Willard knocks off Carl Junction again in district playoffs
A balanced rushing attack and some timely passing helped Willard knock off Carl Junction at home, on Friday, 41-14.
The Tigers got the scoring started first as Garrett Rice scored the first of his four touchdowns with a two- yard touchdown run in the first quarter to put Willard up 7-0, with a little over 10 minutes to go.
The Bulldogs answered five minutes later on a six-yard pass to tie the game at 7-7, but less than two minutes later, Rice took a handoff from Reece Dawson and rumbled 59 yards for another Tigers touchdown and a 13-7 first quarter lead.
Rice and Dawson each scored in the second quarter for Willard to take a 28-7 halftime lead. Rice added his final touchdown in the third quarter and Dawson scored his second touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter to put Willard up 41-14.
“We played four complete quarters, both on offense
and defense,” said head coach Brock Roweton. “We were able to grind it out and get third and shorts and just played really well.”
Dawson ended the game 4-7 passing for 77 yards and gained 60 yards on five carries with two touchdowns running the ball.
Marshall Swadley led Wil- lard with 125 yards on 18 carries, while Rice had 120 yards on 16 carries with four touchdowns in the win. Eli Aye led the Tigers with 34 yards on two catches, Noah Pfeifer had one catch for 24
yards and Maurice Grayer added a catch for 15 yards in the game.
With the win, the Tigers got back to .500 at 5-5 and will travel to Webb City to face the top seed in the Class 4, District 6 tournament this Friday.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to go and play one of the best teams in the state,” said Roweton. “We have a great group of kids that is just excited for the challenge.”
Willard lost to Webb City 49-21 on Oct. 4.
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