LAMAR, Mo. —
The only way the Lamar Tigers were going to be kept out of the end zone in their 61-0 victory over Warsaw in their Missouri Class 2 regional football playoff Wednesday night was by self control.
The rain-soaked game was abandoned with 5:41 to go in the third quarter after Warsaw had been held to four net yards of offense on 35 snaps.
Lamar will entertain El Dorado Springs, a 44-6 winner over Sarcoxie, for the second round of the playoffs on Monday night.
The Tigers scored on their first nine drives — totaling just 2 minutes, 16 seconds of possession time — against an under-manned and over-matched Wildcat squad before Lamar head coach Scott Bailey made the decision to pull in the reins.
Warsaw’s fourth lost fumble with 8:12 to go in the second quarter gave Lamar the ball at the Wildcat 1-yard line. Rather than have the junior varsity squad tack on a ninth score, Bailey instructed sophomore quarterback Landon Compton to take a knee.
Compton, who made the score 55-0 with a three-yard run in the first minute of the second stanza, didn’t hesitate and took four consecutive knees to return the ball to Warsaw.
“I’ve taken heat both ways — we’ll kneel on the ball and the opposing fans are yelling at me — upset about us kneeling,’’ Bailey said. “We kneel and some of our fans are upset at me. I don’t know if I can win in that situation. It’s hard to figure out what’s right. But I’m trying to do what’s respectful.
“In 2007, we got outscored 387-48 in a 10-game season and was turbo-clocked repeatedly. I’m not ever going to run a score up on a coach.”
The Tigers had the ball twice more deep on the Wildcats’ side of the field in the final five minutes, and each possession ended with Lamar signal-caller — either Compton or freshman Tripp Tucker — taking a knee rather than pile on to the score before halftime.
Before that, senior tailback Markell White was able to score a pair of touchdowns on runs of 9 and 38 yards — both during the 48-point first quarter. He finished with 70 yards on three carries.
The Tigers totaled 294 yards of offense on 30 plays — all but one on the ground. Seven of the scores, including the last five, came on one-play drives. Four of them started inside the Wildcats’ 20-yard line.
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Lamar running back Markell White runs through the Warsaw defense during their Class 2 playoff game in Lamar.
Discussion
November 2, 2011
Lamar slows down for 61-0 victory over Warsaw
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Outlaws open season Thursday on the road
Chris Oldner takes a cut during the Joplin Outlaws practice Tuesday afternoon. The Outlaws open their season on Thursday night at Rossville and play seven road games before their home opener on June 5.
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