Pirates shut out Diamond in district playoff opener

Defense and plenty of offense was the name of the game for the Ash Grove High School football team as they hosted and defeated Diamond, 41-0 in their opening round Class 1, District 3 payoff game on Friday, Oct. 28.

After neither team scored in the first quarter, the Pirates would run off 22 points in the second quarter. Brock Mooneyham would get it started with a 54-yard touchdown run to put Ash Grove up 8-0. Mooneyham would hit Nate Trammell on a 25-yard score to increase the Pirate lead to 16-0. Mooneyham would add another score, this time a one-yard run, to give Ash Grove a 22-0 halftime lead.

It would be more Mooneyham in the third quarter, as he would hit Brady Nicholson with a 34-yard strike to increase the Pirate advantage to 28-0 and then follow that up with a 10-yard scoring pass to Parker Crow to make it 34-0 at the end of the third quarter.
Trammell would run it in from one yard out in the fourth quarter to complete the Pirate scoring.

Mooneyham finished the game 16-21 for 236 yards and three touchdowns through the air and would add another 134 yards on 14 carries with two more scores on the ground. Trammell had three catches for 69 yards and a touchdown, Crow caught four passes for 63 yards and a score and Nicholson finished the game with 57 yards on four catches and a touchdown.

Ash Grove is now 8-2 on the season and will host Cabool in the second round of the Class 1, District 3 playoffs this Friday night.