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C1
PREP GIRLS HOOPS
Platte Valley blasts Mound City in tournament opener By ANTHONY CRANE The Forum
DEARBORN, Mo. – Platte Valley won its opening round game of the North Platte Invitational Tuesday night at North Platte High School.
Platte Valley 63, Mound City 7 The Valley defeated a two-win Mound City team 63-7 in what was the first step in accomplishing one
PREP BOYS HOOPS
of its goals coming into the season. Platte Valley won just one of its three regular season tournaments last year and is now two wins away from sweeping its three tournaments this year.
See VALLEY, C5
ANTHONY CRANE/THE FORUM
Platte Valley freshman Maggie Collins drives between two Mound City defenders on Tuesday night in Dearborn.
PREP WRESTLING
No ACL, No Problem Watkins named MEC’s Most Outstanding Wrestler By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
CAMERON, Mo. — Nobody around the Spoofhound basketball program was happy with their performance against Savannah last Friday night, and the Hounds were eager to move on with Tuesday’s Cameron Tournament opener against Chillicothe. The Hounds bounced back by returning to their tough defensive style of play. Maryville (7-5) wore down Chillicothe (7-4) in a 51-42 victory. “It was much, much better than Savannah,” Maryville Maryville 51, senior Caleb Kreizinger said. Chillicothe 42 “Nobody would have wanted to come out and play the game we played against Savannah again.” Holding the Hornets to 42 points didn’t seem like a possibility early on in the game as Chillicothe sophomores Griff Bonderer and Wyatt Brandsgaard each started the game red-hot from 3-point range. The duo
The MHS Dazzlers competed in Lee’s Summit on Saturday. Pictured, front row, from left; Kaiya Ory, Kensley Wood, Maggie Farnan; middle row; Morgan Mullock, Gracie Wenger, Maggie Webb; back row; Anna Adwell, Taya Myers, Kenzee Minton and Kylee Harkrider.
See HOUNDS, C2
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOANNA BAKER
Rylee Vierthaler Maryville Basketball The sophomore had 21 points in Maryville’s win over Glenwood at home. 282 of 549 votes
Jadon Dobbins North Nodaway Basketball The senior had 18 points, including the last nine, in a win over St. Joseph Christian. 285 of 726 votes
PREP DANCE
Dazzlers capture first-place finish By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Every athlete wants the opportunity to excel on the big stage and under the bright lights — whether his or her sport is basketball or dance. That opportunity to compete in front of fans and judges had been missing from the Maryville Dazzlers’ season as their first competition being done virtually with the team submitting a video of its performance. See DAZZLERS, C5
Jacob Norris Northwest Track & Field Norris broke the Bearcat record in the mile at the Mel Tjeerdsma Classic in Maryville. 78 of 181 votes
SPOOFHOUNDS
See WATKINS, C4
The Forum
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Keiren Watkins flexes and smiles after winning the MEC Championship at 195 pounds on Saturday in St. Joseph.
Next Nominees Emily Cassavaugh Caleb Kreizinger Keiren Watkins •✴ •
CLASS 1
By JON DYKSTRA
Maggie Collins Shaina Culp Dylan McIntyre •✴ •
BEARCATS
Spoofhounds rebound to beat Hornets
Vote online at MaryvilleForum.com
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville sophomore Caden Stoecklein finishes a fourth-quarter layup on Tuesday against Chillicothe in Cameron.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Maryville’s Keiren Watkins brings half the medical box out to the mat with him each time he wrestles, but despite both shoulders taped up and a huge brace going the length of his leg to protect a torn ACL that he will have operated on after the season, the Maryville senior just keeps winning. Watkins was named the Midland Empire Conference’s Most Outstanding Wrestler on Saturday’s MEC Championship at Springer Gymnasium in St. Joseph. “That means so much to me — that is so cool,” Watkins said. “That really shows that other people and other teams have recognized my hard work and what I’ve done to get here. Especially with all the things I’ve worked through so far with the season with the
Anna Gladstone Jaelyn Haggard Ryan Hawkins
C2
Thursday, January 28, 2021
The Maryville Forum
PREP BOYS HOOPS
Maryville falls flat in Savannah rout By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
SAVANNAH, Mo. — Savannah came into Friday night’s boys basketball game with Maryville having lost 17-straight times to its rival up Highway 71. The two play for the Highway-71 trophy in football, and that hasn’t gone much better for Savannah with 10-straight losses. Savannah (7-7) came out on Friday determined to flip that script, and Maryville (6-5) had no answers in a 51-33 drubbing. The onslaught began right out of the gate with Savannah scoring the game’s first eight points. Savannah junior Quay Jeter led that enough with six of those points and eight overall in the first quarter. “It started off on defense,” Maryville senior Trey Houchin said. “We started off bad, no energy. On defense, we weren’t playing very well and it led into offense.” While Jeter and his teammates were heating up, Maryville — who was fresh off its best win of the year against Glenwood — opened the game ice cold and did not score its first points until a pair of Trey Houchin free throws over five minutes into the game. “Our practices before Glenwood and around that time were good and intense,” Maryville coach Matt Stoecklein said. “This week we were flat. We didn’t get after it. We didn’t
Savannah 51, Maryville 33
that open person and we are not. We are so locked in that we are not looking at the whole floor. We just have to see the whole floor.” Gustafson scored to drop the margin to seven, but a 7-0 Savannah run highlighted by a 3-pointer for Aiden Leonard expanded the margin to 21-7. The Spoofhounds clipped away with a 6-3 spurt to end
the half and Gustafson’s opening basket of the second half to draw to within 24-15. Late in the third quarter, Savannah senior Caden Nigh finished a 3-point play to extend the margin to 12 points again. A Nigh 3-pointer extended the margin to 38-23 early in the fourth quarter. Gustafson answered with a pair of offensive rebounds and put-backs, but a Wes Darnell 3-pointer followed by another basket all but sealed the game. “We just have to come out stronger,” Maryville senior Caleb Kreizinger said. “Go back to practice, work hard and come out better next game.” Savannah was led in scoring by Jeter with 18 points while Darnell had nine and Leonard had eight. Dudeck and Nigh each had six. Heisman LaFave had two. Gustafson had 12 points to pace Maryville while Caden Stoecklein had eight, Spencer Willnerd and Keaton Stone each had four points, Farnan had three and Houchin had two. “On Monday, we’re going to have to have a whole different approach to practice,” Matt Stoecklein said. “We’re going to have to get after it, because what we just did — it was ugly, it was unfun to watch, it was unfun to coach in and play in.”
five points. Chillicothe beat the buzzer with a layup, but Houchin opened the third quarter with another 3-pointer. After Brandsgaard scored again, Stoecklein got back into the offensive attack with another 3-pointer and gave Maryville its biggest lead to that point at 30-23. Chillicothe cut the margin to 30-27, but Kreizinger connected from 3-point land and Gustafson scored on the interior to push the margin to eight. The Hornets clawed back to with one point in the fourth quarter at 41-40, but Kreizinger — normally the team’s defensive specialist — served as the closer. The senior scored on a drive for 43-40 lead. Then after Chillicothe senior Hayden Simmer answered with a basket, Kreizinger took advantage of the Hornets’ fear of his drive and pulled up for a top-ofthe-key 3-pointer with 1:57 left to push the margin back to four points. “It is the shot I need to shoot,” Kreizinger said. “Because I know I can hit those, but my confidence hasn’t been there from behind the 3-point line this year. It was nice to come out and hit a few this game.” Chillicothe missed on the next possession and with both teams having committed just two fouls in the half, the Hornets went to work fouling to force Maryville to the foul line. Eventually they fouled Stoecklein for the seventh team foul. The Maryville sophomore missed the front-end of the 1-and-1 with 1:18 left, but Gustafson grabbed the rebound and immediately put it back for a 48-42 lead. With Maryville also having fouls to give, Matt Stoecklein told his players to play aggressive defense
and try to seal the win on that end. It paid off with Kreizinger diving on the floor for a steal and throwing it ahead to Caden Stoecklein for a layup. “Stoeck’ (Matt Stoecklein) told us to pressure, go for the ball, foul if you have to, but don’t foul shooters,” Kreizinger said. “That was good coaching. He told us what we needed to do, and we accomplished it.” Stone finished the game with a steal of his own and a free throw for the final 5142 margin of victory. Stone and Kreizinger each finished with 12 points, while Caden Stoecklein added 10. Gustafson had seven while Houchin had six, and Willnerd had four. While Matt Stoecklein was happy with the big offense night from Kreizinger, he credited his rebounding with setting a tone for Maryville. “Oh my gosh, did he crash,” Matt Stoecklein said. “He is such a good leaper. His offensive rebounds — we go so many more possessions than we would have if he hadn’t been out there.” Brandsgaard led all scorers with 17 points while Simmer and Bonderer each had nine. After Bonderer had a trio of first-quarter 3-pointers Caden Stoecklein took him out of the game with his pressure defense. “We knew he could shoot,” Matt Stoecklein said. “So we just said, ‘Caden, don’t switch. Just stay on him and go over all ballscreens and all hand-offs, and just stay in his face.’ He did a much better job of that in the second half.” Maryville now advances to the semifinals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Spoofhounds will face top-seeded Battle (9-5), who defeated Northeast (Kansas City) 7648 on Tuesday.
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville freshman guard Derek Quinlin brings the ball up the floor against Savannah on Friday night in Savannah. take it serious. Every time we left practice, we were like, ‘What do we have to do differently, because this was not a good practice?’ And we played just like that. “We played just like we practiced. It was just painful.” Houchin agreed. “It all just starts with practice, and having that mindset of actually wanting
to practice,” Houchin said of what needs to change going forward. Maryville senior Brady Farnan cut the margin to 10-5 on a 3-pointer, but the Spoofhounds could not seem to capture any momentum. Savannah answered with back-to-back scores to push the margin to nine. The Spoofhounds attempted to establish senior
Marc Gustafson on the interior as the 6-foot-9 post player had a six-inch advantage on Savannah post Ethan Dudeck, but Dudeck battled and Savannah doubled down on Gustafson on each catch. “We have been talking about that when we see that he is doubled like that, somebody is open,” Stoecklein said. “We have to find
Hounds Continued from C1
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Caleb Kreizinger hits a clutch 3-pointer in the fourth-quarter on Tuesday against Chillicothe in Cameron.
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combined for five 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 15-9 lead. “Ball pressure was a big thing we focused on,” Kreizinger said. “We had to stay up because obviously they were hitting threes at the beginning, and we couldn’t do anything. Halftime, we made the adjustment to play up on them and make their threes stop falling.” Maryville’s own dynamic pair of sophomores answered back with Caden Stoecklein ending the first quarter with a 3-pointer and Keaton Stone opening the second quarter with one of his own to tie the game at 15-15. Brandsgaard answered with a bucket, but Stone gave the Spoofhounds their first lead with another 3-ball. “The whole team was hitting threes, and to have that luxury, it felt nice,” Stone said. Brandsgaard retook the lead, and Stone went to the bench with two fouls, but his replacement quickly gave Maryville back the lead — for good. Spoofhound sixth-man Spencer Willnerd made his presence felt after senior Marc Gustafson hit a free throw to tie the game at 1919, but missed the second. Willnerd grabbed the offensive rebound though and put it back for the lead. “I try to do my role to the best of my ability,” Willnerd said. “If they get a foul (Gustafson and Stone), I can usually go in and hold my own. It is a good feeling to know that our backups are worthy to be playing with the guys out there.” Senior sharp-shooter Trey Houchin was the next to get going with a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go up by
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, January 28, 2021
C3
SCOREBOARD PREP BASKETBALL CAMERON INVITATIONAL Boys Tuesday’s Games Battle 76, KC Northeast 48 Maryville 51, Chillicothe 42 Benton v. Lawson, ppd. to Wednesday Smithville 46, Cameron 43 Thursday’s Games Semifinal: Battle v. Maryville, 5:30 p.m. Semifinal: Benton/Lawson v. Smithville, 7 p.m. Consolation Semifinal: KC Northeast v. Chillicothe, 5:30 p.m. Consolation Semifinal: Benton/ Lawson v. Cameron, 7 p.m. Friday’s Games Seventh-Place Game, 5:30 p.m. Fifth-Place Game, 7 p.m. Saturday’s Games Third-Place Game, 11:30 a.m. Championship, 2:30 p.m. Girls Tuesday’s Game Cameron 72, KC Northeast 16 Wednesday’s Games Maryville v. Cameron, 5:30 p.m. Smithville v. Chillicothe, 7 p.m. Saturday’s Games Third-Place Game, 10 a.m. Championship, 1 p.m. NORTHWEST MISSOURI TOURNAMENT Boys Wednesday’s Games West Nodaway v. North Nodaway, 6 p.m. Rock Port v. Nodaway-Holt, 9 p.m. Thursday’s Games Northland Christian v. NodawayHolt, 6 p.m. Worth County v. North Nodaway, 9 p.m. Friday’s Games Northland Christian v. Rock Port, 6 p.m. West Nodaway v. Worth County, 9 p.m. Saturday’s Games Fifth-Place Game, 1:30 p.m. Third-Place Game, 4:30 p.m. Championship, 7:30 p.m. Girls Wednesday’s Games Northland Christian v. NodawayHolt, 4:30 p.m. Rock Port v. West Nodaway, 7:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games North Nodaway v. West Nodaway, 4:30 p.m. Worth County v. Northland Christian, 7:30 p.m. Friday’s Games North Nodaway v. Rock Port, 4:30 p.m. Worth County v. Nodaway-Holt 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Fifth-Place Game, Noon Third-Place Game, 3 p.m. Championship, 6 p.m. NORTH PLATTE INVITATIONAL Boys
Tuesday’s Games Plattsburg 62, North Andrew 49 Mid-Buchanan 63, Polo 23 West Platte 61, Platte Valley 60 Mound City 87, North Platte 33 Wednesday’s Games Semifinal: Mid-Buchanan v. Plattsburg, TBD Consolation Semifinal: Polo v. North Andrew, TBD Thursday’s Games Semifinal: Mound City v. West Platte, TBD Consolation Semifinal: North Platte v. Platte Valley, TBD Friday’s Games Fifth-Place Game, 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Third-Place Game, 11 a.m. Championship, 2 p.m. Girls Tuesday’s Games North Andrew 47, Mid-Buchanan 32 Plattsburg 58, Polo 44 North Platte 45, West Platte 30 Platte Valley 63, Mound City 7 Wednesday’s Games Semifinal: North Andrew v. Plattsburg, TBD Consolation Semifinal: Mid-Buchanan v. Polo, TBD Thursday’s Games Semifinal: Platte Valley v. North Platte, TBD Consolation Semifinal: Mound City v. West Platte, TBD Friday’s Games Fifth-Place Game, 5 p.m. Third-Place Game, 8 p.m. Saturday’s Games Championship, 12:30 p.m. KING CITY TOURNAMENT Boys Wednesday’s Games Albany v. South Holt, 4:30 p.m. Stewartsville-Osborn v. Maysville, 6 p.m. Northeast Nodaway v. King City. 7:30 p.m. Thursday’s Games Consolation Semifinal: Stewartsville-Osborn/Maysville v. Stanberry/DeKalb, 4:30 p.m. Semifinal: Stewartsville-Osborn/ Maysville v. Stanberry 6 p.m. Semifinal: Northeast Nodaway/ King City v. Albany/South Holt, 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Fifth-Place Game, 11 a.m. Third-Place Game, 12:30 p.m. Championship, 2 p.m. Girls Wednesday’s Games King City v. South Holt, 4:30 p.m. Stewartsville-Osborn v. Albany, 6 p.m. DeKalb v. Maysville, 7:30 p.m. Stanberry v. Northeast Nodaway, 9 p.m. Thursday’s Games Semifinal: DeKalb/Maysville v. Albany/Stewartsville-Osborn, 4:30 p.m.
SPORTS SHORTS NBA
Semifinal: Stanberry/Northeast Nodaway v. South Holt/King City, 6 p.m. Consolation Semifinal: Stanberry/ Northeast Nodaway v. South Holt/ King City, 7:30 p.m. Consolation Semifinal: DeKalb/ Maysville v. Albany/StewartsvilleOsborn, 9 p.m. Saturday’s Games Fifth-Place Game, 11 a.m. Third-Place Game, 12:30 p.m. Championship, 2 p.m. MIAA BASKETBALL MIAA Men’s Standings Team MIAA Ovr Str. NW Missouri St. 10-1 10-1 W5 Washburn 10-2 10-2 L1 Missouri Western 8-2 8-2 L1 Lincoln 7-3 7-3 W1 Emporia State 7-6 7-6 W1 MO Southern 6-6 6-6 W1 Rogers State 6-6 6-6 L1 Pittsburg State 6-7 6-7 W1 Neb.-Kearney 5-8 5-8 L1 Central Missouri 5-8 5-8 W3 Fort Hays State 4-8 4-8 L1 Central Okla. 3-5 3-5 L1 Newman 2-9 2-9 L5 Northeastern St. 2-10 2-10 L3 MIAA Women’s Standings Team MIAA Ovr Str. Neb. Kearney 12-0 12-0 W12 Central Missouri 10-2 10-2 W3 Fort Hays State 9-2 9-2 W4 Emporia State 8-2 8-2 W4 Pittsburg State 8-5 8-5 L2 Central Okla. 7-4 7-4 W1 Washburn 5-6 5-6 L1 NW Missouri St. 4-7 4-7 L1 MO Southern 4-8 4-8 L5 Rogers State 4-8 4-8 W1 Northeastern St. 4-8 4-8 W1 Newman 3-9 3-9 L3 MO Western 2-7 2-7 L6 Lincoln 0-12 0-12 L12 NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Philadelphia 12 6 .667 — Boston 10 6 .625 1 Brooklyn 11 8 .579 1½ New York 8 11 .421 4½ Toronto 7 10 .412 4½ Southeast Division W L Pct GB Atlanta 9 8 .529 — Orlando 8 10 .444 1½ Charlotte 7 10 .412 2 Miami 6 10 .375 2½ Washington 3 10 .231 4 Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 10 6 .625 — Indiana 10 7 .588 ½ Cleveland 8 9 .471 2½ Chicago 7 10 .412 3½ Detroit 4 13 .235 6½ WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pct GB Memphis 7 6 .538 — San Antonio 9 8 .529 — Dallas 8 9 .471 1
Houston 7 9 .438 New Orleans 5 10 .333 Northwest Division W L Pct Utah 13 4 .765 Denver 10 7 .588 Portland 9 7 .563 Okla City 7 9 .438 Minnesota 4 12 .250 Pacific Division W L Pct L.A. Lakers 14 4 .778 L.A. Clippers 13 5 .722 Phoenix 8 7 .533 Golden State 9 8 .529 Sacramento 6 10 .375
1½ 3 GB — 3 3½ 5½ 8½ GB — 1 4½ 4½ 7
Monday’s Games Orlando 117, Charlotte 108 Detroit 119, Philadelphia 104 Indiana 129, Toronto 114 Brooklyn 98, Miami 85 L.A. Lakers 115, Cleveland 108 Denver 117, Dallas 113 Boston 119, Chicago 103 Oklahoma City 125, Portland 122 Golden State 130, Minnesota 108 Sacramento at Memphis, ppd San Antonio at New Orleans, ppd Tuesday’s Games Atlanta 108, L.A. Clippers 99 Houston 107, Washington 88 Utah 108, New York 94 Wednesday’s Games Detroit at Cleveland (n) Indiana at Charlotte (n) Sacramento at Orlando, (n) Brooklyn at Atlanta, (n) Denver at Miami, (n) L.A. Lakers at Philadelphia, (n) Milwaukee at Toronto, (n) Chicago at Memphis, ppd Boston at San Antonio, (n) Dallas at Utah, (n) Oklahoma City at Phoenix, (n) Washington at New Orleans, (n) Minnesota at Golden State, (n) Thursday’s Games Portland at Houston, 6:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Miami, 7 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Detroit, 7 p.m. Golden State at Phoenix, 9 p.m. Friday’s Games Atlanta at Washington, 6 p.m. Indiana at Charlotte, 6 p.m. Cleveland at New York, 6:30 p.m. Milwaukee at New Orleans, 6:30 p.m. Sacramento at Toronto, 6:30 p.m. Brooklyn at Oklahoma City, 7 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Orlando, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at Minnesota, 7 p.m. Denver at San Antonio, 7:30 p.m. Dallas at Utah, 9 p.m. NFL Conference Championships Sunday, Jan. 24 Kansas City 38, Buffalo 24 Tampa Bay 31, Green Bay 26 Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 7 At Tampa, Fla. Tampa Bay vs. Kansas City, 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S HOOPS
Cooper lifts Auburn to 88-82 win over No. 12 Missouri
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Sharife Cooper had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead Auburn to an 88-82 win over No. 12 Missouri on Tuesday night. Cooper, a freshman point guard who missed Auburn’s first 11 contests this season, had his fourth 20-point outing in six career games. Bruce Pearl’s young Tigers, which also got 23 combined points from freshmen forwards JT Thor and Chris Moore, are now 4-2 since Cooper was ruled eligible by the NCAA. “(Missouri is) one of the top teams in the country,” Cooper said. “It gives you confidence. We feel like we can compete with anybody.” Auburn (10-7, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) raced out to a 14-point lead early, thanks in large part to some tenacious defense and rebounding. However, a veteran Missouri team clawed its way back late in the first half, when Cooper was forced to sit because of foul trouble. While Missouri led by as
many as seven in the second half, Auburn battled back and took the lead for good with 7:34 left on a floater from Cooper. “He’s an alpha dog,” Pearl said of Cooper. “He’s the biggest little man out there, period. Everybody knows it.” Missouri (10-3, 4-3) was led by seniors Jeremiah Tilmon and Dru Smith, who scored 42 of the team’s 82 points. “It’s shot selection in timely situations… we were up by seven in the second half by getting the ball inside and moving it,” Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin said. “Then, all of a sudden, it was a quick shot here, a turnover there, a missed layup there. Those were momentum-killers.” BIG PICTURE Missouri: Missouri’s winning streak in SEC play has come to an end at three games. Shooting woes, which were a theme in the previous SEC losses to Tennessee and Mississippi State, popped up again
Tuesday. Missouri shot just 38.2 percent from the floor and 24 percent from deep for the game. Auburn: Although Auburn has self-imposed a postseason ban, it now has a win over a ranked team that it can build on for the rest of the SEC slate. Auburn also showed it could come back and grab a victory after losing an early double-digit lead, something it failed to do last Wednesday in a road loss at Arkansas.
FOUL MAGNET Missouri committed 31 fouls in the game, with Dru Smith, Mark Smith and Xavier Pinson all fouling out. Auburn shot 44 free throws as a team, with 30 of them coming after halftime. Cooper hit 18 of 21 freethrow attempts in the second half alone. “I’ll go back and watch film, and I’m not saying that the officials didn’t do a good job,” Martin said. “But 44 free throws is a lot when you’re trying to beat a team on the road.”
BLOCK PARTY Two weeks ago, in a win over Georgia, Auburn became the first team in Division I basketball to have 14 blocks in a single game this season. Auburn repeated the feat Tuesday night against Missouri. Sophomore center Babatunde Akingbola recorded five in just eight minutes off the bench. Thor blocked four shots. Six different Auburn players had at least one block. “That’s just huge,” Pearl said of the 14 blocks. “We have some weaknesses, we have some warts. But we have some length.” UP NEXT Missouri hosts TCU in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday, the first of three straight home games. Kentucky and Alabama will visit Mizzou Arena next week. Auburn plays at No. 2 Baylor in the Big 12-SEC Challenge on Saturday. Pearl’s Tigers also played No. 1 Gonzaga away from home earlier this season.
Cassavaugh commits to North Central Missouri
On Tuesday, Maryville senior forward Emily Cassavaugh announced that she will be committing to North Central Missouri College in Trenton to play basketball. Cassavaugh has been a three-year starter for the Spoofhounds and has helped lead the team to a 12-1 start this season.
Nodaway-Holt falls in close one against Rock Port
ROCK PORT, Mo. — Nodaway-Holt’s boys fell 51-48 on Friday night against Rock Port. Brilyn DeVers led the Trojans in scoring with 22 while Blake Bohannon and Gavin Leeper each had 10. Hunter Clement added six.
Platte Valley rolls through East Atchison on the road
TARKIO, Mo. — Platte Valley’s girls continued their undefeated season on Friday night with a 61-36 win over East Atchison. Platte Valley freshman Maggie Collins led the team with 17 points while Malia Collins had 13 and Jaclyn Pappert had 10. Madelynn Mattson had eight points and Sydnee Deen had six. Paige West, Stephanie Turpin and Christina Turpin each had two points and Kali Redden added one.
Northwest hosts Bearcat Open at Hughes Fieldhouse
Bearcat Athletics press releases: The Northwest Missouri State men’s and women’s track teams wrapped up competition in day two of the Northwest Open in Hughes Fieldhouse. For the women, Ally Hammond had another strong individual showing as she placed fourth in the 60m dash before taking gold in the 60m hurdles. Bailey Blake and Kaylee Harp took second and third place, respectively, in the 600y dash while Delanie Dykes won the 800m run in a new meet record time of 2:17.99. Caroline Cunningham brought home a win of her own as she took gold in the 3000m run with a new meet-record time of 10:14.07. The women’s 4x400m relay team of Aliyah Simmons, Blake, Tiffany Hughey, and Addie Palser also won the event in a new meet-record time of 3:53.23. On the men’s side, Gavyn Monday nearly had provisional qualifying times in the 60m dash (6.88s) and 200m dash (21.65s). Monday’s 200m time ties teammate’s Caelon Harkey time for third best in Northwest history. Harkey took third in the 400m dash in an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time of 48.29 seconds. RJ Williams was just off provisional qualifying time in the 400m dash as well with his time of 49.07 seconds. Abdelrahim Mahgoub (1:52.76) and Jake Norris (1:52.90) each met NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time in the 800m run as they finished second and third in the event. Those times rank sixth and seventh in Northwest history. Blake Morgan won the high jump for the second time this season with a meet record jump of 6-09.50 (2.07m). Reece Smith won the 3000m run in dominating fashion as he set new school and Hughes Fieldhouse records with his time of 8:18.35, as well as meeting NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time. The men’s 4x400m relay team of Harkey, Prince Griffin, Mahgoub, and Monday won the event as well in a time of 3:14.04. That time set a new meet record, met NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time, and currently sits at third in Northwest history as well. Among performances from Friday’s portion of the meet, both men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams met NCAA Division II provisional qualifying times. The men’s team set meet and school records with their time as well. The Northwest men’s distance trio of Mike Lagat (14:58.34), Jacob Nkamasiai (14:58.58), and Fedrick Kipyego (15:01.80) also swept gold, silver, and bronze finishes in the 5000m run. The Bearcats are back in Hughes Fieldhouse next Saturday, Jan. 30 for the Herschel Neil Invite. Day One The Northwest Open began Friday afternoon in Hughes Fieldhouse with the women’s pentathlon, men’s and women’s 5000m races, and men’s and women’s distance medley relays. In women’s penthalon action, four Bearcats competed throughout the afternoon. Anna Gladstone earned a second-place finish for her efforts on the day. Gladstone won the 60m hurdles (9.43s), taking fourth in the shot put (29-04.75, 8.96 m), and tied for second with teammate Morgan Masters in the high jump (5-02.25, 1.58m). She placed third in the long jump (16-07.75, 5.07m) and fifth in the 800m run (2:46.09). Masters placed third behind Gladstone in the event. She took sixth in the 60m hurdles (10.31s) and finished third in the shot put (30-02.75, 9.21m) to go along with her second-place high jump finish. Masters also took second in the long jump (16-11.25, 5.16m) and edged teammate Madison Simmons for third in the 800m run (2:44.26). Randi Overkamp placed second in the 60m hurdles (9.71s) before finishing ninth in the high jump (4-07, 1.40m) and sixth in the shot put (28-05.5, 8.67m). She also finished sixth in the long jump (15-11.75, 4.87m) and won the 800m run (2:32.00). Overkamp placed fourth overall in the pentathlon.
C4
Thursday, January 28, 2021
The Maryville Forum
PREP WRESTLING
Watkins has perfect record for his Senior Night By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Not much has been able to slow Keiren Watkins down this season, not even a torn ACL. The senior Spoofhound wrestler tore the ligament in his knee playing rugby this fall. At first, it seemed like his wrestling season would be over, but the 195-pounder had other ideas. “Obviously no doctor is going tell you it’s a good idea do something like wrestle on a torn ACL for liability reasons,” Watkins said. “At first, I was really upset when I heard the news that I hurt my knee and wasn’t going to be able to wrestle, but I was bound and determined to do anything I could to make something out of this season. “I’ve just been pushing through the pain and doing what I can.” Watkins has gotten off to a tremendous start to the season despite wearing a large brace on his leg. That hot start continued on Thursday in the Spoofhounds’ first home action of the season. Watkins gave up an early takedown against Lawson’s Garrett Pair, but quickly recovered for a pin. After picking up a forfeit win against Trenton, he made quick work of Maysville’s Blayke Kolb with a firstperiod fall. “I haven’t been able to practice all week, (my knee) swelled up really bad on me this week so I wasn’t able to practice so I came out a little slow and flat-footed, but once I got back into it, got moving and started wrestling my match, I came back
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville freshman Erich McEwen celebrates his pin against Lawson during Senior Night on Thursday night at the Hound Pound. and showed everybody who the better wrestler was,” Watkins said. Watkins and the rest of the Spoofhounds now shift their attention to the the MEC Championships on Saturday at Benton where Watkins will look for the second conference title of his career. “My biggest competition in our conference is Keegan Reynolds from Cameron,” Watkins said. “Earlier this
season he beat me, 3-1, in a quad, and just this last weekend in Plattsburg, I beat him in the finals match, 6-1. He is really my only competition in the MEC Tournament so I am looking forward to seeing him again and getting some good wrestling in.” While Watkins is the only active senior for the Spoofhounds, the veteran says he has seen plenty of positives from the younger wrestlers
coming into the program. Freshman Aikley Nicholson has seen plenty of varsity action at 172 pounds with senior Connor Weiss sidelined, and the freshman provided a highlight with a pin against Lawson. Freshman Erich McEwen also had a big match against Lawson as he fell behind early, but rallied with a pin which allowed him to let loose some emotion following the match.
“The two who have probably stood out the most to me are Aikley and Erich,” Watkins said. “Those boys, they come in and practice hard every day. They may not be the most knowledgeable, the most skilled, or the most athletic, but those boys work really hard every day. … I’m really happy for those guys to get satisfying wins.” Also against Lawson, Maryville sophomore Ka-
tie Weiss earned a pin in her only match of the day. Junior Keelie Strating was pinned in a back-and-fourth match with Trenton in her only opportunity. Against Trenton, sophomore heavyweight Kort Watkins provided the highlight with a pin to make him 2-0 on the day with pins against Lawson and Trenton. Keiren’s “little” cousin bumped up to heavyweight this year and is small for the weight class, but has been using his speed to his advantage in these early-season matches. “I was a little nervous coming into the season — thinking I was going to get crushed because they are so much bigger than me — but I was able to adapt to the way they wrestle and find my way through it,” Kort Watkins said. Against Maysville, Drew Spire let out a bit of frustration as his matches against Lawson and Trenton were hard-fought losses, but he was able to dominate his Wolverine opponent and earned a pin to cap his night. The Spoofhounds finished 0-3 on the night with forfeits deciding each of the duels. “They are evolving,” Maryville coach Dallas Barrett said of his freshman group. “They are starting to show more than just the green, freshman things. There are a lot of good things that they are starting to do much more often during matches. Having those close, contested matches are exactly what they need going into this portion of the season.”
MEC
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torn ACL and being the only senior.” The 195-pounder won the MEC Championship over Cameron’s Keegan Reynolds (36-4) by a 3-2 decision. Reynolds handed Watkins (26-3) a loss earlier this season, but the Maryville grappler has now defeated the top-5 ranked Dragon each of the last two weekends. “He is a very, very strong, well-coach wrestler,” Watkins said. “Really, it was just a battle of the wills.” Watkins pushed the tempo from the beginning of the match, but Reynolds caught him with a counter and briefly had Watkins to his back, but the Spoofhound rolled through to just allow two points. “I definitely pushed him,” Watkins said. “He definitely wanted to stay back, milk the clock and try to wear me down, but I’ve wrestled him before, I know how he wrestles, and that was not in my plans.” Reynolds went into the second period with a 2-1 lead, and elected to take the down position to earn an escape point, but Watkins refused to make that easy. Watkins rode Reynolds through the entire second period and kept the score at 2-1. “The ball was in his court to score, and I had to do whatever I could to not let that happen,” Watkins said. “I think my conditioning played a key factor, and I was able to push myself push his limit.” In the third period, it was Watkins turn to take
PHOTOS BY JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
LEFT: Maryville junior Drew Spire lifts a St. Pius X wrestler at the MEC Championships on Saturday in St. Joseph. TOP, RIGHT: Maryville sophomore Maven Vette puts a Cameron wrestler in a headlock at the MEC Championships on Saturday in St. Joseph. BOTTOM, RIGHT: Maryville freshman Tucker Turner turns a St. Pius X wrestler at the MEC Championships on Saturday in St. Joseph. the down position and he was confident Reynolds wouldn’t be able to handle him the same way. “He weighs 195 pounds just like I do, and I truly don’t think somebody of the equal weight should be able to hold you down for two minutes,” Watkins said. Reynolds tried to keep Watkins down and was called for a technical violation with locked hands which gave Watkins the match-tying point. Moments later, Watkins earned his escape for a 3-2 lead. After Watkins had set the pace throughout the match, Reynolds was too tired to mount any sort of offense to threaten Watkins’ lead and
the Spoofhound took the 3-2 win and the second MEC Championship of his career. “He has definitely earned every bit of that (Most Outstanding Wrestler) award, the championship and everything he is doing this year,” Maryville coach Dallas Barrett said. “He has earned every bit of it every step along the way.” Watkins is the lone senior who has wrestled this season for the Spoofhounds and admits that he does feel that pressure, but dedicated the win to the Maryville community. “Boy, it sure feels good,” Watkins said. “... To get represent my community, my family and my coaches is
just a great honor and I’m really happy that I could participate. “I’m definitely in a very unique position as far as who I have to represent and who I have to show for. It is sometimes a heavy responsibility, but it is also one I’m proud to bear, because of the love I have for Maryville and my school,” Watkins said. Aside from Watkins, the Spoofhounds earned two MEC runner-up finishes with Drew Spire taking second at 160 pounds and Kort Watkins doing the same at heavyweight. Spire started the day 3-0 with three pins in his opening matches, but ran into Cameron’s Kolby Robinson
in the finals, who picked up a third-period pin after Spire had the early lead. “I’ve lost to the kid twice in the same way,” Spire said. “I’ve learned what I need to do next time to beat him at districts and I know what I need to do.” Kort Watkins entered the tournament unseeded, but proved that was a mistake with three first-period pins. His lone loss came on a 14-4 major decision against Cameron’s Camren Hedgpeth. “I was a little bummed out when I realized that I wasn’t seeded,” Kort Watkins said. “I was kind of like, ‘I have to prove myself to show that I’m actually good enough to be seeded.’”
Maven Vette and Zeke Adamson each came away with third-place finishes as Adamson was 3-2 and Vette was 1-2. Tucker Turner earned a win to finish fourth. Erich McEwen and Aikley Nicholson each got wins in their final matches to take fifth. “It is a good confidence builder to come out and get a win in this tournament,” Barrett said. Cameron won the MEC team title by 126.5 points over second-place Chillicothe. Maryville finished fifth, just half a point behind fourth-place Lafayette. Maryville will be back on the mats on Thursday with a triangular against Mount Ayr and Bedford in Bedford.
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, January 28, 2021
C5
PREP BOYS HOOPS
Platte Valley rally falls short against West Platte By ANTHONY CRANE The Forum
DEARBORN, Mo. — Platte Valley has gone through a gauntlet of a schedule this season and came into the North Platte Invitational on a three-game losing streak with two losses by 30 points. Platte Valley appeared to be heading toward another big loss before rallying from 16 points down and a chance to win with two seconds left in the game. Platte Valley missed two of three free throws and a missed put-back and fell to West Platte 61-60. “I told them it’s okay to be disappointed because you expect a lot out of yourselves, but don’t go out of the locker room hanging your head because I thought we did a lot of great things, just came up one point short,” Platte Valley coach Tim Jermain said. “I think we have a lot of things we can hang out hat on that we did well that game.” The Blue Jays caught Platte Valley off guard in the first half with an array of 3-pointers. West Platte made four 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Valley responded with two 3-pointers and eight points from sophomore guard Memphis Bliley. West Platte outscored Platte Valley 18-9 in the second quarter. The Blue Jays expanded their lead with five more three-pointers to take a 38-25 lead into halftime. “I told Coach (Dustin) Skoglund that if they had scored more points from the three-point line than they did two-pointers, I would have taken that,” Jermain said. “I didn’t think they would hit nine of them.”
West Platte 61, Platte Valley 60
ANTHONY CRANE/THE FORUM
Platte Valley senior Trever McQueen drives the lane on Tuesday night against West Platte in Dearborn. West Platte came out of halftime and immediately made its 10th three-pointer of the game. Platte Valley then went back down the court and air balled its 3-point attempt. The Valley made a stop on the Blue Jays’ next possession and turned that stop into a 19-2 run. Matt Jermain began the run with his second 3-pointer of the game. Trever McQueen took it from there, converting a layup and then back-toback 3-pointers to pull Platte Valley to within five. After a West Platte basket, Gabe Nothstine answered
with a layup to get Platte Valley back to within five. “He really did a great job and took two or three charges in the second half and that probably slowed their penetration down a little bit too because they were a little bit more leery of going in there,” Jermain said. “I thought he did a lot of good things and on the offensive end. I thought he did a great job of posting up.” Bliley then converted on a layup and free throw to complete the 3-point play to cut the lead to two. Jermain then hit his third 3-pointer of the game to give Platte
Valley the lead. West Platte regained the lead for all of 20 seconds before 4-straight points from Nothstine gave Platte Valley a 3-point lead. The Blue Jays grabbed the first lead of the fourth quarter after ending the third quarter tied at 48 on their first possession. The senior duo of Nothstine and McQueen answered West Platte’s score with a 7-2 run to take a 55-52 lead with 5:52 left in the game. West Platte responded with a run that ended at five after two free throws from Bliley that tied the game once again. Nothstine then
missed two free throws and the Blue Jays turned that into a layup and free throw to take a three-point lead. McQueen cut the lead to one on a layup with 31 seconds left in the game. West Platte took nine seconds off the clock before a foul sent them to the free throw line. The Blue Jays made just 1-of-2, giving Platte Valley 20 seconds and a 2-point deficit. Platte Valley ran the clock down to two seconds before McQueen took a 3-pointer to try and win the game. McQueen missed, but drew a foul on the play to give
Dazzlers
Valley
“The adrenaline really helps,” Maryville senior Gracie Wenger said. “Because with videoing, we obviously don’t get to have a crowd so that audience being there and getting to see us in person just gives up that little extra boost to really help our performance go over the top.” The Dazzlers got their first opportunity at a live performance in front of judges at the Lee’s Summit North Dance Invitational on Saturday and took full advantage of that. The team finished as the lyrical champions in Division 1 and took third in pom. “I was really happy,” Maryville senior Taya Myers said. “It felt like all of our hard work had paid off. “It was so much better than the virtual one. I feel like we all danced and performed a lot better with an actual audience in front of us than when we are in the gym by ourselves. It just felt like an actual competition.” The celebration of the championship was even different this year as the teams could not gather together to watch the awards be given out. Instead, the results were live-streamed, and the Dazzlers got to celebrate their championship on the drive back to Maryville. “It was kind of exciting listening to it in the van on the way home to hear what the outcome was,” Dazzler coach JoAnna Baker said. “But it has definitely been a different year.” Saturday was just the second time that the Dazzlers had the opportunity to perform their lyrical routine in front of an audience. They performed at halftime of one basketball game this month, but had their other performance cancelled when the girls’ basketball game against Bishop LeBlond was postponed last week. “It was kind of nerve-wracking, because we didn’t get to practice it as many times as pom,” Wenger said of the lyrical routine. “We just made sure that we practiced it a lot more at
“We always set goals at the beginning of the season and tournaments are always one of those things,” Platte Valley senior Malia Collins said. “They give us a good look into postseason and how we need to play to advance in those. Coming out on top in all of these tournaments is a big thing for us.” Platte Valley’s start to Tuesday night’s game was lethargic. The Valley offense went two and a half minutes without a field goal against a team that allows 50 points per game. Junior guard Stephanie Turpin said the lack of crowd noise may have played a role in the offense’s slow start. “The crowd noise usually gives us some energy, so not having them there may have slowed us down a bit,” Turpin said. “But we can play at our own pace and tonight we just went a little slower.” Platte Valley had no issues slowing down the Panthers who scored just one point in the opening quarter. Midway through the first quarter, the Valley offense found its rhythm and finished the quarter with six different players combining for 18 points. Freshman Maggie Collins played a large part in helping Platte Valley to a 38-point first half. After scoring two points in the first quarter, the freshman scored eight points in the second. But Collins was not without support as Platte Valley received points from seven different players in the first half. Jaclyn Pappert and
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JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
The Dazzlers took first in the Division 1 lyrical regional competition at Lee’s Summit North High School on Saturday. Pictured: front row, from left; Anna Adwell, Gracie Wenger, Taya Myers; back row; Maggie Farnan, Kenzee Minton, Maggie Webb, Kaylee Harkrider, Kensley Wood, Kaiya Ory and Morgan Mullock. our practices and hoped that it would all come together.” The team is a young group with just two seniors this year, but Baker says Myers and Wenger have helped keep the team focused despite all the uncertainty this year has brought. “They were freshmen the first year that I actually became the head coach of the Dazzlers, so it has been exciting for me to see them progress and mature as people as well as dancers,” Baker said. “They have been really good a mentoring our freshmen this year and keeping everybody positive.” The seniors credit some of that personal growth to being in the program. “I really like the bond that you have with your teammates and it really taught me how to be a team player and work as a team,” Myers said. Myers and Wenger are the team captains this season and have enjoyed watching the team develop throughout the year. “I love getting to help lead the underclassmen and getting to show them the ropes and how the team dynamic works,” Wenger said. “It was just a
really, really fun experience this year getting to be a leader for everybody.” They look forward to getting the official critiques from Saturday’s showing sometime this week. The Dazzlers will be able to apply those critiques to the routines before they record their state performances on February 6. The state competition will be virtual this season, and the Dazzlers are focused on putting in the work to make sure they are at their best for their final competition. State results won’t be announced until February 27. “I’ve been looking forward to being the senior captain since my freshman year,” Myers said. “I think this is the best team we’ve had so far. All of us are super close — we’ve never been this close before. We all get along really well, and we all try really hard. It is nice to have that effort being put into practices and performances.” The Dazzlers will continue to put in that effort in practice the next two weeks leading up to state, but they are looking forward to the challenge. “I know this week is going to be a harder one, but it is going to be a lot of fun,” Wenger said.
him three free throws. After missing the first, the senior guard knocked down the second. McQueen’s third attempt bounced off the rim and into Nothstine’s hands, but his put-back bounced out and gave Platte Valley its third one-point loss of the season. “I told him sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way,” Jermain said. “But the next game, we’d want him in that situation again with the ball in his hands with a chance to win. That’s who we’d want there and all you can do is do what comes forward from here and not dwell on what happened there.” McQueen led the team with 18 points, Nothstine finished with 14 and Bliley finished with 12. Matt Jermain was fourth on the team with 11 points. Platte Valley will try and end its 4-game losing streak on Thursday against North Platte who has lost ninestraight since beginning the season 2-0. Thursday’s matchup will end a streak of five-straight games against teams with a winning record. “I don’t know that we would be where we are if we hadn’t played that competition,” Jermain said. “If you just look at our record, you’ll say it’s been a tough season and it has, but I don’t know how we could have played a tougher schedule than we have up to this point. I think because of that, we’re way ahead of where we would have been because of that.”
Platte Valley v. North Platte North Platte semifinals Thursday Paige West each finished with seven points at the end of the first half. “This team is amazing and even when I’m not playing well, there is someone there to pick me up,” West said. Platte Valley quickly turned to its bench early in the second half with the game firmly in hand. West said that these kind of games are good for those who don’t get as much playing time. “It’s good letting our second and third string come in and help us,” West said. “Whenever we play an opponent that doesn’t match us, we get to see the others and how they work as a team.” The Panthers came into Tuesday night’s matchup averaging 31 points per game, while the Platte Valley is allowing just 24 points per game and hasn’t allowed an opponent to score 40 points or more outside of its win over Maryville. The Valley defense will face a more difficult task on Thursday when they take on 10-5 North Platte in the semifinals. “Tournaments are always huge for us, especially this one because we face a lot of teams that we don’t see a lot,” Turpin said. “This one is a huge one for us and hopefully we can come out with a win. We’re always going to compete in these tournaments and hopefully we can win them all.”
C6
Thursday, January 28, 2021
The Maryville Forum
COLLEGE MEN’S HOOPS
Hawkins leads Bearcats to win over Jets By ANTHONY CRANE
who scored six-straight in just over a minute to give Northwest a 1-point lead with 9:28 left in the game. Newman did its best to hang around, even tying the game at 59 with 6:13 left in the game. The Bearcats were then too much for the Jets over the final six minutes, outscoring Newman 21-10 over the final portion of the game. Hawkins helped boost his chances at catching Missouri Southern’s Cam Martin who leads Hawkins by four points for the MIAA lead in scoring with 30 points in the win. Hudgins, who is fourth in the conference in scoring, finished with 11 points. “I just thought defensively, too, he (Hawkins) was phenomenal,” McCollum said. “He was so good defensively. He was active again and was into it.”
The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The success of the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats men’s basketball program is not something that goes unnoticed by its competition. Being the best normally leads to getting everyone’s best, and that was no different Thursday night at Bearcat Arena as the Newman Jets had the Bearcats on the ropes for much of the second half before Northwest pulled away for an 81-70 win. “They want to win too, and they’re good and athletic and played with great energy,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “They wanted to win too, and a lot of times the other team wants to win more than us because of who we are. That’s a part of college basketball is winning tough games, winning close games and that’s part of why we’ve been so successful — winning games when we’re not at our best and that was the case tonight.” The Jets led 1-0 early, but the Bearcats quickly responded with 10-straight over the first four and a half minutes of the half. After a three-pointer and free throw from Newman’s Jacob Birnbauhm, the Bearcats once again extended the lead to nine with layups from Byron Alexander and Diego Bernard. Northwest received points from five different players to help build the lead, but it was Bernard who had the
Northwest 81, Newman 70 hot hand, scoring six of the Bearcats’ 14 points. Bernard scored 18 points in the game after dislocating his shoulder just five days ago. “He’s a pretty tough kid,” McCollum said. The Bearcats held a healthy lead through much of the first half, but the Jets began slowly cutting into the lead with just under nine minutes to play. Newman guard Ian Lee’s three-pointer with 8:21 to play began a 10-0 run for the Jets, cutting the Northwest lead to four at 28-24. “I think the first five minutes or so it just came so easily for us offensively and we were getting stops defensively so we got pretty complacent,” Ryan Hawkins said. “Sometimes all it takes is one shot, and they hit that shot, and it was a ballgame after that. I think maybe if we keep that defensive pressure up through the 10-minute mark maybe they fold. But we didn’t close out the first 10 minutes of the first half, let alone the whole first half. I just think it came too easily offensively to start.” The Bearcats answered with four-straight, including a layup from Hawkins who scored 16 points in the first half. The Jets refused to let Northwest pull away, ending the half on a 7-3 run to pull within two at the break. Newman carried its momentum into the second half, scoring quickly on a
ANTHONY CRANE/THE FORUM
Northwest Missouri State Diego Bernard goes up for a layup on Thursday night against Newman at Bearcat Arena. turnover to tie the game at 35. Hawkins gave the lead back to the Bearcats at the 18:55 mark, but a quick three-pointer on the Jets’ next possession gave them their first lead since the early seconds of the first half. “You have to let your teammates know that you’re going to do your part, your one fifth and play as a unit on defense,” Hawkins said. “I don’t think we were very good on defense tonight. They did have a lot of scorers, a lot of guys who could
get to the bucket. I think we forced 18 turnovers, but we gave up a lot of driving lanes too.” The visitors not only took the lead but built on the lead over the next two minutes of game time. Newman’s biggest lead of the game came on Branden Bunn’s layup that gave the Jets a 5-point lead. Newman led by five on four different occasions over the first 10 minutes of the second half. But the Jets had no answer for Hawkins
Northwest 90, Central Oklahoma 68 Bearcat Athletics press release: MARYVILLE, Mo. — The No. 3-ranked Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team won its fifth game in a row with a 90-68 blowout of Central Oklahoma in Bearcat Arena Saturday. Junior guard Diego Bernard became the 25th Bearcat to surpass 1,000 career points as he tallied 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor. Bernard has accumulated 1,014 career points. Northwest’s other junior guard Trevor Hudgins
stuffed his stat sheet with 20 points, nine assists and five steals. Senior Ryan Hawkins registered game highs in points (23) and rebounds (17). Hawkilns drained 6-of-8 from threepoint land. For the time this season, Northwest had five players reach double-figure scoring. Central Oklahoma took an early 8-0 but saw the advantage erased quickly as Northwest hit the Bronchos with a 17-2 run. Northwest’s first four made field goals came from beyond the three-point arc. Bernard’s first three-pointer of the game, not only put him over 1,000 career points but also gave Northwest its first lead of the game at 12-10. The Bearcats would lead by as many as 18 in the first half at 48-30 following another triple from Bernard with 1:35 to play until halftime. Northwest would lead 51-34 at the break. The 51-point output by the Bearcats is the highest first-half point total this season. Hudgins took care of the offense early in the second half as he put up 11 points in the first five minutes to boost Northwest’s lead to 66-45 with 15:05 remaining. UCO could only climb as close as 14 points in the second half as the Bearcats reached the 90-point mark for the second time this season. Northwest will be back in action Thursday at Lincoln. Tip is slated for approximately 7:30 p.m., following the women’s game in Jefferson City, Missouri.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S HOOPS
Bearcats end skid with win over Newman By ANTHONY CRANE
Central Oklahoma 61, Northwest 51 Bearcat Athletics press release:
The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Northwest Missouri State Bearcats have lost three starters to injury this season, battled COVID-19 and used a mixture of young talent to combat all those things. The mixture of youth and upperclassmen ended a four-game losing streak Thursday night with a 57-47 win over the Newman Jets. “It was big because we thought we competed the other night against Emporia and felt like we out-played them for most of the game and to come up short was tough,” Northwest coach Austin Meyer said. “We continue to try and focus on one possession at a time. We talk about if we focus on that process, playing hard, getting better and being a great teammate—the results stuff will eventually come. Obviously that process and play hard focus ended up in a victory tonight.” While the two offenses struggled early in the first quarter, the Bearcats received some needed points from freshman Jillian Fleming. Fleming scored three of Northwest’s first five points and 12 points overall in her first career start. “She makes some really savvy plays,” Meyer said. “She’s really good in the middle of the zone, short corner and she just has a good basketball IQ. She’s a really good 3-point shooter, she just hasn’t shown it yet and part of that is her legs. We talked about it the other night that she is probably someone that needed three
Northwest 57, Newman 47 or four weeks to get in shape and she had five days.” The Bearcats scored just five points through the first nine minutes of the first quarter before getting a boost from senior guard Jaelyn Haggard. Haggard’s five points over the final 1:12 of the first quarter boosted Northwest to a 10-10 tie heading into the second quarter. The Jets and Bearcats swapped the lead seven times in the second quarter. Newman had the biggest lead of the quarter and its biggest lead of the game at five with just under seven minutes to go in the half. Freshman Molly Hartnett erased the Newman lead with seven points in the final four and a half minutes of the half. Hartnett’s run helped the Bearcats to a 2320 halftime lead. Fleming began the second half with five points early on and the Bearcats pulled away to a 9-point lead midway through the third quarter. The Jets didn’t fold after falling behind as they ended the quarter with a 9-3 run that cut the lead to four going into the final quarter. As she had done in previous quarters, Fleming opened the fourth with 4-straight points after Newman cut the lead to two on its first possession of the quarter. Fleming’s second set of free throws gave the Bearcats a 6-point lead, but the Jets found themselves within one possession with 4:46 left in the game.
ANTHONY CRANE/THE FORUM
Northwest Missouri State forward Jayna Green goes up for a layup on Thursday night against Newman at Bearcat Arena. The final five minutes of the game belonged to Haggard. The senior’s run began with a three-pointer at the 4:22 mark, then after a quick turnover by Newman, Haggard knocked down another three-pointer at the 4:04 mark. “It felt good because there for a while, I was struggling,” Haggard said. “I told you that I was feeling it and one of these days, they were going to fall. With the zone you kind of have to pick your spots and anytime I was on our sidelines closes
to the team, the coaches were yelling. ‘Stay ready, stay ready, look for your shot.’ So any time I caught it and found a glimpse of an opening, sometimes you just have to take it.” Haggard made it three in a row with 2:36 to go in the fourth, putting the game out of reach and giving the Bearcats their first win in over a month. Haggard scored 15 second half points and 20 overall in the win. “I think we had a ton more energy and played with a lot more confidence
and even when we weren’t scoring, people were 100 percent in the game and I think that was a little bit different from the other night,” Haggard said. “Every single person that got minutes was 100 percent active, had their heads in the game, and I think that made the difference.” Northwest shot 52 percent from the field in the second half after a first half in which they made just 31 percent of their shots. Hartnett finished second on the team with 14 points.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Central Oklahoma Bronchos women’s basketball team scored a 61-51 win over the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats Saturday. The Bronchos move to 7-4 overall, while Northwest falls to 4-7 on the season. Northwest freshman Molly Hartnett scored a career-high 26 points in the contest. It is the second 20-point game on the season for Hartnett, who scored 22 in her Bearcat debut. Hartnett carried the firstquarter offense for the Bearcats as she accounted for 11 of Northwest’s 15 points. UCO would lead 28-26 at the break after holding Northwest to one made field goal in the final 5:28 of the second period. The Bearcats were limited to 3-of-14 field goals in the second. The Bronchos extended the lead to 45-35 at the end of three by again holding Northwest to 3-of-14 from the field. UCO built a 12-point cushion at 45-33 with 1:34 to play in the third quarter. Northwest cut into the UCO advantage in the fourth. Hartnett finished off a three-point play to pull Northwest to within 47-44, but the Bronchos responded with a 6-0 run. UCO would finish off the Bearcats as Northwest could only manage one made field goal in their last seven attempts. Northwest will travel to Lincoln on Thursday. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. in Jefferson City.
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, January 28, 2021
C7
YOUTH HOOPS
Winners of the 5th-6th grade Knights of Columbus Tournament
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Boys Champions: Grizzlies of St. Joseph. Pictured: from left; Jason Simmons, Austin Grayson, Cole Hass, LaDainian Morris, Grant Hughes, Derek Grayson, Ade Fruedenthal and Mason Stewart.
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Boys Runners-Up: Bulldogs of Bedford. Pictured: from left; Dyson Thompson, Drayden Thompson, Clinton Mains, Trace Ewart, Dallas Wycoff, Colt DeMott, Aniya Hardee, John Deemer and Quentin Dalton.
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Girls Champions: Albany. Pictured: front row from left; Kennleigh Smith, Jayden Hillyard, Izzy Manville; back row; Coach Matt Hogue, Kaitlyn Bunker, Emme Hogue, Sofia Doolittle, Makena Moffat, Destiny Harville and Mylee Waldier.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Girls Runners-Up: Extreme of Maryville. Pictured: from left; Claire Walter, Miah Stoecklein, Kate Hannigan, Leah Wonderly, Casey Stoll, Lola Alvarez and Grace Stiens.
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Chiefs’ coach Reid’s patience in struggling players pays off By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mecole Hardman trudged to the sideline as the Bills trotted onto the field, then slumped onto the bench and tossed a huge Kansas City Chiefs coat over his head like a shroud as Buffalo took advantage of his fumbled punt for an easy touchdown. It was an enormous mistake in the opening minutes of the AFC championship game on Sunday, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid could have easily given his young wide receiver the cold shoulder. Reid could have sent someone else back to field punts the rest of the game, or directed plays designed with Hardman in mind to his plethora of other playmakers. Instead, the old coach went right back to him. He had Patrick Mahomes throw a pass to Hardman two plays later, then capped the ensuing 80-yard drive by scripting an inside screen play for him that went for a touchdown. And when the Chiefs got the ball back again, the first play Reid called was an end-around that went for 50 yards, setting up another touchdown that gave Kansas City a 14-9 lead. “They’re going to be with me. They’re going to keep me up, keep me motivated — make sure I don’t have my head down,” Hardman said. “I was still mentally intact, but it’s good the coaches still have confidence in you, call some plays for you to make some
Kansas City v. Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV At Tampa, Fla.; TV: CBS plays in the game. And the type of player I am, I’m going to take advantage of every opportunity I get.” The Chiefs never trailed again in a 38-24 victory that sent the defending champions back to the Super Bowl. It’s not the first time that Reid has stuck with a struggling player. Whether it’s a quarterback that throws an interception or a wide receiver that drops a pass, chances are good that Reid will call specific plays to get them right back in the game. Want another example? Think back to Sept. 8, 2017, when Kareem Hunt fumbled on his very first NFL carry. The third-round pick, now with the Cleveland Browns, had put the Chiefs in a bind in their season opener in New England with his first fumble since his freshman year of college. But rather than sit the rookie, Reid leaned on Hunt the rest of the way, and he responded by carrying 14 times for 148 yards, catching five passes for 98 yards and scoring three TDs. Reid downplayed the pep talk he gave to Hardman after the latest gaffe — )Hardman has a troubling history of mistakes in the punt return game. But sometimes actions speak louder than words, and besides, he had special teams coordinator Dave Toub, wide receivers coach Greg Lewis and even quarterback Patrick
Mahomes to help keep his spirits up. “Listen, just bare down, focus, watch it all the way into the tuck. Basic fundamentals,” Reid said. “Dave is the one that talked to him about all that, Greg talked to him, and then he was thrown back out there and given another chance, and he’s made plays the last couple years. He had a muff; keep him in and let’s go. That’s what we did, doggone it.” Added his quarterback: “I just told him to keep his head up. We’ve been in that situation before,” Mahomes said. “I told him he’s going to make a play in this game that’s going to change the game, and he made multiple of them.” The Chiefs could need him to make a few more against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have been without Sammy Watkins
since Week 16 because of a calf injury, and the veteran wide receiver was a surprise scratch on Sunday, putting pressure on Hardman and fellow wide receiver Byron Pringle to continue to pick up the slack. Good thing Hardman’s feeling confident — thanks in large part to Reid — as Super Bowl practices get going. “I think this team, we just have a goal in mind and we all want to achieve that goal, no matter what it takes,” he said. “We are a group of guys that want to be perfect and strive for that perfection, no matter what we do. We could have done that better, this better, we left too many plays out there (against Buffalo). We always want to improve on what we do, and that’s what separates us. I think we’re going to take that same mentality into the Super Bowl.”
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Vegas loses to Blues in shootout
By W.G. RAMIREZ Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Missing all their coaches, Max Pacioretty and the Vegas Golden Knights still managed to earn a point. Strange night, but they’ll certainly take it. David Perron and Brayden Schenn scored in a shootout Tuesday to give the St. Louis Blues a 5-4 victory over Vegas. Pacioretty got his seventh career hat trick for the Golden Knights, who were without their entire coaching staff because of COVID-19 concerns. General manager Kelly McCrimmon took over head coaching duties and was assisted by staff from the team’s minor league affiliate in the AHL, the Henderson Silver Knights. Vegas players said they didn’t even know about the situation until they got to the arena. “It was news to us when we arrived,” said Alex Pietrangelo, who spent his first 12 seasons with the Blues and was facing them for the first time since signing with Vegas during the offseason. “Crimmer’s coached before, we had the (coaches) from Henderson come up, they know what they’re doing, too. So we didn’t know what the plan was originally, but it worked out fine.” Even after Robin Lehner allowed three goals on the first seven shots he faced as the Golden Knights fell into a 3-1 hole. Perron scored twice in regulation, and Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Kyrou also had goals for St. Louis (4-2-1). Jordan Binnington was brilliant in net for the Blues. He finished with 42 saves, including five in overtime.
Sports The Maryville Forum
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Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
C1
PREP SOCCER
Hounds take MEC crown By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville celebrates its outright MEC championship after a victory over Lafayette last Thursday in St. Joseph.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The first season that the Midland Empire Conference crowned a champion in boys’ soccer, it was the Maryville Spoofhounds. Twenty years have passed since then and the entire roster
Maryville 8, Lafayette 0 of the current Maryville team has been born since then, but last Thursday, Maryville captured its second outright MEC championship by completing an undefeated league season
with an 8-0 win at Lafayette. “It is really nice to do this my senior year and be a part of the team that did it,” Maryville senior Andrew Cronk said. “It is awesome.” For first-year coach Jesus Gonzalez, who was an assistant last year, the title is speSee CHAMP, C3
PREP FOOTBALL
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Get Wright Game
Bearcats bounce back with road win in Oklahoma
Northwest quarterback Braden Wright smiles coming to the sideline after a touchdown pass to Alec Tatum in the second half of Saturday’s win in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Editor’s Note: Quotes in this story were given last Thursday before the game against Northeastern State on Saturday.
By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — “I feel good.” It’s a simple sentence from Northwest Missouri State quarterback Braden Wright, but it’s a powerful response for
Bearcat Nation and for Wright himself after a past month and a half that no one could have seen coming. After waiting for nearly two years to retake the field for the Bearcats, Wright got that opportunity on Sept. 2 against Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan. Wright and the offense had some rust to knock off, but the Bearcat defense was lights out and Northwest got the 15-7 win.
Cale Sterling Maryville Cross Country The senior became the first male 4-time All-MEC runner in Spoofhound history. 210 of 397 votes
See WRIGHT, C2
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest junior Braden Wright celebrates a touchdown on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla.
Riley Linville Nodaway Valley Volleyball The senior had seven kills in Nodaway Valley’s win over South Harrison to end the regular season. 419 of 916 votes
The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Spoofhounds did whatever they wanted on Friday night against Lafayette in a 37-6 victory. And what the Spoofhounds (5-4, 5-1 MEC) wanted was to run the ball — a lot. “I thought our O-line played really good,” Maryville coach Matt Webb said. Despite playing without starting fullback Drew Spire, top running back Caden Stoecklein and his backup Adrian McGee, the Spoofhounds dominated the line of scrimmage in the first half with junior Cooper Loe and senior Tyler Siemer Maryville 37, each rushing for over 100 Lafayette 6 yards in the first half. Maryville fumbled its fifth play from scrimmage and turned the ball over, but the defense forced a quick 3-and-out from Lafayette (6-3, 4-2 MEC) and Maryville’s running game flexed its muscle. “It felt good,” Maryville tackle Kort Watkins said. “I mean we struggled pretty early in the season with inside runs and we’ve all kind of come together as a team and just really focused on what we need to improve on.” Siemer ran for five yards on the first snap of the second drive. Drew Burns went for four and then Loe went to work. Loe had the next five carries for 55 yards including a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
Payton Kirchhoefer Northwest Volleyball The outside hitter had a team-high 26 kills and four blocks in a win over top-ranked Washburn. 171 of 258 votes
See HOUNDS, C3
SPOOFHOUNDS
Wright returns to lineup after six-week absence
By JON DYKSTRA
Next Nominees James DiStefano Cooper Loe Rylee Vierthaler •✴ •
CLASS 1
See CATS, C2
Hounds run over Irish in regularseason finale
Aydan Blackford Riley Blay Saylor Brown
BEARCATS
JON DYKSTRA THE FORUM
Vote online at MaryvilleForum.com
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Northwest Missouri State couldn’t have drawn up a much better rebound from its first loss of the season. The Bearcats got right back on the road and came away with a 59-7 victory over Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, on Saturday afternoon. “I was really pleased,” Northwest coach Rich Wright said. “It started with our week of preparation. I felt like our focus was really good. Our energy was really good all week. I was confident that they would Northwest 59, come out and respond, and they did.” Northeastern St. 7 Perhaps more importantly than the final margin of victory was the fact that the Bearcats (6-1) appeared to make it through the game healthy. The most notable of those healthy players is junior quarterback Braden Wright. Wright hadn’t seen the field since the season opener at Fort Hays State, but was cleared to practice last Monday — the first day he was cleared to lift anything heavier than 15 pounds.
Maryville junior fullback Cooper Loe runs the ball last Friday night at the Hound Pound against Lafayette.
Jamar Moya Kaylie Rock Sophie McMullen
•✴ •
C2
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
Cats
SPORTS SHORTS Nodaway Valley, North Nodaway seasons end at district tournament
Continued from A1
The Bearcats didn’t require Wright to do any heavy lifting in the game Saturday either as he entered the game in the third quarter after starting quarterback Mike Hohensee and the Bearcats built a 35-7 lead. “We’ve been waiting on that,” Bearcat junior Jamar Moya said of Wright’s return. “Me and him have been talking about that since he got injured. It is crazy. Glad he’s back.” Hohensee finished his day 15-for-19 for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the air with one on the ground. “It was good to come out here and really just focus on ourselves and what we needed to improve at,” Hohensee said. Hohensee also had two interceptions. The second one was returned for a touchdown and a mistake that Rich Wright doesn’t want his sophomore quarterback making. “The back went the wrong way, and Mike rolls out,” Rich Wright said. “That ball needs to go into the third row of the bleachers. That is something that we have to get fixed, because in a big football game, that is what is going to get you beat.” Braden Wright came in and went 4-for-5 passing for 81 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown pass came on his first drive with a 19yard pass to senior Alec Tatum. “It was just so fun to get back out there with the guys again,” Wright said. Wright’s first pass of the game required senior Kaden Davis to make a diving catch for four yards, but his second pass was a 20-yard
Wright Continued from C1
Football was back, and Wright and his teammates were ready for normalcy to return as well. Then, eight days later, Wright’s world was turned upside down again. On Sept. 10 during a team meeting, Wright went to the bathroom feeling ill and collapsed in tremendous pain. Bearcat head football athletic trainer Liz Thieman took Wright to the hospital and he underwent emergency surgery to repair midgut volvulus, which is a twisted intestine. Following the surgery, Wright told the Northwest Missourian’s Jon Walker that Thieman may have saved his life. Just 41 days later, Wright and his teammates were singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Thieman following their Thursday walk-through as the Bearcats prepared for a road trip to Northeastern State.
The Maryville Forum
Nodaway Valley and North Nodaway’s volleyball teams each fell in the first round of the district tournament on Saturday in Rock Port. Nodaway Valley lost 3-1 to Mound City with game scores of 25-20, 14-25, 25-12 and 25-19. Reagan Hagey led the team in aces with three, kills with eight and assists with 11. Kayelyn Edmondson also had 11 assists and three aces. Paidyn Linville had a teamleading 10 digs. North Nodaway lost in three sets to South Holt 25-17, 25-12 and 25-17.
Blay wins at St. Joseph Christian Invitational JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest tight end Cole Hembrough and fullback Tyler Houchin celebrate Hembrough’s touchdown in the first half on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla. strike to Tatum on thirdand-15 before he capped the 3-for-3 drive with the touchdown to Tatum. “That first one, I was jittery, I was just like I just got to get this first one, got to see it into the hands of somebody,” Wright said. “Didn’t make the best throw I’ve ever made, that’s for sure, but I’m glad Kaden caught it so I could get that first one out of the way. That first one is the hardest. Once you get that one, it gets a little bit easier.” The running game helped the quarterbacks out all night with Al McKeller and Moya each going over 100 yards rushing. It is the first time the Bearcats have had a pair of 100-yard rushers since Nov. 17, 2018, when Josh Caldwell and Isaiah Strayhorn accomplished it. McKeller had 16 carries for 130 yards. “Like the coaches said,
Prior to his first action back against Northeastern State, Wright admitted that he will have rust. He was cleared to return to practice last Monday, but before that was only allowed to lift things up to 15 pounds. “The rehab process was pretty much laying on the couch and lifting things less than 15 pounds for five weeks,” Braden Wright said. “… That is why it has kind of been hard to get back into it. I feel like I’m a little behind physically right now, but it has just been awesome to lift with the team, practice with the team and do all that stuff again. Those are the things you take for granted when you’ve been doing it for so long. Getting it taken away from you, the little things like that make it all the more worth it.” Northwest coach Rich Wright liked what he saw from the quarterback last week in practice leading into the game with Northeastern State.
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it’s lightning and thunder,” Moya said of he and McKeller. “We are going to bring the energy every time.” Moya had a bigger role with Davonte Green missing the game and took advantage with eight carries for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two receiving touchdowns. “Big shout out to the Oline,” Moya said. “They really make it happen. I just run the ball.” Moya has been a SwissArmy knife for the Bearcats all season, lining up all over the field. The transfer from MidAmerica Nazarene enjoyed the opportunity to showcase his rushing ability. The biggest play of the day for Moya came to cap the third quarter scoring on a 71-yard run to push the lead to 49-7. “We have had Jamar at slot receiver for most of the
year and now with Davonte out, he has stepped up at running back,” Hohensee said. “We can throw to him out of the backfield, he got that touchdown today, and also you saw that he can lay the boom when he’s running through the holes too with the speed.” Northwest added a Cole Lammel field goal and a Robert Rawie touchdown in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory. The Bearcat defense didn’t allow a point in the game and held Northeastern State to just 101 yards of total offense and six first downs. Northwest finished the game with 648 yards of total offense and 32 first downs. The Bearcats will look to keep the momentum going next week when they host Nebraska-Kearney. The two teams are tied atop the MIAA with one loss each.
Nodaway Valley sophomore Riley Blay won the boys’ race at the St. Joseph Christian Invitational last Saturday. He finished with a time of 16:48.6. Teammate Gabe Wieland was 64th. Platte Valley took second as a team with Micah Wolf finishing third, Jacob Peery taking 16th, Quenton Manship finishing 22nd, Ethan Holtman taking 25th, Justin Miller taking 29th and Logan Peery taking 45th. North Nodaway’s Darron Bix was 53rd. In the girls’ race, Platte Valley’s Andrea Riley was fourth while North Nodaway’s Hayleigh Vinzant was 10th. The Class 1 District 4 meet is this Saturday at Missouri Western in St. Joseph.
Swink, Sprague, Schulte make All-District team
Maryville had a trio of players make the Class 3, District 8 All-District softball team. Junior Abby Swink and freshman Emma Sprague made the second team infield, while sophomore Ella Schulte was a second-team utility selection.
Third-ranked Northwest goes 2-1 on road trip
The Bearcat volleyball team went 2-1 this past week with wins over Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State before falling in five sets to No. 2 Central Missouri. The Bearcats won in four sets at Pittsburg State on Friday and swept Missouri Southern on Tuesday. That set up a matchup between two of the top-three ranked teams in the nation on Tuesday in Warrensburg. The Jennies won the first, third and fifth sets.
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest quarterback Braden Wright stands in the pocket and looks to pass in the second half of Saturday’s win in Tahlequah, Okla. “When you have a fiveweek hiatus the way that he did, it takes a little bit of time,” Rich Wright said. “Each day, he has gotten a little better and a little better. The things that are going to factor in for him are his conditioning level a little bit, and then just getting out and getting hit again.” Braden Wright spent nearly a week in the hospital following the operation and his schedule to return to football was still murky in that week even with a hopeful five-to-seven week timetable. “At first, I was stitched up, the worst-case scenario didn’t happen, so I was thankful for that,” Wright recalls. “Then after that, I was just kind of talking to my doctor the next few days about the timeline. Obviously, I was disappointed. Coach Wright came in and we talked about football.
He’s like, ‘we’ll be fine, we’ll hold it down.’ And obviously I had full confidence in that.” Eight days after surgery, the junior signal-caller was still not allowed to travel on the team bus to Warrensburg for the Central Missouri game. He said the lead up to that game was one of the most surreal football experiences of his life. “That was the most nervous I’ve been for a game,” Wright said. “My heart was pounding out of my chest.” Wright has hit the most optimistic route back to the field from the initial timeline. The 3-year starter comes back to the lineup after having an experience he hasn’t had since his redshirt year four years ago — watching the offense operate from the sideline. “I was really just trying
to flip it to a positive the best I could,” Wright said. “Obviously it was tough to take at first just knowing the timeline of what it was going to look like, but I really just tried to enjoy it, take that time away, refocus myself and get ready for when I was coming back. “I was really trying to focus my mind mentally so I wouldn’t be behind. In the film room, on film study, just learning how to take notes on people and just stuff like that — I tried to stay locked in. Obviously no physical stuff for me during this time away, but that is why I was just really trying to hammer away at the mental side of the game.” Wright has helped Hohensee with his mental game too in his first taste of being a college starting quarterback. Hohensee has performed well in Wright’s stead. He
has completed 83-of-116 passes for 1,176 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interception going into the Northeastern State game “It has been fun,” Wright said. “I’ve known Mike could do this all along. That has never been a question. I know how talented he is.” Hohensee and Wright have been together in the Bearcat quarterback room for over three years now, but they have been able to bond the last three weeks in a new spot — sitting next to each other in the trainer’s room. “Once he rolled his ankle a couple weeks back, we were in the training room every day together just checking on each other’s rehab,” Wright said. Now the two Bearcat quarterbacks will be looking to get healthier each week together and despite the fact that there can only be one quarterback on the field at a time for the Bearcats, Wright and Hohensee’s bond is still tight. “It is awesome truly being friends with the guy,” Wright said. Hohensee will take the first snap on Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla., and Wright will likely play at some point. How that arrangement develops is still somewhat a mystery, but the Bearcat quarterback position is stronger this week than it was last week now that all the quarterbacks on the roster are available again. Regardless of what the rest of the season holds, Wright feels blessed to be back. “Now that I’m back, it is just kind of like this peaceful feeling, I guess,” Wright said. “I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Champ Continued from C1
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville poses with their district runner-up trophy after Monday’s 3-0 loss to Cameron in Cameron. It was the fifth-straight year that Maryville has made it to at least the district championship match.
Spoofhounds make fifth-straight district championship appearance By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
CAMERON, Mo. — For the second-straight season, Cameron and Maryville met up in Cameron for a district championship clash. Last season, it was the Spoofhounds who picked up the title on their way to a state championship. On Monday night, the Dragons (28-4) had the firepower to move to the sectional round of the Class 3 State Tournament with a 3-0 sweep of Maryville. “I’m really proud of this team,” Maryville senior Grace Wright said. “I’ve seen so much growth and development from every single girl and it’s just been amazing to watch and be a part of.” The Spoofhounds (11-18) acquitted themselves well in the matchup, but like the Spoofhounds had a year ago when in difficult moments, they could always turn to Serena Sundell for a kill, the Dragons had that luxury on Monday with star hitter Avery McVicker. “She can hit the ball so hard — so, so hard,” Maryville coach Bailey Cook said. “She is just hard to stop.” The defending state champions were fighting to keep their season alive in the third set and built a 2220 lead over the top-seeded Dragons. But the Dragons had McVicker. The Cameron senior smashed fourconsecutive kills into the middle of the floor. The season ended for Maryville with junior hitter Rylee Vierthaler’s kill attempt just landing wide and Cameron was able to celebrate on its home court. “She is a great player,” Vierthaler said of McVicker. “Props to her, she is a great leader on her team. Congrats to Cameron. They are a great team and I can’t wait to see how far they go.” Maryville kept the match competitive throughout against the powerful Dragon squad. In the first set, an ace for Spoofhound libero Kennedy Kurz brought the Hounds to within 22-20, but Cameron was able to hang on for
Cameron 3, Maryville 0
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Jillian Ternus (8) high-fives Kennedy Kurz (1) on Monday in Cameron. a 25-21 win. McVicker got rolling in the second set, and Maryville struggled to find offense outside of Vierthaler, repeatedly feeding the junior even when she was in the back row. McVicker put the exclamation point on a 25-13 victory with a kill to end the set. The third set showed the growth that Cook has seen all season. The Spoofhounds were far more balanced in the final set. “We’ve grown so much since the beginning of the season and everybody’s work ethic to just keep getting better every game and every practice is just something that made the season so much fun,” Vierthaler said. Wright had a block for an early 3-1 lead. Vierthaler, Kurz, Wright and Addison Weldon each had kills to put the Hounds up 9-7. “They showed that determination, that fight and that will that they wanted it,” Cook said. “But Cameron is such a good team that they came back and fought a little bit harder.” It was 11-9 after an Anastyn Pettlon ace and the game shifted between tied and a two-point Spoofhound lead until Wright got a kill to put the team up 22-20, but McVicker had the answer to deliver her team its first district championship since 2011. “It is always going to stink when you lose in the postseason, but the
fact that they made it to another district championship, that is not something to hang their heads about,” Cook said. Cameron has never made the state semifinals in volleyball and will be looking to accomplish that on Thursday when they will face Notre Dame de Sion in the sectionals and if they win the Dragons will have a quarterfinal game the same day. Maryville will look to make a sixthstraight trip to the district championship game next season. The Spoofhounds return all but one starter next season and kills leader Vierthaler, assists leader Pettlon and digs leader Kurz will all be seniors. “I hope coming into next season, they are just as hungry if not more,” Cook said. Monday’s match was the final one for seniors Addie Arnold, Sloane McAdams, Jillian Ternus, Avery Baker and Wright. Their class finishes their careers as four-time district finalists with two district championships and the 2020 state championship. “I just hope we are remembered for our leadership and working hard,” Wright said. “We’ve all had to work our way up. We honestly did start from the bottom and we’ve had to work for playing time and we’ve had to work to get to his varsity level.” Maryville 3, Northland Christian 0 Maryville swept Northland Christian on Saturday to advance to the district championship game. The game scores were 25-15, 25-13 and 25-19. Vierthaler had 10 kills and five aces to lead the team in both categories. Ava Dumke added five kills while Weldon had three. Pettlon had 15 assists. Kurz had 19 digs to lead the team and in the process set the school’s alltime record for digs in a season.
Hounds Continued from C1
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville safety Boston Hageman runs back an interception last Friday at the Hound Pound.
The offensive line was clearing the Irish defense out of the way and Maryville was able to keep it simple and feed its fullback with Loe. “Yes, we had a few new backs, but it was still the same line,” Maryville senior guard Blake Casteel said. “We still had to execute and do our jobs.” The defense forced another 3-and-out with Casteel, the senior lineman, sacking Lafayette star quarterback Jaron Saunders and then Saunders throwing a pair of incompletions. “I thought we did a really good job on defense of shutting them down,” Loe said. This time it was Siemer’s
turn to take over a drive. While Loe worked his way down the field with five carries for 55 yards the previous drive, Siemer took just one carry to go 56 for a touchdown. “Cooper Loe had some really good inside runs,” Webb said. “Then all of a sudden, they take that away and that opens up a play for Tyler Siemer to hit it. … Being complementary like that, inside game, outside game, says a lot about our players, our coaches and the way we run our schemes.” The first quarter ended with Maryville having a workman-like 13-0 lead without a single pass attempt. Midway through the second quarter, Maryville went back to Loe and the junior had four-straight carries for
cial, but he is pointing to bigger goals for Class 1’s second-ranked team. “It feels good, I’m not going to lie,” Gonzalez said. “It was not our goal at the beginning of the season, but something that happens when you work hard. We are getting this reward for that hard work.” Maryville established itself quickly in the first half with standout sophomore Kason Teale having a firsthalf hat trick with three goals. Senior James DiStefano had a pair of goals in the opening 40 minutes and junior Quinn Pettlon added another. Cronk had two assists on Teale’s goals. The senior takes pride in leading the team in assists this season and feeding the team’s top scorers in Jacob Ferris, Teale and DiStefano. “It is great to play with them,” Cronk said. “Jacob is my best friend. Getting to play with them and get assists for them, it is just awesome.” The second half was short-lived with Ferris striking first by chipping a shot right over the keeper for his first goal of the night. The Lafayette players were impressed with the effort too with several players congratulating Ferris on the well-placed shot. Five minutes into the second half, Lafayette was called for a hand ball in the
C3 box, and after a little bit of discussion on who would take the penalty kick to make the MEC championship official, DiStefano stepped up to take it. The senior buried a shot into the net and the celebration could begin. “We are working so hard in practice, and it is paying off in games,” junior Marcus Henggeler said. The team ran to the stands as fans handed them a banner made by Jaxson Staples’ parents which spelled out the achievement: ‘MEC Champs.’ DiStefano and Teale each finished with three goals while Ferris and Pettlon each added one. It is Staples’ third straight shutout. “Since the middle of the season, we have been playing really good,” Gonzalez said. “We have been getting to know each other better and we have started playing our game — and that is really important for us.” Maryville is the No. 2 seed in Class 1 District 8. They open on Nov. 11 against Lutheran (Kansas City) in Lee’s Summit. If they win that game, it sets up a top-5 in Class 1 showdown with No. 2 Maryville getting a road game for the district title against No. 4, but top-seeded, Summit Christian Academy. “It is good that we are No. 2 (in the district), No. 3 or No. 4 would be okay too,” Gonzalez said. “That makes the kids realize that we still need to work hard and be on our toes all the time.”
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior James DiStefano takes a shot against Lafayette last Thursday against St. Joseph. 39 yards including a 17-yard touchdown. “Overall, our offense did pretty well in the first half,” Loe said. The passing game got involved on the next drive on a 2-play, 82-yard drive. Siemer ran for 23 yards on the first play and senior quarterback Connor Drake connected with sophomore Delton Davis for a 59-yard touchdown on the next snap. That score put the halftime lead at 25-0 as the Hounds maintained their shutout. “I just think our kids played really inspired football,” Webb said. After a scoreless thirdquarter, Drake picked up his second touchdown pass of the evening to open the fourth quarter with a 26yard connection with sopho-
more Don Allen with 11:18 left in the game. Sophomore Tucker Turner answered a late touchdown by the Irish with one of his own from four yards away. Loe finished with 198 yards rushing with 171 of those coming in the first half. Siemer had 103 yards rushing in the opening half. Drake threw for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Casteel and Boston Hageman each had five tackles while Hageman had an interception. Maryville now heads into a bye week looking to heal up before it opens Class 2, District 7 as the No. 1 seed. According to district points, the Spoofhounds will face the winner of Trenton and Brookfield in two weeks at the Hound Pound.
C4
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
‘Bearcats Remember When’
The Maryville Forum
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
C5
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021
HOMECOMING 2 p.m. Northwest (6-1) vs. Nebraska-Kearney (7-1)
EVENTS
Friday
Saturday
8 a.m. Walk Out Day & Bell of ’48 Ringing
8 a.m. Alumni Welcome (at the Michael L. Faust Center for Alumni and Friends)
(at Bell of ’48)
1 p.m. International Flag Raising (at Joyce and Harvey White International Flag Plaza)
9 a.m. Parade (On Fourth Street from Ray Street to Main Street)
6:30 p.m. M-Club Hall of Fame Banquet (at J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom)
2 p.m. Game Northwest vs. NebraskaKearney (at Bearcat Stadium)
7 p.m. Variety Show (at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts)
9 p.m. Royalty Crowned (at the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts)
W
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C6
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
The Maryville Forum
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Quarterbacks set to tell story for Lopers, Bearcats By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Up until last season, Nebraska-Kearney had never had a winning season in the MIAA. The Lopers best season before the 6-5 mark in 2019 was a pair of 3-8 campaigns. On Saturday, the 2021 Lopers prepare for one of the biggest games in the history of Nebraska-Kearney football — a 2 p.m., kickoff in Maryville for command of the MIAA race. “The nice thing for us is that we have played in a lot of these, at least our upperclassmen have,” Northwest Missouri State coach Rich Wright said of the big-game feel for his team. “We are excited for the opportunity.” Both teams come into the game with just one loss while Pittsburg State and Washburn sit at two losses each. A win would give either Northwest Missouri State or Nebraska-Kearney control of its own destiny for an MIAA championship and a playoff berth. “Our kids will be excited for the opportunity,” Wright said. “We have a huge challenge ahead of us. We are just geeked up for the opportunity to compete.” The matchup of the day comes when Northwest’s MIAA-leading defense — in total defense — squares off with the top offense in the league for the Lopers. It is no secret who makes the Loper offense run. Quarterback T.J. Davis is second in the MIAA with 830 rushing yards this season and leading the league in rushing touchdowns with 13.
Nebraska-Kearney at Northwest Missouri State Saturday; 2 p.m. At Bearcat Stadium
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest quarterback Mike Hohensee (9) follows the blocks of running back Al McKeller (2) and tackle Tanner Owen (75) in a win over Northeastern State last Saturday in Tahlequah, Okla. “He is an extremely efficient runner,” Wright said. “He is dangerous in space. He is a tough kid. I have watched him get hit a lot. He plays with a lot of toughness and a lot of passion. He will run downhill and he will run the ball out on the perimeter. He is as good in space as anybody
we’ve played against in my time here.” The second-year starter is also leading the MIAA by a wide margin in passing efficiency. He has 1,573 yards with 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions. “The thing that he added to his repertoire is the ability to throw the ball at a
higher level,” Wright said. “That is the biggest difference between him in 2019 and now.” On the other side, Northwest is keeping its plan at quarterback close to the vest, but the likelihood is that both Braden Wright and Mike Hohensee will play for the Bearcats.
Wright, a 3-year starter, made his return to the Bearcats last week against Northeastern State. He saw second-half snaps with the game decided and went 4-for-5 for 81 yards and a touchdown. Hohensee, who has started six games this season, also played well last week
with three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. His increased mobility was a promising sign as he has been dealing with a nagging ankle injury. “I thought both did a good job,” Rich Wright said. “Mike is back to being mobile again which is kind of nice because we went for four weeks without him able to run with the ball. He feels full speed and that is good. Braden was able to get some in-game action. He was efficient with what he did. He is chomping at the bit. We will just plan on using both Q’s.” The Lopers have the MIAA’s second-best passing defense behind Northwest. Northwest ran for 387 yards and four touchdowns last week against Northeastern State. While the RiverHawks are the MIAA’s third worst defense at stopping the run, Nebraska-Kearney has the fourth worst and allows 4.6 yards per carry. Northwest senior running back Al McKeller will be counted on for a big game. He comes into the game averaging an MIAA-best 133.9 rushing yards per game and a 6.2 yards-percarry average. Saturday is also Homecoming for the Bearcats which is always an exciting day in Maryville. “The Homecoming football game is always a special day for us here,” Rich Wright said.
SPIKE SPEAKS
MIAA championship week has arrived
T
he winner of Saturday afternoon’s Northwest Missouri State and Nebraska-Kearney game would have to lose its final two games to not finish with at least a share of the MIAA championship. The Lopers knocked off the Bearcats 24-17 in 2019 in Kearney. Prior to that, the Lopers hadn’t beaten the Bearcats since 1990. Northwest has to be the favorite at home, but T.J. Davis is the type of multithreat quarterback which is needed against the Bearcat defense. Saturday’s matchup will be the first time that both teams will be ranked for a matchup. 1. Northwest (6-1) Trending: Steady The quarterback situation has to be the most intriguing question about Northwest for the MIAA and the nation. Besides the obvious with Braden Wright’s return, Mike Hohensee ran in a touchdown against Northeastern State which is a big part of his game when healthy. The defense and rushing attack remains elite. 2. Nebraska-Kearney (7-1) Trending: Steady What if T.J. Davis pulled this off. Two years in the MIAA and two wins over the Bearcats is a short list of players who have done that and he still has plenty of time left. Bearcats’ fans could find their biggest rival from a player standpoint in
MIAA WEEK NINE ‘EXPERT’ PICKS The Week 9 Slate
Jon Dykstra Sports Editor
years. Only problem is that Davis is a hard kid to root against with the way he plays the game. 3. Washburn (6-2) Trending: Steady Kellen Simoncic leads the Ichabods to a secondstraight win. When Mitch Schurig can return the job should stay his, but Washburn appears to have its quarterback of the future even if it wasn’t always pretty in Edmond, Okla. on Saturday. 4. Pittsburg State (6-2) Trending: Steady The Gorillas hammered the Griffons in St. Joseph. Pittsburg State led 27-0 in the third quarter before Western mustered a bit of offense to make it look a little closer. Big stretch to end the season for Pittsburg State with Central Oklahoma, Washburn and Fort Hays State. Sweep and they could climb back into playoff contention. 5. Emporia State (4-4) Trending: Steady I picked Emporia State to lose to Missouri Southern last week in my upset spe-
Jon Dykstra Maryville Forum
Micaela Dea St. Joseph News-Press
Devin Albertson D2Football.com
Matt Daniel Bleeding Green Podcast
Nebraska-Kearney (7-1) at Northwest (6-1)
24-14
24-21
24-20
35-27
Central Missouri (2-6) at Lincoln (0-7)
56-21
49-14
42-10
52-21
Missouri Western (3-5) at Missouri Southern (3-5)
27-21
35-24
23-17
30-24
Emporia State (4-4) at Fort Hays State (4-4)
31-30
28-24
31-30
23-21
Central Oklahoma (4-4) at Pittsburg State (6-2)
35-24
35-31
27-20
30-20
Northeastern State (2-6) at Washburn (6-2)
42-7
42-17
56-17
34-10
29-12 (4-2)
28-13 (6-0)
Season Record (Last Week) cial and the Hornets led the entire way in a game that was tight throughout. Nice win for the Hornets who get Fort Hays State and Lincoln the next two weeks. 6. Fort Hays State (4-4) Trending: Up 3 My violent swings with how I feel about Fort Hays State continue. They are the new Missouri Western. For years, Western could beat anyone and lose to almost anyone. This year’s Griffons are struggling with the ‘beat anyone’ portion of that equation, but Hays has beaten Kearney, but has losses to Central Oklahoma and Missouri Western. A win over Central Missouri shouldn’t change my opinion this much, but I pick UCM so it has to change it a bit.
7. Central Oklahoma (4-4) Trending: Down 1 They led Washburn with three and a half minutes left in the game. This team has improved so much from when they played in Maryville, but I think I still have that clouding my judgement. With Pittsburg State and Nebraska-Kearney the next two weeks, it might be tough for the Bronchos to finish above .500 this year. 8. Missouri Southern (3-5) Trending: Down 1 Atiba Bradley is still the MIAA Coach of the Year. They need a win over Missouri Western this week to regain momentum, because Northwest and Washburn is a tough way to end the schedule.
29-12 (6-0) 29-12 (5-1)
9. Missouri Western (3-5) Trending: Down 1 This team is much closer to 1-6 than above .500. They squeaked by Emporia State by literal inches and Fort Hays State forgot how to play football for a quarter (got out-scored 28-7) and still only lost by seven. It is a soft end-of-season schedule for the Griffons, but they certainly aren’t a given to beat Missouri Southern or Central Missouri.
like a much safer bet. 11. Northeastern State (26) Trending: Steady The RiverHawks are going to finish the year with two wins which is a big step forward for them. Don’t let what is going to be an ugly second half to the season cloud that. They haven’t played a game closer than 30 points in a month and that likely won’t change with Washburn and Kearney next up.
10. Central Missouri (2-6) Trending: Steady At least the Mules get Lincoln this week. I could easily see the Mules finishing the year 3-0 by beating Lincoln, Western and Central Oklahoma, but the way they are playing, 1-2 seems
12. Lincoln (0-7) Trending: Steady The least amount of points the Blue Tigers have given up was 49 to Northeastern State. That is bad. Yes, I know this is the same stat from last week, but it is still true and still bad.
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021
C7
COLLEGE SOCCER
Bearcats complete 2-0 weekend with shutout By JON DYKSTRA
Northwest is currently fourth in the MIAA with two games remaining. Emporia State is 8-1 in first, Central Missouri is 7-1-1 in second and Central Oklahoma is 7-2 in third. Missouri Western is fifth right behind Northwest and will host the Bearcats on Friday. The top four seeds host the MIAA quarterfinals. “They are coming to try to nab a higher seed and they need to get a result,” Gordon said. “And so do we.” The Bearcats will finish the regular season on Sunday with a trip to Joplin to play Missouri Southern.
The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — When Marc Gordon was hired as the third soccer coach in the history of the Northwest Missouri State program in 2017, Madie Krueger, Madi McKeever and Alex Mausbach had just completed their first seasons in the program. He added Alexis Serna Castillo, Joanna Shaw and Jessie Brown before his first season began. On Sunday, all six of those players were honored at Senior Day for the Bearcats. “It means a lot,” McKeever said. “The super seniors especially, we’ve been through so many different things — to finally have it coming together our last year is something really special. We’ve put a lot of hours in the training room, on the pitch and in the weight room; so to see it all come together is huge.” Gordon’s message when he was hired in December of 2017 was simple: “I hope to build upon the foundation of the program so that past and the present players will be proud of the Bearcat soccer legacy.” Gordon is less than three seasons in, and that legacy is taking major steps for-
Northwest 1, Newman 0 ward. In his first season, the Bearcats only managed a 1-10 record in MIAA play with the win coming against Southwest Baptist who is no longer in the conference. The next season, the Bearcats were 4-5-2 in league play. After only playing in the spring last season, the Bearcats have continued to take strides this season with Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Newman pushing the Bearcat record to 6-2-1 in league play and guaranteeing that they will finish the year with a winning MIAA record for the first time since 2012. “We are definitely growing as a program and it is so fun to see how we all get better every day,” redshirt freshman Hannah Stirling said. The Bearcats and the Jets started off slow in windy and cold conditions at Bearcat Pitch with neither team scoring in the first 45 minutes. In the second half, Stirling found space and broke down the middle of the field. Newman keeper Jackie Lari saved Stirling’s first try, but
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
The Bearcats celebrate Hannah Stirling’s, center, goal in the second half of Sunday’s win over Newman at Bearcat Pitch. the midfielder stuck with it and scored on the rebound. “It is great to have good teammates who can find that pass and get the ball into the box,” Stirling said. “And then my job is to finish it. It is really exciting to score, carry that momentum for our team and keep going.”
The one goal proved all that was needed for the Bearcat defense and Serna Castillo. The Northwest keeper only had to make three saves in the shutout. The Bearcats dominated the second half with 13 shots compared to just one for Newman.
“Second half, we had a lot more of the ball,” Gordon said. “And for a while, we just couldn’t put it on the floor, but I like the movement and the types of things that we are trying to create for the team to be able to break them down to get in and score goals.”
Northwest 2, Central Oklahoma 1; 2OT Northwest rallied for a 2-1 win over Central Oklahoma on Friday at Bearcat Pitch. Sydney Mueller scored her first goal of the season with three minute left in regulation to force overtime. Kaylie Rock scored the golden goal off an assist from Ashton Dain in the second overtime for a 2-1 win. The Bearcats out-shot the Bronchos 24-11 and had 11 shots on goal compared to just five for Central Oklahoma. Northwest’s Ashley Williams finished with four saves.
PREP FOOTBALL
Platte Valley hands East Atchison first loss By NICK TERRY The Forum
HOPKINS, Mo. — In a game that couldn’t have started much worse for Platte Valley, they proved the old adage that ‘it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ The home team was able to finish against the previously unbeaten East Atchison Wolves on a 28-6 run, finishing the game with a 28-26 victory last Friday. “I’m not going out on a limb at all saying this is the biggest win in Platte Valley football history — so far,” Platte Valley coach Johnnie Silkett said. “We’ve been hoping this is where we are, it was hard to measure where we were the last few games, but I really believe that our boys played one play at a time and that was our focus all week. We can’t let what happened before or what happens next affect us. We’ve got to live in the moment, each moment, over and over again.” Platte Valley started the game with an onside kick attempt that was picked up and ran back for a quick touchdown, putting the home team in a hole 6-0 with almost no time off the clock. The opening drive for Platte Valley looked promising, with long runs by Carter Luke giving them good field position. However, a crucial sack on third down, and an incomplete pass on fourth, gave the ball back to East Atchison. The Wolves took little time scoring again on their next possession. A 32-yard touchdown catch and run from Braden Graves, and the successful 2-point try made the score 14-0 early in the first quarter. The Wolves defense lived up to its reputation, forcing a quick punt by Platte Valley. East Atchison then took the following possession and scored on a 37-yard
Platte Valley 28, East Atchison 26 touchdown run by Jarrett Spinnato, making the score 20-0. Platte Valley, however, would not go away. Luke broke open for a 30-yard run, followed by a 17-yard QB keeper from Aydan Blackford to kickstart the home team’s offense. Platte Valley employed several plays from the unorthodox ‘swinging gate’ formation, leading to a Blackford keeper for the first score of the game for Platte Valley. Adjustments proved to be crucial to the game, which Silkett was grateful to have recognized and implemented early in the second quarter. “We found out pretty quickly that we could be a little more physical than they were,” Silkett said. “We made some changes
on defense that no one has seen yet. We really matched up well, a little better than they expected. Last game I thought we played all aspects of our game really well, and I think it did carry into this week.” Along with the defensive adjustments, Platte Valley was happy to grind out drives on the ground. Senior Hayden Ferry and junior Jaxon McCrary, were the workhorses in this game with the quick running game. While the Wolves defense keyed on Luke, both fullbacks and Blackford were able to take advantage of the rushing attack. Blackford capitalized on the next Platte Valley drive for another touchdown, making the score 20-14. In the second half, the Platte Valley defense continued to stop the Wolves, and the offense continued to methodically drive for scores. Ferry was able to finish the first drive of the
CLASSIFIEDS CONTINUED FROM PAGE C8
NICK TERRY/THE FORUM
Platte Valley defensive coordinator Dallas Giedd and head coach Johnnie Silkett talk with the defense during last Friday’s win over East Atchison in Hopkins. second half with a short touchdown plunge, making the score 20-20. Both defenses were able to keep the score tied until the fourth quarter, when on 3rd and 18, Blackford found Ferry out of the backfield for a 44-yard touchdown pass, then found Wyatt Tobin in the back of the end zone for the 2-point conversion. East Atchison wasn’t done though, and they were able to move the ball down
to the seven-yard line on a wild play in which the Platte Valley defensive back played the long pass perfectly, but the deflection ricocheted off the intended receiver, straight into the arms of another Wolves player. The lone score for dynamic back Kaylin Merriweather came shortly after, and the Wolves pulled to within two points. An incomplete pass on the conversion attempt made the score 28-26.
East Atchison was able to recover the ensuing onside kick and had the ball with one last chance, but the Platte Valley defense rose to the challenge. A sack by Dakota Dilley, a long pass defended perfectly by Brandon McQueen, an incomplete pass, and a 4th down sack by Trevor Weir sealed the game for Platte Valley. “This group doesn’t scare easy,” Silkett said. “They just don’t scare easy. They are a pretty loose group of kids and they really like each other, and tonight they hung together as a family like no other. I’m so proud of them. This is not the end all, our job now is to really dig in these next two weeks and to really get better a little each day.” Platte Valley will prepare for the postseason after finishing the regular season 7-2. The seven wins is more than the program has had in the last four years combined and most for the team in over a decade.
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C1
MSHSAA STATE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Blay-to-Blay Champs Riley Blay adds state title to family’s collection By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Nodaway Valley sophomore Riley Blay came into the season with expectations which seemed almost unfair. The younger brother of 2020 state champion Tyler Blay went into his sophomore season as the only member of the new Nodaway Valley cross-country team with any experience so the underclassmen was looked to as the leader of the program. Also after a 16th-place finish last year, he was expected to climb much higher on the podium as a sophomore just based on the way his brother improved throughout his career. That’s a lot to put on any sophomore, but not only did Blay meet those exceptions — on Saturday, he shattered them. Blay won his first state championship in the Class 1 race in Columbia. “It feels amazing,” Blay said. “I dreamed of this day forever. I never thought it would happen until my brother won last year and I trained with him all summer.” He beat his brother’s time from last season on the same course by over 24 seconds. “It is just phenomenal to watch him go from 16th last year to first this year,” Nodaway Valley assistant coach Colton Blay said. “Like I told him at the beginning of this race, it all comes down to the summers that we put in and the workouts that he’s done.” For the second year in a row, Plato’s David Held finished second in Class 1 to a Blay brother. Riley Blay finished with a 16:05.9 while Held had a 16:29.2. “His work ethic and dedication to improve is just fantastic,” Nodaway Valley coach Kenneth Hamilton said. See BLAY, C2 JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Nodaway Valley sophomore Riley Blay, left, runs by Plato’s David Held on Saturday in Columbia. Blay won the Class 1 state title.
Platte Valley’s Riley earns first state medal By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
Hounds finish state runners-up COLUMBIA, Mo. — The standard continues to be raised for the Spoofhound boys cross-country team.
Michael Cook Nodaway Valley Football The sophomore quarterback ran for 193 yards and four touchdowns against North Andrew. 200 of 427 votes
Two years ago, the Spoofhounds set a new mark for the highest placing as a team at state by taking sixth. Last year, they picked up the first state trophy in program history by
Al McKeller Northwest Football The running back scored four touchdowns in Northwest’s win over NebraskaKearney. 68 of 168 votes
taking third as a team. On Saturday in Columbia, Maryville climbed higher on the podium as the Class 3 state runners up. See HOUNDS, C2
SPOOFHOUNDS
The Forum
Next Nominees James DiStefano Jag Galapin Tyler Siemer •✴ •
CLASS 1
By JON DYKSTRA
Riley Blay Hayleigh Vinzant Micah Wolf
BEARCATS
Jacob Ferris Maryville Soccer The senior forward had four goals in the district semifinal win over Lutheran (Kansas City). 107 of 253 votes
See RILEY, C2
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville earned Class 3 runner-up trophy at the MSHSAA State Championships on Saturday in Columbia.
Vote online at MaryvilleForum.com
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Platte Valley assistant coach Wendy Riley hugs her daughter Andrea Riley after presenting her with a state medal on Saturday in Columbia.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Andrea Riley is not new to the MSHSAA State Championships. The Platte Valley junior capped her sophomore season by finishing 81st in Class 1 a year ago, but she was determined to get on the podium this season with a state medal. Riley exceeded even her own expectations on Saturday in Columbia when she finished 16th in Class 1 with a 21:24.9 and earned that hardware. “I think she did something she didn’t think she could do, which is the best thing that could have happened,” Platte Valley coach Julie McConkey said. “I think she knows now that she has no limits on what
Jacob Nkamasiai Kaylie Rock Rachel Sturdevant
•✴ •
C2
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
Hounds
The Maryville Forum
Continued from C1
“Tears and speechless,” Maryville coach Rodney Bade said. “Just really, really, really proud of them. Kind of like last year, they stepped up on the day it really mattered.” For the Hounds, this result is a long time coming, especially for seniors Cale Sterling and Jag Galapin. “It is great,” Sterling said. “I really don’t have words right now, but oh it is great.” The team finish wasn’t the only program record which fell on Saturday as Galapin’s sixth-place finish is best individual placing in school history, surpassing Caleb Feuerbacher’s seventh-place finish five years ago. “He said it multiple times, I want to make sure I’m not just one of the top runners, I want to leave my mark on Maryville High School cross country,” Bade said. Until this season, Galapin has never been the Spoofhounds’ fastest runner, but he has worked his way up through the lineup each year to the point where he was able to finish his career with a 16:26 to take sixth. “I hope they see that working hard will definitely get you far,” Galapin said on his legacy as a Spoofhound. “I wasn’t the very best when I started as a freshman, I was not the very best at this. I started as the six and the five as a freshman, but I worked so hard in the winter and track season. Next thing you know I was second place and got the sophomore record. “Hopefully when these guys see my times from sophomore to senior, I hope they see that hard work will get you far.” Galapin started further back in the pack than he would have liked, but began
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville coach Rodney Bade hugs senior Cale Sterling after Sterling medaled and the Spoofhounds finished as the state runners up on Saturday in Columbia. passing people all the way until the finish line where he out-sprinted St. Charles West’s Jacob Blassingame for that sixth spot. “Multiple times this year, he was with people and then he would just say, it is time for me to go,” Bade said. “He would just go put that mark on the race, be assertive and run away from people. That helped today because he was able to still go out with where he should be and needs to be. Then he was able to move up, and once he found himself in the top 10, it was ‘let’s see how far he can get up.’” Behind Galapin, the Spoofhounds added two more medalists — one of
only two teams to come away with three individual medals. Sterling and sophomore Connor Blackford each earned their first-ever state medals by finishing 24th and 25th respectively. “Being so unbelievably close last year, a handful of second, and then coming back this year with a much, much faster field than it was last year and getting on that top 25 is just so, so good,” Sterling said. “It is just what I’ve been building for these last six years of cross country.” For Sterling, the medal caps a long career which began as a seventh grader running for coach Rodney Bade and culminated on Saturday.
“Overjoyed is probably the word,” Bade said. “He is probably the one runner over the four years or six years because he started in seventh grade, that there has been more mental energy that I’ve spent outside of practice in thinking about Cale and how to help him work through the problems and difficulties. He has taken a lot of my anxiety I guess you’d say, but it was always worth it. To be able to pull the phone up far from the finish and to be able to see 24 and 25, it was tears at that point.” The team trophy was sealed by a pair of freshmen as Dylan Masters finished 66th and Bradley Deering
took 71st in the 170-runner field. “I’m amazed at what four and five did,” Galapin said. “I’m impressed with what Dylan did. Sub-18, I think that is amazing. Bradley, with his left knee hurt, I was nervous.” Deering overcame adversity when he tore a ligament in his knee this week leading up to the race. He wore a light brace during the race, but was still able to perform well. “I did a light warmup and just hoped it didn’t slow me down,” Deering said. Each of the freshmen has shown growth through the season to improve to the point where they could help the team at state.
“We couldn’t be more happy with them and more proud of them,” Blackford said. Mason Marriott took 133rd and Braiden Bloomquist was 142nd. Bade also brought a pair of alternates to the event even though they couldn’t run. He wanted the other freshmen to experience state as well. “We want them to see this experience and we want them to be hungry for it,” Bade said. With Galapin and Sterling graduating, next year’s Spoofhound team will be very young with no seniors, but also very talented. Galapin and Sterling hope they have set the table for even further success and that the records they set this year may be broken in the future. “I really want to feel like that ‘bridge’ which is much different than coming in here freshman year,” Sterling said. “Coming in as a freshman, I really wanted to be like the next Caleb Feuerbacher. I really wanted to be the guy. As the years developed, I kind of realized that is not what I’m meant to be. I’m more of the bridge to take the entire team up. That’s kind of how I feel that my legacy is.” Pohren finished 133rd Maryville freshman Caroline Pohren represented the Spoofhound girls at state and finished 133rd in Class 3. Seeing a freshman advance to state and get the experience continues to make Bade excited for Pohren’s future. “Today was getting her feet wet and experience was the name of the game,” Bade said. “The race went out way faster than she is used to so she got to experience that. … Her big goal was to get here.”
Riley
Continued from C1
she will do in the future. Couldn’t be more proud of her.” Her experience in big races helped with her race strategy as she went out fast and got in a fast group early on. “At state, we all have to understand that if you don’t get out fast then you are going to get boxed in,” Riley said. “I tried to get out fast, get with a fast group and let them pull me along and run the pace I know I’m capable of running.” Just like in past years when Andrea was the little sister hugging current Creighton Bluejay Ashley Riley after her state races, the Rileys celebrated her accomplishment with family including a hug from little sister Allison Riley. The biggest hug came in the medal presentation when McConkey allowed assistant coach and Riley’s mother Wendy Riley to be the one to present her daughter with her medal. “I set the goal at the beginning of the season that I wanted to get top 25,” Riley said. “So the fact that I got top 20 and 16th place really means a lot to me.” Riley had other supporters there to celebrate with her as well with the first year of a boys’ team at Platte Valley. “This has definitely been my favorite season so far,” Riley said. “It is so much fun. The boys are the best supporters I’ve had. They are just so much fun.” North Nodaway senior Hayleigh Vinzant finished her cross-country career
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Nodaway Valley coach Kenneth Hamilton presents sophomore Riley Blay with his state championship medal on Saturday in Columbia.
Blay
Continued from C1
PHOTOS BY JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
ABOVE: Platte Valley senior Micah Wolf finished 26th at the Class 1 State Championships on Saturday in Columbia. TOP, RIGHT: North Nodaway senior Hayleigh Vinzant runs at the Class 1 State Championships at Gans Creek Park on Saturday. BOTTOM, RIGHT: Platte Valley sophomore Ethan Holtman competes at state on Saturday in Columbia. with a 61st place finish in the 155-runner field. In the boys race, Platte Valley competed as a team in the first year of existence for the boys’ program. “It is our first season for our school having it and having the sport in general, so really, I’m just happy that all of us guys came out,” Platte Valley senior Micah Wolf said. “We all had fun and we made it to state as a team. I feel like we accom-
plished a lot this year.” Wolf led the team with a 26th-place showing with a 17:56.3. That place is just one away from a medal. “It hurts that I was that close, but also I PR’ed by close to a minute so I can’t be too mad at that,” Wolf said. “I had fun. I’m not mad at it. It was a pretty good end to the season.” Wolf was the only senior to compete at state for Platte Valley this year and
the team returns a strong core which now has that state experience. Three of the underclassmen set new personal bests at state. Sophomore Jacob Peery finished 111th with a 19:44.3. Freshman Justin Miller took 130th, sophomore Ethan Holtman finished 146th and freshman Logan Peery took 162nd. “I think they are all going to have a great future,” Wolf said.
Blay went out fast on Saturday and he and Held quickly separated themselves from the field. Held had the fastest time in the state going into the race and Blay was second. They were both well ahead of all the other Class 1 runners, meaning that the 172-runner field would come down to a match race. The two runners were neck and neck for the early portion of the race, but eventually Blay began to pull away and he just kept building his lead until he crossed the finish line by himself on the home stretch. “I stuck to the race plan, opened up a gap and survived,” Blay said. With a state title in hand, Blay’s coaches will look for new goals to push him towards moving forward. “Sky’s the limit at this point,” Colton Blay said. One of Riley Blay’s goals is to continue to build the Nodaway Valley program and get it back to the point where they have enough runners to compete as a team. “His leadership is immeasurable,” Hamilton said. “We are really looking forward to continuing that program. We had a strong group of junior high runners this year as well that hopefully we will be able to pick up and add some more kids to the program.” Tyler Blay sets Griffon record Tyler Blay ran for Missouri Western at the Division-II Central Region Meet on Saturday in Joplin and set a new Griffon record in the 10,000 meters. He finished 47th overall with a 31:29.88.
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Bearcats eye outright MIAA title By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The last two seasons, Northwest Missouri State football has shared the MIAA championship with either Fort Hays State or Central Missouri, but on Saturday, the Bearcats have the opportunity to win their first outright MIAA championship since 2016. It would be coach Rich Wright’s first outright MIAA championship as the Northwest head coach. “I don’t really focus on that, it is more about these guys and the accomplishments that they set out for,” Wright said. “They just kind of pull me along for the ride so to speak. “... They will hand the trophy to me first, but you’ll watch, I pretty quickly hand it off to the people who’s hands it really belongs in, and that is our players and particularly this senior class. Hopefully we can get that goal accomplished this weekend.” Northwest (8-1) will host Emporia State (6-4) on Saturday. A loss would open up the possibility for Nebraska-Kearney (8-2) and Washburn (8-2) to grab the championship. The Hornets come into Saturday’s game led by the MIAA’s leading passer Braden Gleason. The sophomore has thrown for 2,999 yards on a 68.3 completion percentage with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions. “I think (Emporia State coach) Garin (Higgins)
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest Missouri State quarterback Mike Hohensee takes a snap earlier this season against Northeastern State in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Emporia State at Northwest Missouri State Saturday. 1:30 p.m. does an amazing job, probably as good as anybody in our league, offensively,” Wright said. “... He just replaces people, but their production is always pretty high. He is doing it again. They have a controlled passing game where they just look for openings — being able to distribute the ball quickly. “Their quarterback is very efficient in what he does. He scrambles enough to get himself out of trouble. Their rushing game is better than what you think. We are going to have to play well
on Saturday to walk out of there with a win.” Despite the gaudy numbers in the passing game, Emporia State spreads out its targets in the passing game with no receiver over 400 yards receiving, but eight with at least 250 yards receiving. All eight have multiple touchdowns. One area which has impressed the defensive-minded Wright is the Hornets defense. Emporia State has switched to a 3-3-5 defense which is the formation Iowa State has found success with at the Division-I level. “Defense is an area where I think they’ve shown a marked improvement,” Wright said. “They have adopted that 3-3 and morph themselves into a little bit of a 3-4, but they are play-
ing that Iowa State defense. They’ve caused people problems this year. They are playing really well out of it and have a lot of confidence with it.” The Hornets are third in the MIAA in rushing defense this season, just six yards behind Washburn for second. They are also third in the MIAA in sacks, only behind Washburn and Northwest. Saturday is Senior Day for 18 Bearcat seniors. The game will kickoff at 1:30 p.m. at Bearcat Stadium. “It has been a special group and I mean that very sincerely, because they have had a set of challenges that no other group of seniors has ever had in the history of Northwest Missouri State University,” Wright said.
PREP FOOTBALL
Maryville hosts Macon for district title By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — If Macon is going to win a district championship the Tigers will have to go from one side of the state to the other to do it. The third-seeded Tigers (7-4) went on the road last week and showed how much they’ve improved this season with a 34-7 victory at Palmyra. On Sept. 10, Palmyra defeated Macon 40-21. As has been the case all season, it was junior quarterback MyKel Linear who led the Tigers to a victory with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. For the season, Linear is the team’s leading rusher in addition to being its leading passer. Through 10 games which doesn’t include last week’s game, Linear has completed 121-of-232 passes for 1,865 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions. On the ground, Linear had 110 carries for 772 yards and eight touchdowns. “He operates their spread offense really well,” Maryville coach Matt Webb said. “They have some designed runs for him that can really cause you some trouble defensively. Then he can throw the ball to some talented receivers.” When Linear isn’t carrying the ball, it will likely be junior Maurice Magruder or senior Trevin Shrum rushing it. Shrum has 90 carries for 595 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games and Magruber has 70 carries for 454 yards and five touchdown in the same span.
C3
SPORTS SHORTS Northwest rolls to rout of Missouri Southern in Joplin
Bearcat Athletics Press Release: JOPLIN, Mo. – The No. 6-ranked Northwest Missouri State University football team used a stifling defense and a potent offense to post a 49-7 road victory over the Missouri Southern Lions at Fred G. Hughes Stadium. Northwest (8-1 overall) scored its 26th straight victory over the Lions (3-7 overall) in the all-time series. The Bearcats held the Lions to minus-10 yards rushing and 75 total yards. Northwest simply shut down the MSSU rushing attack in the second half by holding the Lions to minus-29 rushing yards in the final 30 minutes of action. MSSU managed two first downs in the second half and six in the game. Northwest used a 28-point second quarter outburst to open up a 35-0 lead at the break. The Bearcats added a pair of fourth quarter scores to close out the 49-7 victory. The Bearcat defense contributed two touchdowns on the day with a pick-six from Drew Dostal and a fumble recovery by Andrew Blum on a sack by Zach Howard. Running back Al McKeller ran through the MSSU defense as he recorded sixth 100-yard rushing game on the season with 140 yards. McKeller cashed in three of his 25 carries for touchdown runs. McKeller scored on runs of one yard, two yards and 22 yards. Northwest will play its final home regular season next Saturday against the Emporia State Hornets. Kick is set for 1:30 p.m. at Bearcat Stadium.
Spoofhound volleyball trio makes All-MEC First Team
Maryville outside hitter Rylee Vierthaler, setter Anastyn Pettlon and libero Kennedy Kurz were selected to the All-MEC First Team. Middle hitter Ava Dumke and outside hitter Grace Wright made the honorable mention list.
Cardinals bring back McFarland on 1-year deal
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland became the first of this year’s major league free agents to reach an agreement, getting a $2.5 million, oneyear contract to stay with the St. Louis Cardinals. McFarland can earn an additional $500,000 for games pitched: $100,000 each for 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60. He stabilized the Cardinals’ bullpen down the stretch after signing as a free agent July 1 for a deal that paid $1 million while in the major leagues and $200,000 while in the minors. The 32-year-old was 4-1 with a 2.56 ERA in 38 games and 38 2/3 innings. The nine-year major league veteran began 2021 at TripleA with Washington but was granted his release June 29. St. Louis’ 3.47 bullpen ERA in the second half of the season ranked eighth in the majors. With McFarland back, free agent lefty Andrew Miller is the only critical piece from that group not lined up to return in 2022.
Chiefs’ defense rises to occasion against Packers
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Connor Drake drops back to pass against Trenton on Friday night at the Hound Pound.
Macon at Maryville Friday. 7 p.m. District Championship In the passing game, senior Chrisjen Riekeberg is Linear’s go-to target. The 5-foot-9 receiver had 42 catches for 785 yards and 11 touchdowns. Landan Cole and Bryant Carpenter also have over 350 yards this season. While Macon is looking for its first district championship since 2010, Maryville is looking for its ninth district title in the last 10 seasons. “It is fun to play for some hardware,” Webb said. “These are ones that you will never forget because you can get that plaque that hangs on the wall and you can say I played on that team. This is the time you
work for so it is a very exciting week.” Maryville (7-4) appears to be clicking at the right time this season with 3-straight victories going into Friday’s championship game. All three wins are by at least 30 points and the defense has allowed just nine total points over that span. “I feel really good about our team,” Webb said. “We are really operating in all three phases. Offensively, we are executing on a high level, staying on the field and we are running the ball really well. Connor (Drake) is making good decisions from a quarterback standpoint. Special teams have really had an impact the last few games when you look at kickoff return, a blocked punt and punt return. And defensively, we are keeping guys off the board and really taking away what an offense does well.”
The Spoofhound defense got a big boost last week with the return of All-State linebacker Drew Spire to the middle of the defense. The Hounds have been plagued by injuries, especially at the skill positions in recent weeks, but Webb is hopeful that they are also getting healthy at the right time. “It was really refreshing to see Drew back out there on Friday night,” Webb said. “He played really well defensively and was all around making tackles sideline to sideline. He is a really good linebacker and we are a much better defense with him out there. I’m just happy to see him back, feeling good, running well and confident. It was great to get him back Friday night and we will continue to get guys back healthier as we continue to go.” The game will kickoff at 7 p.m., on Friday at the Hound Pound.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for his lowest passing total ever in a game that he completed. The Chiefs never got backup running backs Darrel Williams or Derrick Gore going. Stars such as Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce were held in check. So naturally, the Chiefs beat the Green Bay Packers with their defense. Wait, what? Yes, one of the league’s worst defenses through the first eight weeks of the regular season was one of its best in Week 9, blitzing Aaron Rodgers understudy Jordan Love relentlessly in a 13-7 victory Sunday. The Chiefs picked off a pass near their goal line, hit Love seven times and sacked him once, and stuffed Aaron Jones and Co. on the ground. Green Bay finished 2 of 12 on third down and managed 301 yards as its seven-game win streak ended. “It has been kind of rough all year to get in the flow, to get things going,” Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark said. “I said a few week ago that we were getting healthy. That was the No. 1 thing. Then you start getting into the flow with your whole group with those ones and I feel like that is what’s been happening. The camaraderie in practice has been high. Guys are starting to respond better to the task at hand. We are just going out there and having fun again.” Now it’s the Chiefs’ high-flying offense that isn’t having any fun. Mahomes was just 20 of 37 for 166 yards and a touchdown in another lackluster performance. Williams and Gore combined to average 3.8 yards per carry. Hill and Kelce combined for nine catches but barely topped 100 yards together. Just about the only bright spot was the fact that Kansas City didn’t turn the ball over for a change. “I think practice, especially these last few weeks, has been crisp. I think we just have to execute when it comes to game day,” Mahomes said. “It’s different on game day. You can practice as hard as you want and have great practices, but if you aren’t going to go out there and execute on game days, it won’t matter.” If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Chiefs (5-4) have won the past two weeks despite their sputtering offense, putting them in a favorable spot in the AFC West heading to Las Vegas on Sunday night. “We’ll go through that process of continuing to keep that practice tempo up, continuing to work on things here and there, and hopefully it translates to the game,” Mahomes said, “and we can find that same mojo that we had at the beginning of the season with the defense playing like they’re playing now.”
C4
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
PREP FOOTBALL
The Maryville Forum
PREP FOOTBALL
Platte Valley blasts Cardinals Tigers roll past Panthers
in first district game
By NICK TERRY The Forum
BARNARD, Mo. — One of the blueprints for success in football is to limit the big plays and turnovers, and capitalize when given the opportunity to make big plays. That was the recipe for success for Platte Valley in Friday’s 70-34 win against the North Andrew Cardinals. “Our kids came into this game with the same attitude, the same thing I say every week,” Platte Valley coach Johnnie Silkett said. “We take each play and we play as hard as we can, fundamentally sound. Our kids tonight did such a great job and took pride in playing the gaps right. Their (North Andrew’s) coach complimented us on how our kids don’t get out of their gaps. They play the correct way, they play low, they play hard, and they play fast.” Low, hard and fast is an accurate summation of the Platte Valley attack. After back-to-back bruising runs by senior Hayden Ferry, allconference tailback Carter Luke took the third play from scrimmage 35 yards for a quick touchdown. Platte Valley then forced the Cardinals into a quick punt, and repeated the steps for another quick score, this time by junior back Jaxon McCrary who found the end zone from 24 yards out, making the score 14-0. North Andrew, the number seven seed in an extremely talented district bracket, would not go down without a fight. Freshman quarterback Braxon Linville capped off a long drive for the Cardinals with a 6-yard scamper. Platte Valley kept the pressure on, which was a point of emphasis. “In the first half, we knew we had to come out of the gates on these guys.” Silkett pointed out. “The second half had some crazy plays, but we knew what we could do offensively, we knew we could pound the ball
By SAM GALL The Forum
NICK TERRY/THE FORUM
Platte Valley running back Carter Luke runs for a 35yard touchdown against North Andrew on Friday in Barnard.
Platte Valley 70, North Andrew 34 and that’s what we do. We just keep punching. We are fighters.” The following drive from Platte Valley featured more ground game from Luke, but Ferry was the one who found the end zone on the ground, making the score 22-6 at the end of the first quarter. Platte Valley’s defensive discipline was on display on the following North Andrew drive, when Linville tried to find his receiver on a double move, and Luke was waiting for the easy interception. “We stuck to our game plan, one play at a time, and we just took it to them. That’s what we did,” Luke said. “We watched a lot of film, so I stayed in my zone and it came right to me tonight.” Luke took the handoff on the following play for 52 of his 220 rushing yards and the second of his four touchdowns on the night. Not to be outdone, Ferry had an impressive interception and 55 yard return for a touchdown, which he also credited to his coaching, and mindset.
“Just being in the right spot, that’s exactly what it was,” Ferry said. “I was determined to make the play and refused to be tackled. I feel like when you want it more than they do, it helps a lot.” Ferry was the defensive standout for Platte Valley with over 15 tackles and the pick 6. Platte Valley closed out the first half scoring when Aydan Blackford found senior wide receiver Wyatt Tobin in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard strike — making the score 46-6 going into halftime. “I think we’re peaking at the right time for these playoffs.” Silkett said, “We’re anxious to get back Friday night and see if we can win the matchup with East Atchison again.” “It feels great, we’re impressing a lot of people, and I believe we’re impressing ourselves and playing with a lot of confidence going into these games,” Ferry said. “As long as we keep doing what we do, practice hard, keep getting the fundamentals right — we could go far.” Platte Valley will host a rematch with the East Atchison Wolves, who they upset earlier this season for the only loss on the year for the Wolves.
GRANT CITY, Mo. – The top-seeded and undefeated Worth County Tigers hosted the Panthers of Mound City on Friday night in what would be a lopsided affair. Behind the arm of Aydan Gladstone and the legs of Alex Rinehart, Worth County was able to trounce Mound City by a score of 82-18 to advance in the district 4 playoffs. Forcing a quick punt from Mound City on the opening drive of the game, Worth County took over and they quite literally took over. On the third play of Worth County’s first drive, Gladstone was able to find a wide-open Dylan McIntyre for a 23yard touchdown. The two-point attempt was good, giving the Tigers a quick 8-0 lead with 9:47 to go in the first quarter. “Boy, Aydan can put it on the money, and he did again tonight,” Worth County head coach Jon Adwell said. “His receivers went out and ran the ball down, a lot of credit to them. Dylan McIntyre, I tell you what, he played lights out.” Forcing another quick Mound City punt, the Tigers found themselves with the ball once again. This time around was all Rinehart. On his fourth run of the drive, Rinehart was able to show off his vision and speed on his way to an 8-yard rushing touchdown. Following an unsuccessful two-point conversion, Worth County was up 14-0 with 5:37 left in the first quarter. On the Tigers third drive of the ballgame, Gladstone found an opening for a 26-yard gain to set up the offense in prime scoring position. A few plays later, Gladstone surveyed the field and found Jackson Runde for a gain of 37 yards. Capping off the drive was Rinehart, who was able to evade defenders for a 6-yard score. After a successful two-point conversion, Worth County’s lead was up to 22-0 with 51 seconds remaining in the first quarter. “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my line, they work really hard, and they open big holes for me,” Rinehart said. “They are the start to everything offensively.” After running in his second score of the day, Rinehart made his stamp on the defensive side of the ball. As Mound City prepped to answer back on the ensuing possession, Rinehart stripped the ball from the Panther running back and took it the other direction for the score. When we get 3-and-outs and 4-and-outs on the defensive end, we get the defense off the field,” Rinehart said. “It makes it a heck of a lot easier on the offense and it helps with us not all being tired.” Mound City was able to answer back
SAM GALL/THE FORUM
Worth County coach Jon Adwell speaks with captains Alex Rinehart (1) and Aydan Gladstone (3) prior to the coin toss on Friday in Grant City.
Worth County 82, Mound City 18 after a 43-yard touchdown reception to make the score 30-6 early in the second quarter. As the Panthers ran out for the kickoff, they decided to perform an onside kick and they recovered. Mound City was able to capitalize with an 8-yard rushing touchdown and suddenly, the score was 30-12, however that would be the last and only surge from the visitors. Worth County was able to answer back within a span of two minutes thanks to Rinehart finding the end zone once again, this time it would be a 14-yard sprint to the pylon. The Tigers were able to force a quick punt from Mound City and it was Gladstone’s turn to show off his skillset. Dropping back deep in the pocket, Gladstone found Runde for an impressive 26yard touchdown reception. The two-point try was good and the Tigers were up 46-12 with 6:42 left before the break. “Well, it makes my job easy, the receivers are getting open and I have a great pocket,” Gladstone said. “Throwing the ball deep makes things wide open and then from there I’ve just got to make a play.” Following a Runde interception, the Worth County offense was right back on the field, and they showed no signs of slowing down. Gladstone was able to find McIntyre for a 30-yard gain to set up Rinehart’s fourth rushing touchdown of the first half. After a quick Mound City drive, Gladstone used his legs from 40-yards out to lengthen the Tigers lead to 60-12 right before half. “We have got to keep grounded, we have got a big feat next week with Stanberry,” Adwell said. “I guarantee you they will be hungry, and nothing comes easy, we have got to be ready to play ball again.
PREP FOOTBALL
Siemer leads Spoofhounds past Bulldogs in districts By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
MARYVILLE, Mo. — As Kyle Stuart celebrated his fumble return for a touchdown to increase Maryville’s lead on Trenton to 50-3, a yell came up from a player on the Spoofhound sideline. It said, ‘And they said they’d beat us by 40.’ It is generally a bad idea to provide extra ‘bulletinboard material’ to any team during the postseason, but with Maryville senior Tyler Siemer having moved from Trenton to Maryville before his junior year, he was on the receiving end of a bit of trash talk this week. “We just wanted to do our best and do our jobs so Tyler could win and get the bragging rights,” Maryville quarterback Connor Drake said. The Maryville running back and defensive end said he opted out of participating in much of the social-media chatter leading up to the 51-3 victory. “I just try and keep my mouth shut,” Siemer said. “It was super exciting obviously. I think we were all really pumped to play them.” Siemer did have a loud
Maryville 51, Trenton 3 statement on the first play of the game though when he fielded the opening kickoff and weaved across the field before sprinting down the Maryville sideline for a touchdown. He made several players miss, but ridded himself of the final wouldbe tackler with a stiff arm which knocked the Trenton player off his feet. “It was great,” Siemer said of the big return. “I love it. It is the best feeling in the world.” Maryville’s offense was a bit choppy early in the game, but it was Seimer capping a 71-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown to put the Hounds up 14-0 midway through the first quarter. “He is really a Spoofhound and he is really proud of that,” Maryville coach Matt Webb said of Siemer. “He is proud of moving over here, joining this team and earning his way. He plays extremely hard and that is a great testament to him as far as his effort.” Trenton was able to get points without earning a
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Tyler Siemer returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown against Trenton on Friday night at the Hound Pound. first down in the first quarter. A Spoofhound fumble gave Trenton the ball in the end zone and Sam Gibson kicked a 30-yard field goal to take the shutout away. “We just play fast and swarm to the ball, and play together as a team,” Maryville senior Kyle Stuart said of the defense. Maryville answered with a 89-yard touchdown drive which ended with a 20-
yard touchdown strike from Drake to Stuart on the first play of the second quarter. The Spoofhound lead sat 20-3 for most of the second quarter as both offenses struggled, but the Hounds scored 17 points in the final 67 seconds of the half to erase any Trenton hopes of an upset. “Having a week off with no game, we did kind of stall out a little bit, but
then we found our rhythm, found our groove and put up points,” Drake said. Cooper Loe scored a 5-yard touchdown with 1:07 left in the half and Drake added a 2-point run to increase the lead to 28-3. On the ensuing kickoff, the Spoofhounds covered it well and tackled the returner at the 5-yard line. Three plays later, Kort Watkins made a tackle in the end zone for a safety. Maryville went marching again after the free kick with Drake hitting Loe for 24 yards and then dialing up sophomore Delton Davis for a 16-yard touchdown. Davis gave credit to an injured Spoofhound after the game for some extra mojo to get him into the end zone. “We thought of a funny way to implement (Caden Stoecklein) in this game,” Davis said. “He gave me his white socks so that is what I’m wearing right now. I just got to give the touchdown to him.” The second half gave Maryville a chance to explore its bench as Drake was relieved by sophomore Derek Quinlin for the entire half. Quinlin picked up a
rushing touchdown early in the third quarter to push the margin to 44-3. The final points came courtesy of the Spoofhound defense to cap a stellar night for the unit. Stuart returned a fumble for the touchdown to make it 51-3 with 7:40 left in the third quarter. “Going into it, you are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to score touchdowns, score touchdowns,’ and then you are in the moment and you are like, ‘Is this even real?’” Stuart said of his first ever defensive touchdown. “It is just crazy. You never thought it would happen and then it happens out of nowhere.” The Spoofhounds now prepare for Macon to visit the Hound Pound on Friday for the district championship game. Macon defeated Palmyra 34-7 last Friday. “Putting up the amount of points that we did and our defense holding them like they did, it gives up great confidence going into the playoffs,” Drake, who has some new facial hair this week, said. “We got a team tradition — nobody shaves. This is a week and a half and it is driving me nuts.”
The Maryville Forum
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
C5
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Bearcats grind out pair of top-25 victories
By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — There won’t be any plays from this weekend’s Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic filling up Twitter with people marveling at how basketball should be played. “Bad basketball there,” Northwest Missouri State coach Ben McCollum said. “Ugly basketball by the Bearcats.” Despite it being “ugly,” Northwest (2-0) was able to finish the weekend with a pair of top-25 wins over No. 15 Northern State 68-55 and No. 21 Seattle Pacific 64-59. “We’ve got guards who can really move their feet,” McCollum said of the defense leading the way. “We’ve cleaned up our ball-screen coverage quite a bit which has helped a ton. We are tough and we are different. “We’ve got a ways to go on offense. Defensively, we are way ahead and usually it is the opposite. Usually we are way ahead offensively.” In Saturday’s matchup with Northern State (1-1), the Wolves got out to a 3022 lead with 2:23 left in the first half. The Bearcats finished the half on a 4-0 run with Diego Bernard making a layup and Isaiah Jackson knocking in a pair of foul shots. Wes Dreamer hit back-toback 3-pointers to open the second half and give Northwest a 32-30 lead and from there it was Trevor Hudgins who closed it out. With 7:24 left, Hudgins hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to ten points. Less than two minutes later, another
Northwest Missouri State point guard Trevor Hudgins drives past a Seattle Pacific Joseph. “Honestly, I feel like we “It takes time, but usually triple made it a 13-point are still trying to find our- we move the ball a lot betlead. Hudgins made back-to- selves,” Hudgins said. “We ter,” McCollum said. “We back 3-pointers with under know who we got, but we just aren’t great ball movthree minutes left to push don’t honestly know what ers. The ball is really, really the margin to 17 points and we are going to bring each sticky right now. We don’t and every night.” get to our second or third put the game on ice. On Sunday, the Bearcats actions. We don’t have great “Trevor and Diego do what they do, they make faced another top-25 team flow. … And part of it is beplays,” McCollum said. with No. 21 Seattle Pacific cause we have such good “They make enough plays to (1-1) fresh off a win over playmakers that it doesn’t win us games, but over time, No. 20 Alabama-Huntsville get to the second and third actions. we are going to have to be the day before. The Falcons jumped on “So we are taking what I’d better offensively, because Northwest early on as the call above-average shots. A that is just a grind.” Hudgins finished with 16 Bearcats went nearly eight lot of times, you get fooled of his 22 points in the sec- minutes without making by above-average shots. ond half. Dreamer finished a field goal between Ber- There will be games when with 20 points and Bernard nard’s layup with 19:04 left you get really hot and you had 14 points, eight re- in the half and Hudgins’ make them, and there will bounds, four assists and four layup with 11:14 left in the be games like today when half. you are just driving into 18 steals.
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
defender on Sunday in St. people. That is what it kind of was today and even yesterday for that matter.” Seattle Pacific took its largest lead with 12:59 on the clock with a 7-point margin. Northwest was able to hang around by playing solid defense and getting to the foul line. Northwest took the lead with 9:21 left in the first half on a Luke Waters jumper. Two Bernard buckets and a Dreamer layup put the Bearcats up 19-12 with 6:48 left in the half. The first-half lead grew to as much as 29-16 when Byron Alexander scored with 2:25 left before intermission.
The Falcons didn’t get back to within single-digits again until the 4:12 mark of regulation. The Falcons got to within four with 21 seconds left, but Hudgins and Alexander each made two free throws to seal the win. A day after no one on the team had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, the Bearcats struggled with that again with 14 turnovers and just three assists as a team against Seattle Pacific. Northwest shot 17-of-43 from the field and just 1-of9 from three. “We shot like 39 percent, we were 1-for-9 from three, we had three assists, it’s God-awful offense,” McCollum said. “But we did fight. That is what we are going to be for a while until we figure out our offense.” Hudgins finished with 27 points and shot 15-of-16 from the free-throw line. Dreamer had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. The tournament tour continues for Northwest next week with the Central Region Challenge in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. The Bearcats play Sioux Falls on Saturday and Arkansas Monticello on Sunday. Both games tip at 12:45 p.m. “I feel like we kind of get a little over individualized with some (isolations) sometimes, but that is just because we have great players on our team,” Hudgins said. “I mean, the assists are going to go up, the turnovers are definitely going to go down. It is early in the season, we are just still trying to find ourselves. We’ll be better.”
SPIKE SPEAKS
Playoff picture still murky as regular-season finales loom
T
he final NCAA Division-II regional rankings were released on Monday afternoon and provided a look at how ‘Selection Sunday’ may shape up next weekend. Super Region 3 looks once again to be the most loaded region in DivisionII with four teams ranked in the top seven in the AFCA poll. Ferris State is going to be the No. 1 team in the region and will likely finish the season 10-0 with a win over Wayne State (Mich.). Wayne State lost 62-13 to Grand Valley State last week and it figures to be another tough one this week. The No. 2 to No. 4 spots are where the ranking gets more interesting. In the most recent AFCA poll, Northwest Missouri State is ranked fourth, Grand Valley State is ranked fifth and Harding is ranked seventh. In the regional rankings, those rankings are flipped. Harding checks in at No. 2, Grand Valley State is third and Northwest is fourth. Strength of schedule is now what is likely going to determine the final rankings with all three teams being heavy favorites in their season finale. Harding will be at Arkansas Tech, who happen to have one of the best mascots in Division-II with the Wonder Boys. The Wonder Boys don’t have the best record though with a 4-6 record. Grand Valley State gets Davenport this week and the Panthers’ 3-7 record. Northwest will get the
MIAA WEEK ELEVEN ‘EXPERT’ PICKS The Week 11 Slate
Jon Dykstra Sports Editor
biggest strength of schedule with Emporia State bringing their 6-4 record to Bearcat Stadium this week. The final three playoff spots are unseeded and will play the No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds based on geography. The committee has said they will try to avoid rematches, so for example, a Northwest and NebraskaKearney rematch in the first round is one they will try to avoid. Lindenwood and Henderson State seem likely to have two of those spots as each have one loss. Lindenwood has just one loss and is likely to win over 4-6 McKendree. Henderson State has a big game this week with Ouachita Baptist (8-2). A win would surely lock them into the playoffs, but a loss may put them into the 2-loss team mix for the last spot. Nebraska-Kearney is currently in the seventh spot and has a sure-win this week with Northeastern State (2-8). Southeastern Oklahoma State is right behind the Lopers and is coming off a big win over Ouachita Baptist and plays East Central (6-4) this week. Ouachita Baptist is still hanging around in the
Jon Dykstra Maryville Forum
Micaela Dea St. Joseph News-Press
Devin Albertson D2Football.com
Matt Daniel Bleeding Green Podcast
Emporia State (6-4) at Northwest (8-1)
42-7
49-10
38-13
34-14
Northeastern State (2-8) at Nebraska-Kearney (8-2)
49-17
56-10
63-10
35-7
Missouri Western (5-5) at Lincoln (0-9)
56-14
42-21
56-7
63-14
Central Oklahoma (4-6) at Central Missouri (3-7)
38-31
28-14
21-17
27-17
Pittsburg State (7-3) at Fort Hays State (5-5)
34-27
31-24
27-24
24-21
Missouri Southern (3-7) at Washburn (8-2)
35-24
38-14
31-17
28-10
39-14 (6-0)
38-15 (5-1)
Season Record (Last Week) No. 10 spot. Washburn is currently No. 9 in the rankings, but with a game against Missouri Southern not helping the strength of schedule, Washburn would need absolute chaos above them to get in. With the regional rankings out of the way, let’s talk MIAA power rankings. 1. Northwest (8-1) Trending: Steady Al McKeller continues to make highlight-reel runs every week. The defense is dominant. Northwest looks ready for the playoffs. 2. Nebraska-Kearney (8-2) Trending: Steady The Lopers bounced back from their loss at Northwest to pick up a win at Central Oklahoma. T.J. Davis should be in the playoffs,
but we will see if it happens. 3. Washburn (8-2) Trending: Steady Big win over Pittsburg State for the Ichabods, but it doesn’t look like it will result in a playoff berth this year. 4. Pittsburg State (7-3) Trending: Steady It has still been a very nice first year for coach Brian Wright. A win over Fort Hays State is a very nice end to the year. 5. Emporia State (6-4) Trending: Steady Emporia State has played close games all year, but saved Lincoln and Northwest until the end of the year. This week, they should be on the other end of the blowout from last week.
38-15 (5-1) 39-14 (5-1)
6. Fort Hays State (5-5) Trending: Steady After a disappointing year for the Tigers, they could end with a nice win if they beat the Gorillas. 7. Missouri Western (5-5) Trending: Up 1 Reagan Jones is exciting and he might be able to break some records against the Blue Tigers. 8. Central Oklahoma (4-6) Trending: Down 1 With one of the least experienced teams in the MIAA coming into the year, there were a lot of positives to take out of this year. 9. Missouri Southern (3-7) Trending: Steady Atiba Bradley is still the MIAA Coach of the Year in my opinion. Nebraska-
Kearney’s Josh Lynn is my runner up. 10. Central Missouri (3-7) Trending: Steady A 31-point loss to Missouri Western is a black mark on a rough year for the Mules. 11. Northeastern State (2-8) Trending: Steady It has been a rough finish to the season for the RiverHawks and a desperate Loper team isn’t an ideal finale. 12. Lincoln (0-9) Trending: Steady The least amount of points the Blue Tigers have given up was 49 to Northeastern State. That is bad. Yes, I know this is still the same stat from the last three weeks, but it is still true and still bad.
C6
Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021
The Maryville Forum
PREP SOCCER
Hounds win overtime thriller in district final By JON DYKSTRA The Forum
LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — It was a nightmare scenario for Spoofhound sophomore keeper Jaxson Staples. With his team leading 1-0 in last Wednesday’s district title game, the goaltender looked up to see where he was going to feed the ball. Then the ball was gone. The rolling ball, which for Staples was an easy save, went through his hands, between his legs and into the net. “I just got relaxed, wasn’t paying attention and I let it go through,” Staples said. “I just knew I had to make it up to my teammates and I couldn’t let us go out like that.” The Summit Christian Academy sideline erupted in jubilation and some laughter. Unfortunately for the fifth-ranked Eagles, it only tied the game and with an entire half to play, Staples was determined to not let another ball past him. “I just knew that if they scored, we’d be out,” Staples said. “I gave everything and went all out for every single ball.” Staples kept the Eagle offense silent the rest of the regulation and into overtime until Maryville senior James DiStefano scored the golden goal with less than two minutes left in overtime for the 2-1 win and district championship. “He more than redeemed himself that second half,” Maryville assistant coach Chase Tolson said. “He had three or four saves that
Maryville 2, Summit Christian Academy 1; OT
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
The Maryville Spoofhounds celebrate their district championship victory over Summit Christian Academy last Wednesday in Lee’s Summit. were ridiculous — like you absolutely do not see highschool goalkeepers making those saves.” Staples turned his usual aggressive style of goalkeeping up to another level in the second half, trusting his instincts and athleticism to come out and turn back several Eagle chances in the open field. “He is the heart of our defense,” Maryville senior center back Tegan Haer said. “His levelheadedness throughout the entire game helps me and Boyd (Gallaher) in the center keep our line.” The save that stood out to DiStefano and everyone else in attendance in Lee’s Summit came as time was
dwindling down in the 1-1 deadlock. A foul gave the Eagles a free kick right at the top of the box. Free kicks don’t get much more difficult to defend, but Staples proved up for the challenge and made another save. “He made some of the best saves that I have seen him make,” DiStefano said. “… Low and to your left is the hardest ball to save if you are a goalkeeper, and he saved it. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’” While Staples was performing his heroics on one end of the field, the Hounds were creating their own chances offensively, but nothing was getting into the net for them either.
Regulation ended with the same 1-1 score that halftime featured. The Spoofhounds created some momentum in the 15-minute sudden victory session. Senior Jacob Ferris outran the defense and looked like he’d have a 1-on-1 with the keeper to win the game, but just before he was going to shoot, he was tackled from behind. No foul was called and no penalty kick was rewarded. One minute later, the Spoofhounds decided their own fate with a rebound coming to DiStefano who sent it right back. “I was imagining it before the ball was kicked,” DiStefano said. “I was like, ‘If
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
COLLEGE SOCCER
By JON DYKSTRA
By JON DYKSTRA
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Bearcat volleyball team moved to 22-4 this season with three sweeps over Missouri Southern, Central Oklahoma and Newman in front of the home crowd at Bearcat Arena. Last Wednesday, Northwest swept Missouri Southern 25-11, 25-11 and 25-12. Freshman Avery Kemp led Northwest with 11 kills while Rachel Sturdevant had 10 kills, five aces, seven digs and three blocks. Last Friday, the Bearcats beat Central Oklahoma 2511, 25-19 and 25-15. Payton Kirchhoefer had 13 kills and two blocks. Alyssa Rezac had 36 assists, 12 digs and five aces. Last Saturday, Northwest defeated Newman 25-16, 25-13 and 25-19. Kirchhoefer had 13 kills while Kelsey Havel and Kemp each had 11. Hannah Koechl had 19 digs. The Bearcats remained at No. 5 nationally in the AVCA poll. Northwest will wrap up the regular season this week with a pair of road trips. They go to Emporia State on Friday and to Washburn on Saturday. Northwest is one game behind Washburn and Central Missouri in the MIAA standings going into the final weekend. Washburn plays Missouri Western and Northwest while Central Missouri plays at Central Oklahoma and hosts Newman.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Bearcat soccer team had never had the opportunity to play a postseason game on their home pitch until Sunday. Northwest (13-5-1; 8-2-1 MIAA) came out fired up in front of their home crowd and rolled to a 5-0 win over Washburn. “We are making history,” Northwest’s Sophie Cissell said. “We are turning the program around, and it’s exciting.” All-MIAA First Team forward Kaylie Rock got Northwest going in the seventh minute when she took a feed from Cissell and was able to put a quick touch on it for the goal. “It was a great ball right in front of the goal,” Rock said of the pass. Northwest was against the wind in the first half, but that didn’t seem to slow down the Bearcat attack any, especially Cissell. “It was awesome to come out strong and really set the tone for the rest of the game,” Cissell said. The St. Pius X product usually specializes in finding her teammates for scores, but she created for herself in the 22nd minute for her first goal of the season. “I like to dish it off to people, but I couldn’t find anyone so I actually shot it myself,” Cissell laughed. Rock added her second goal of the game nine minutes later off an assist from
this ball comes off the rebound, I’m smashing it.’ It came off the rebound and I just hit it. I saw the ball and I was like, ‘Oh goalkeeper, do not get a touch on this.’ It hit the bar and I wasn’t sure if it was in, and then it hit the back of the net, and I freaked out. “… That was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life right there.” After the ball hit the bar, it was a waiting game to see if it would come back out or go into the net. Then the net rippled. And the celebration began. “I see him lining up for it and I’m like, ‘he is going to smash this — I hope he
doesn’t sky it,’ and he gets it, and it just starts rising a little bit,” Haer said. “I was like, ‘that is going to be a bar-down.’ It hits the bar, goes down and I see it hit the net on the way back up, and I just lost my mind.” The first goal of the night came off the foot of junior Quinn Pettlon on an assist from Ferris. Pettlon, the heart of the Spoofhound midfield, was another player all over the field. “I think Quinn was the best player on the field today, for sure,” Tolson said. “That goal was incredible. He dominated the midfield for us. He does so much for us. He doesn’t get nearly as many postseason rewards as he deserves because it’s all based on statistics and he is kind of a box-to-box midfielder, but holy cow, he was unbelievable today.” The Spoofhounds are headed to the state quarterfinals for the second-straight season, a round they had never been to before last year. Maryville will go on the road to take on Smithton, the winner of District 7, on Saturday. Smithton defeated Knob Noster last Thursday for the right to host the Spoofhounds. “I want it so bad,” Haer said. “I want to win that one and the next one, and then if we make it to state — might as well win it.”
Northwest earns Bearcats punch ticket to MIAA trio of sweeps semifinals by crushing Ichabods
The Forum
Cross Country Northwest junior Jacob Nkamasiai earned an NCAA Division II at-large bid after placing 10th at the regional meet this past weekend. The Bearcat women were fifth at the regional meet with Caroline Cunningham taking eighth, Kaylee Harp taking 19th and Amber Owens taking 21st to lead the team. The men were eighth. Fedrick Kipyego was the top finisher other than Nkamasiai. He was 21st.
The Forum
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Northwest Missouri State forward Kaylie Rock splits the defense for a goal on Sunday at Bearcat Pitch. Rock finished with a hat trick.
Northwest 5, Washburn 0 fellow forward Teagan Blackburn. The goal gave Northwest a 3-0 lead at halftime. The Bearcats weren’t done adding on as Rock scored her third goal of the game and tenth of the season a minute into the second half. “There was just a different energy today,” Rock said. Northwest coach Marc Gordon had the opportunity to stretch his bench with the big lead. The Bearcats played 25 players in the
game. Freshman Emma Franklin took advantage of the opportunity with a goal in the 88th minute. It is Franklin’s first goal of her Northwest career. Gordon called the win the most complete game of the season for Northwest. “Complete game, that is the best way to put it,” Gordon said. The 5-0 victory is the Bearcats’ second MIAA Tournament victory in program history. They will have the opportunity to earn a third on Friday. “This group has accomplished so much this year, I’m just very proud to be able to say I’m coaching this
group,” Gordon said. The MIAA semifinals are Friday in Warrensburg. Third-seed Northwest will play second-seeded Emporia State at noon, while fourth-seeded Central Oklahoma will face top-seeded Central Missouri at 3 p.m. The Bearcats lost 4-1 to the Hornets in their only meeting on Oct. 3. The MIAA championship game is Sunday at 1 p.m. in Warrensburg. “From most goals in a season, most wins in a season, first time hosting postseason, first time winning a (home) postseason game — I think we’ve made a really big statement,” Rock said.