By Jim Fryar
Globe Sports Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. —
Keegan Tinney barely got a PAT kick over the crossbar early in the fourth quarter Friday night.
But with the game on the line and time running out, Tinney drilled a 25-yard field goal, lifting Joplin to a 17-14 victory over Glendale in an Ozark Conference prep football opener at Junge Field.
“It was a blur,” Tinney said of Joplin’s final drive, which covered 50 yards in two minutes. The Eagles initially sat up for a field goal one play earlier, on the 16-yard line. But Glendale called a timeout and the Eagles changed their strategy with 19.9 seconds left.
“We decided to go for it, to get the first down and stop the clock,” said Tinney, a senior who also had a key fourth-down reception to keep the drive alive.
“Dane Whitehead did a great job catching the ball and securing it (for an 8-yard gain) and getting a first down. ... Then all the coaches were debating and I looked at one of the coaches and said, ‘Let me do it. I can do it.’
“Nick Thompson did a good job on the snap and Josh Banwart held it for me and everything was perfect,” Tinney said.
And length was not a problem. Tinney’s winning kick cleared the crossbar with plenty of room to spare.
“That (the close call on a game-tying PAT early in the fourth quarter) was my bad,” he said. “I whiffed on it. ... But I’ve got plenty of leg.”
The Eagle offense was in a position to win the game after the defense came up with a series of second-half stops. The last one came with 2:01 remaining, after the Falcons drove to the Joplin 41-yard line.
On a fourth-and-1 play, Glendale junior running back Jeremy Armstrong was thrown for a loss by junior defensive end Austin Whitenberg.
The Eagles gave up a go-ahead touchdown to junior Trevor Vaughn on Glendale’s second play of the third quarter. The Joplin defense allowed just 74 yards the rest of the game.
Part of that success was preparation, said senior linebacker Stevan Freeborn, one of the Eagles’ veteran defenders.
“They changed offenses a little bit from last year,” Freeborn said. “But they still have a lot of the same option principles. We put in a lot of time preparing for Glendale, a lot of time studying, a lot of watching film, a lot of reps. It felt really good (to come up with the key stops). It’s good momentum for our defense, to get it going like that. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going and be the defense we want to be.”
Freeborn put the Eagles ahead with 39 seconds left in the opening quarter. He picked off a pass from Glendale’s Adam Noble and threaded his way down the east sideline on a 33-yard touchdown return.
Neither team had much success sustaining drives in the opening half, which ended in a 7-7 tie. The Falcons scored in the same manner, on a 63-yard interception return, by Nolan Bettlach. Joplin had just a 96-92 advantage in total yardage at halftime.
The Eagles moved the ball more effectively after intermission and finished with a 337-224 advantage in yards.
But it was the defense and the repeated stops which decided the game’s outcome.
“It felt really good,” said senior linebacker Griffin Sonaty. “Last year we kind of started off the same way. Everybody thought we were really good, and then we just fell off the face of the earth. This year, our challenge is to keep it going and keep it consistent.
“That’s our goal this year, to be consistently good. We don’t have to have a shutout every game. But if we can limit teams to a couple of touchdowns, we’ll be all right. ... It’s the big plays we’re trying to eliminate.”
Said Tyler Overstreet, a senior defensive back and a first-year starter: “It was crazy out there. There were a lot of nerves, butterflies. But by the end of the game, it was so much fun. It was a great team effort. I felt like everybody matured and came together at the end of the game.”
First-year starter Aaron Frost completed 21 of 38 passes for 178 yards after a slow start in the first half. Whitehead, a junior who played sparingly on the varsity last season, had 12 catches for 106 yards.
“We just went with the game plan and the ball came to me,” Whitehead said. “Frost did a good job reading the defense and hitting the open receiver. ... They left the middle open and that’s what we tried to attack.
“That last drive, we practiced that all summer and it paid off right there. It was somewhat relaxed, although there was some pressure. ... It was better than I ever expected. I wish we could go play another game right now.”
Sophomores Chris Payton-Barba and St. Peter did most of the work in Joplin’s 159-yard rushing effort. The diminutive Payton-Barba dipped and dove for 107 yards on 26 carries. Starting linebacker St. Peter had eight carries for 38 yards.
Glendale’s Vaughn had 155 yards on just 13 carries. He sat out much of the second half with a collarbone injury, said coach Joel Heman.
The Falcons ran a four-wide (receiver) offense, but completed just 1 of 7 passes for 5 yards.
“We were hoping t throw the ball a little more, and a little more effectively, obviously,” Heman said. “But credit Joplin for that. They were getting good pressure.”
Added Heman: “The main thing I am proud of the fact that we fought them for four quarters. I thought we played well. I think most people through we were going to come down here and get blown out. But we played them toe-to-toe.
“Like I told the kids, if we clean up (three turnovers) we’re going to be a pretty decent team.”
The Eagles play another home game next Friday, facing West Plains in another conference battle.
