Diamond head coach Jimmy Dushane was counting on a strong effort from his defense, and he got it Friday night in the Wildcats’ 8-6 season-opening victory at Liberal.
After Liberal returned the opening kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, Diamond’s defense took over and shut out the Bulldogs the rest of the game.
Diamond’s only touchdown came in the second quarter on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Evan Moreland to Jordan Devine, then the Wildcats added the two-point conversion on a pass from Moreland to Clayton Rolf.
“Our defense, as a whole, was really outstanding,” said Dushane, who is in his first season as Diamond’s head coach. Liberal rushed for 36 yards on 27 carries and had 34 total yards on 32 plays.
“The kids played really well,” he said. “We weren’t able to play all of our players. Several of our starters were unable to play due to the 14-practice rule.”
Brody Bien, a junior who came into the season as the starting quarterback, was moved to tailback and rushed for 155 yards on 23 carries.
Dushane said he expects the Wildcats to be back at full strength when they play Sarcoxie on Friday at Diamond.
“They just try to line up and run over you,” Dushane said of Sarcoxie. “Defensively, we’ve had good success against them. We scrimmaged against them at the jamboree and at team camp. I’m hoping we can have some offensive success.”
Sarcoxie rushed for 404 yards in a 46-34 victory Friday against McAuley Catholic at Sarcoxie. Logan Jones rushed for 177 yards and Ryder Cox had 169 yards, both on 21 carries, as the Bears wore down the Warriors’ defense in the second half.
“Our offensive line did a pretty nice job until we got tired in the fourth quarter,” said McAuley Catholic head coach Brenden Gubera.
Elsewhere in the SRVC, Greenfield scored the game-winning touchdown with 58 seconds remaining in a 20-14 victory over Lockwood.
Tyler Boyd caught a 25-yard scoring pass from Brendan Black, then Black threw to Kelby Davis for the two-point conversion.
Boyd intercepted a Lockwood pass in the final minute that allowed Greenfield to run out the clock.
Pierce City defeated Jasper 54-22 and Miller knocked off Marionville 53-10 Friday in other games involving SRVC teams.
High School Sports
Diamond's defense key in opening win
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