Ash Grove football knocks off Sarcoxie in conference battle

    The Ash Grove High School football team traveled to Sarcoxie in a battle of Class, District 3 foes on Friday, Oct. 21, and came home with a 46-44 victory.
    Sarcoxie jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the first quarter, but the Pirates answered back with two scores of their own, to take a 16-8 lead into the second quarter of play. In the second quarter, the Ash Grove defense held Sarcoxie scoreless, while the offense added another touchdown to go up 24-8 at the half.
    The Pirates outscored Sarcoxie, 16-14 in the third quarter to take a 40-22 lead into the final quarter of play. In the fourth Sarcoxie tried their best to catch the Pirates, scoring 22 points, but fell short as Ash Grove won the game by two.
    Not only did Brock Mooneyham lead Ash Grove in passing, going 13-23 for 156 yards and four touchdowns, but he also added another 197 yards and two more scores on the ground.
    Parker Crow ended the game with 121 yards on seven carries and 40 yards on four catches with a touchdown, Brady Nicholson added 100 yards on seven catches, with two scores and Nate Trammell ended the game with 10 yards on one catch with a touchdown.    
    With the win, the Pirates improved to 7-2 and moved into second place in the Class 1, District 3 standings with 41.74 points. Marionville still leads the district with 53.52 points, followed by Ash Grove, Sarcoxie (40.62 points), Pierce City (34.38 points), Thayer (33.15 points), Cabool (29.66 points), Diamond (28.27 points) and Miller (20.29 points).
    Ash Grove will host Diamond in the first round of the Class 1, District 3 playoffs this Friday night.