By Rick Dunaway
Special to The Globe
SARCOXIE, Mo. —
Curtis Palmer scored two touchdowns and played a huge role on a smothering defense. But the biggest display he put on Friday night during Pierce City’s 48-7 victory over the Bears was one of pure sportsmanship.
Palmer stepped in front of Josh Mettlach’s pass for his third interception of the game, but with the running clock in effect during the lopsided contest, the junior linebacker opted to step out of bounds, rather than rack up points.
“I didn’t have a doubt,’’ Palmer said. “I knew what I’d do even before I got the ball, if I could get it.’’
Picking off the pass at the 40-yard line, Palmer advanced it to the 20 and had an open path to the end zone, but he opted to keep the game at 48-0.
Pierce City coach Mac Whitehead praised the linebacker for taking to heart his advice when the Eagles (1-0) were sitting through halftime with a 42-0 bulge.
“We talked about it at halftime,’’ Whitehead said. “We were going to make ourselves better, but we were not out to embarrass anybody.’’
Palmer scored the game’s first touchdown from 3 yards out on the game’s first drive. The Eagles scored on their first six possessions before running out of time on their seventh. They added a 49-yard scamper early in the second quarter.
Quarterback Cedric OíHara scored from 2 and 97 yards out, finishing with 99 yards on just two carries. He passed just three times, connecting twice for touchdowns of 17 and 31 yards to Wayne Jo Sooter and Mitchell Gibson, respectively.
Whitehead was pleasantly surprised with the speed displayed by his new quarterback, who beat out Sooter for the role in preseason.
“I was impressed with all of our team speed, really,’’ Whitehead said. “We knew we were going to be fast, but I didn’t realize we were going to be that fast.’’
Behind Palmer and linemen Zach and Aaron Crouch, who both spent considerable time in Sarcoxie’s backfield, the Eagles (0-1) allowed only 12 plays from scrimmage on their own side of the field, eight of them coming on Sarcoxie’s final -- and lone scoring drive -- late in the game.
Ryan Barnard was instrumental on that drive, gaining 32 yards on 6 carries, including the 3-yard touchdown.
It was a rough debut for new Sarcoxie head coach Luke Rader, who took over a 4-6 Bears team after spending five years as an assistant at Lockwood.
“They’re legit,’’ Rader said of the Eagles, a 2009 state playoff contender. “They’re big, strong and fast, and they’re well-coached.’’
Mistakes, however, put Sarcoxie in a hole quickly. With a shanked punt, a muffed punt snap and interceptions in its own territory, Pierce City struck quickly. The Eagles had two scoring drives of just one play, and other scoring drives of two, three and four plays.
Still, Rader could pull some positives from the rout.
“When we didn’t makes mistakes we were able to do some good things,’’ Rader said. “And we fought for four quarters, even when we were down pretty big.’’
