From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Senior Landon Zerkel and sophomore Braxton Baker scored two touchdowns each as Webb City earned a 40-7 conference victory Friday at St. Charles West.

The No. 1-ranked Cardinals (7-0) overcame a second-quarter letdown in their final tune-up before starting district play.

Webb City visits McDonald County next Friday in a District 4-12 opener.

“We got off to a pretty good start (a quick 13-0 lead),” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “We were playing well defensively. We held them a couple on downs. We scored quickly.

“We were playing pretty complementary football, the offense and defense helping each other out.”

Another fast start, this time in the third quarter, quickly put the game out of reach.

Quarterback Mack Kyle completed 8-of-16 passes for 197 yards to spark the Webb City offense. Kyle scored the opening touchdown on a 1-yard run, then hit Zerkel from 31 yards out to make it 13-0.

Baker scored on a 17-yard run in the second quarter and a 3-yard burst in the final period and finished with 81 yards on eight carries.

Andrew Smith scored on a 12-yard run in the third quarter, then Kyle and Zerkel hooked up again on a 15-yard scoring strike early in the final period.

Zerkel finished with three catches for 93 yards.

Webb City wound up with a 412-333 advantage in total offense in the matchup with the Warriors (2-5).

“We relaxed a bit (after the early lead),” Roderique said. “It was a little disappointing. We got stopped on downs and we had a couple of inopportune penalties.

“We just have to learn how to play consistently and not to relax, to let up.”