hits and three had multiple RBI.

“We put the ball in play and had trouble stringing them together here and there,” McKee said. “You can’t ask for anything else, and that’s a good ballclub. They’re ranked in state for a reason. We can’t do anything when they hit the ball. All we can is play defense and do the best we can.”

McKee said the Ladybirds did keep fighting at the plate and this could be demonstrated with some of the at-bats they were having. Kymorie Myers extended her first at-bat to more than six pitches before drawing a walk and then hit a RBI single in the third inning to score North Callaway’s first run.

Faith Cash brought Myers home with a RBI single as he finished 2-for-2 at the plate. Ella Slater was responsible for the Ladybirds’ other RBI.

Myers followed a monster game on Saturday in a 7-4 win against Harrisburg, when she hit two tape-measure home runs to account for five RBI, with another solid day on Monday. Slater added another RBI to her season total of 22 RBI — second behind Myers’ 36 RBI — after going 4-for-4 with five RBI in a 14-1 victory against Moberly on Saturday, when she hit a grand slam in the first inning. McKee said those two are locked in with only several games left until districts.

"You want them to get more locked in, closer to districts," head coach Mariah McKee said. "That's when you want them to hit on all cylinders. Every athlete is going to go through peaks and valleys. We just got to find a way to work through them. (Myers) is really starting to get locked in, and it’s a good time for her to get locked in. Ella is doing a really good job of hitting the ball too, and even the bottom of our lineup are doing a great job of being scrappy and getting on base any way we can.”

North Callaway (4-1 EMO) hosts Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana (8-6, 2-4 EMO) at 5 p.m. Tuesday before playing at 5 p.m. Thursday at conference foe Silex (8-7, 4-1 EMO). The Ladybirds have remained a perfect 4-0 against district opponents this season, including the victory against Harrisburg over the weekend.

“As long as we can keep continuing to go up the hill and get more locked in as districts get closer, that’s all you can ask for,” McKee said.

North Callaway volleyball swept at Russellville 

North Callaway volleyball encountered another sweep by Russellville on Monday.

The Ladybirds lost in three sets (25-13, 26-24 and 26-24), playing a closer match than their season-opening loss to the Lady Indians (9-2) at home.

Natalie Shryock led the Ladybirds (3-10) with seven kills, Rylee Horstman followed with six kills and Avis Endres had five kills.

North Callaway (0-2 EMO) hosted Eastern Missouri Conference foe Wright City (2-15, 0-3 EMO) on Tuesday and then hosted conference foe Bowling Green (4-11-1, 1-1 EMO) at 6 p.m. Thursday.