By Ryan Atkinson
ratkinson@joplinglobe.com
In the midst of what may turn out to be the area’s craziest game this season, the Joplin Eagles found a way to nail down a win.
The Eagles put together a 14-play drive and scored on Devin St. Clair’s 19-yard pass to Cory Macy on 4th-and-5 to secure a wild 63-48 win over the West Plains Zizzers on Friday night at Junge Field.
“We just had to keep moving and keep the ball in bounds and keep the clock running,” said Macy, who had two fourth-down receptions on the clinching drive. “And we got it done.”
Barely.
The game — which lasted well over three hours — featured a combined 111 points and 1,041 offensive yards and had a number of stars.
St. Clair, in just his second varsity start, finished 25-of-33 for 297 yards and six touchdowns while adding a pair of rushing scores. Macy had seven receptions for 89 yards and two scores while Dane Kolkmeyer caught nine passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half, after he returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a score.
Kolkmeyer landed awkwardly after he caught his third touchdown pass — a 10-yarder from St. Clair with 15 seconds left in the first half — and was motionless for a couple of minutes. He regained all movement before being taken off the field on a stretcher.
“He has all of his movement and all of his memory,” Joplin assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Craig Lynch said. “It was a preventative measure taking him off the field and to the hospital for a CAT scan.”
Kolkmeyer’s final score capped a wild first half and put the Eagles up 42-27.
“It was really tough after Dane went down,” Macy said. “He’s one of my good friends and it was really tough seeing him go down like that ... we just had to play with a heavy heart tonight.”
West Plains senior running back Tommy Meyer led a West Plains offense that was slightly out-gained by Joplin 534-507. Meyer ran 20 times for 207 yards and five touchdowns, including three second-half scores.
Meyer’s 45-yard touchdown run just 1:26 into the second half cut Joplin’s lead to 42-35.
The Eagles scored 14 unanswered points — St. Clair ran one in from 16 yards out before finding Stephen Matlock from seven yards out — before Meyer took over again. He scored twice in the fourth quarter, including a nine-yard run with 6:46 left to cut the Eagle lead to 56-48.
That’s when Joplin put together its drive, burning 5:33 off the clock while converting three fourth downs.
“Everybody kept their composure,” St. Clair said. “I’m just one of 11 people out there ... the line, the receivers, the backs, they made my job easy.”
Joplin junior Ron King, who Joplin coach Doug Buckmaster said would not play because of undisclosed reasons, led the Eagles on the ground. King entered when Quinton Fenske went down with a leg injury midway through the second quarter and then proceeded to rush 28 times for 148 yards. He ran nine times during Joplin’s final drive.
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