Sat, Nov 21 2009
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Published November 10, 2009 01:05 am - Lamar prevails in 'battle' By Matt Newbery
sports@joplinglobe.com LAMAR, Mo. — Lamar High School head football coach Scott Bailey summed up his Tigers’ 34-18 victory over Pierce City in the sectional round of the Missouri Class 2 Playoffs on Monday night at Thomas M. O’Sullivan Stadium in just a few words. “That game was a battle.” The Tigers (6-6) collected their fifth straight victory on the strength of three touchdowns from sophomore running back Markell White, including a touchdown pass that helped give Lamar the lead for good early in the second quarter. LHS will travel for the first time in the 2009 playoffs on Saturday, heading to Fair Grove for quarterfinal action. The Eagles (7-5) scored the first offensive touchdown against the Tigers in five games to take a 6-0 lead at the 3:45 mark of the opening quarter. Senior running back Alex Clayton broke through a big hole on a draw and rambled 46 yards to the end zone to complete a seven-play, 80-yard drive. Pierce City dodged a bullet when junior quarterback Wayne Sooter dropped the football while scrambling for a first down. The pigskin checked back up to him and he didn’t miss a stride in gaining 24 yards into Lamar territory. The Tigers answered with a nearly seven-minute drive on the ensuing possession. Similar to a drive in the first-round win over El Dorado Springs, LHS converted three straight third-down situations, but came up 12 yards short on the fourth when senior quarterback Trenton Doyle gained 7 to the PCHS 15-yard line on a third-and-19 play. On the next play, White was supposed to get the ball from senior running back Chaz Blackwell off the direct snap. The exchange misfired, and the ball rolled toward the sideline. Not missing a step, White scooped up the ball and tossed a pass to a senior wide receiver Dillon Bass in the right corner of the end zone to tie the game with 8:34 to go. Blackwell’s point-after kick was good, putting the Tigers ahead 7-6. “I picked it up, saw the receiver was open and just threw it,” a visibly exhausted White said of the TD toss. “I was hoping he’d catch it, and he did.” “I had two of my coaches say to me as I turned back to the sideline, ‘It’s better to be lucky than good,’ ” Bailey said of the tying play. After the Tigers’ defense forced a three-and-out, White wrapped up a seven-play, 65-yard march with a 3-yard run at the 4:48 mark to extend the lead to 14-6. A 34-yard run on a double-reverse by senior wide receiver Andrew Fowler put LHS at the Eagles’ 17, and White went the rest of the way over the next three plays. Pierce City took advantage of a prevent defense in the final minute of the first half to pull within two points. Sooter, who did not play in the 35-0 regular-season setback to the Bulldogs, completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive for 66 yards, the last one a 32-yard prayer to junior running back Cody Cox for six points as time expired. The conversion pass failed, leaving Lamar ahead at the half 14-12. 
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