October 27, 2007 01:18 am
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By Bill Althaus
sports@joplinglobe.com
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. - The Joplin Eagles thought they were visiting Blue Springs South High School to play at Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium.
Instead, they got singed by Donte’s Inferno.
South’s Donte Strickland had another sensational game — scoring four touchdowns and rushing for 103 yards on just nine carries and playing shutdown cornerback against Joplin’s top receiver, Logan Taylor, to lead the 9-0 Jaguars to a convincing 52-6 Class 6 District 7 victory.
The win means two undefeated teams will be playing at Rockhurst High School next Friday for the district championship as the Hawklets blanked Lee’s Summit North 35-0 Friday night.
“South is the best team I’ve seen this year,” Joplin coach Doug Buckmaster said. “South and Rockhurst are two of this area’s elite teams, but we were in our game last week against Rockhurst going into the third quarter (of a 49-21 loss).
“We weren’t in this game at all.”
South coach Greg Oder was already thinking about next week’s trip to Rockhurst, where his Jags have not won since 1995.
“All I know,” said Oder, whose team has won 24 consecutive games, “is that a very good 9-1 team’s season is going to come to an end next Friday.”
Strickland, who scored on runs of 27, 1, 2 and 18 yards, said the win Friday night means nothing without a victory next week at Rockhurst.
“All season long, we’ve played ‘em one at a time,” Strickland said. “We wanted to come out and have a strong performance tonight, and we did.
“Now, it’s time to hit the practice field, watch film and get ready for Rockhurst. Man, they’re a great team. Next Friday is going to be something really special for the players from both teams and the fans.”
South quarterback Blaine Dalton, who was 11 of 16 for 200 yards and one touchdown in just over a half’s worth of action, agreed.
“They’ve been talking about that game all season,” he said, referring to the battle of the unbeatens. “But we can’t get into the hype. We played one game at a time, and we’re 9-0. We’re going to work hard this week at practice. We will be ready next week.”
How good were the Jaguars Friday night against the 6-3 Eagles?
Joplin had averaged more than 450 yards of offense this season and had just 54 at the half against the Jaguar defense.
The Eagles’ first first-down came on a penalty in the closing seconds of the first quarter and they finished the night with 155 yards of total offense and one score against the Jaguar reserves with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter.
South took a 7-0 lead on its first offensive series as Strickland scored on a 27-yard run. Brian Geraghty then kicked a 29-yard field goal to make it 10-0.
The Jaguars put the game away with a 28-point second quarter as Strickland scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards, Steven Brooks scored on a 22-yard run and Kellen Bartlett caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Dalton following a Matt Gross interception.
With 1:29 left in the quarter, Dalton worked his magic, hitting Bartlett for the score and a 38-0 halftime lead.
“We all just have so much faith and confidence in each other,” said Bartlett, who had four receptions for 88 yards and also had a sack from his defensive end position. “We’re all such good friends, and I think that’s another reason we’ve played so well the past two years. We don’t want to lose and we don’t want the guys playing next to us to lose. The chemistry on this team is pretty powerful.”
Oder left his starters in for one series in the third quarter and Strickland scored on an 18-yard run.
The final South score came on a 54-yard fumble return by linebacker Damon Vanosdoll.
Joplin’s Devon Fowler scored on a 15-yard run with 7:38 left in the game. Rector finished the game completing 12 of 25 passes for 122 yards.
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