Pirate football knocks off Sarcoxie, finishes third in standings

Lady Pirate volleyball falls to Pleasant Hope in district semifinals, ends postseason play for squad
 
The Ash Grove High School football team hosted Sarcoxie on Senior Night Friday, Oct. 22, in a match up of third and fourth place teams in the Class 1, District 3 standings. When the dust settled, the Pirates found themselves in third place after a 52-32 victory.
Ash Grove scored first in the first quarter on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Brock Mooneyham to Sam Moreland to take a 6-0 lead, but Sarcoxie answered back, and the quarter ended with the Bears up, 8-6.
The Pirates found the end zone three times in the second quarter, first on a 35- yard pass from Mooneyham to Moreland, then on a Mooneyham seven-yard run and finally on a 30-yard pass to Brady Nicholson from Mooneyham to give Ash Grove a 30-16 halftime lead.
Mooneyham added two more rushing touchdowns in the third quarter on six- and five-yard runs to increase the Pirate lead to 46-16. In the fourth quarter Mooneyham rushed for his fourth touchdown of the game, to give Ash Grove a 52-24 lead.
Sarcoxie added a late touchdown to make it 52-32, the final score. Senior footballers recognized during the evening were Daniyel Scerbina, Sam Moreland, Colin Doles, Zane Delk, Tristan Bowers, Ben Hines, Cannon Palmer and defensive stopper Jared Lobdell.
With the win, the Pirates improved to 6-3 and moved up to third place in the district standings, which means they will host sixth-seeded Cabool this Friday night.
Everyone is encouraged to attend the game and support your local boys.
Volleyball
The 2021 season came to an end for the Lady Pirates volleyball team after they fell in the semifinals of the Class 2, District 10 playoffs at Sparta on Friday, Oct.22. The Ash Grove squad dropped straight sets to Pleasant Hope, 20-25, 24-26 and 21-25.
Ash Grove reached the semifinals by beating host Sparta on Thursday, Oct. 21, in an opening round game in five sets, 25- 27, 25-23, 26-24, 25-14 and 15-13.
The Lady Pirates end their season with a 9-19-1 record.