By Levi Payton
sports@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — Fresh off its first state ranking in more than 13 years, No. 10 Neosho came into Friday’s Central Ozark Conference showdown against the Nixa Eagles feeling on top.
Perhaps that’s why Neosho head coach Shawn Flannigan decided to take a play out of Denver Broncos coach Mike Shannahan’s playbook and go for the win with three seconds left.
The Wildcats, down 28-21, marched 80 yards in one minute with no timeouts and scored on a 24-yard touchdown strike from Alex Wise to Nick Morrison. Suddenly, the Wildcats had a chance to tie it with an extra point. They elected to go for 2, and the win, instead. They lost 28-27.
On Neosho’s try Wise found wide receiver Anthony Westfield all alone when he slipped out of the backfield on a backside screen. Westfield made the catch but lost his balance while trying to turn upfield. It appeared he would score easily, but instead fell inches short of the goal line.
“Anthony Westfield is beating himself up after that play,” Flannigan said. “I told him that he never should have been put in that position. We never should have put ourselves in that position.”
The Wildcats (3-1, 1-1 Central Ozark Conference Large Division) rolled the dice on several plays. One worked for the best, two others didn’t. The one that did work led to a touchdown after the Wildcats converted a first down on a fourth-and-1 from their 29. They were also bitten by a decision to go for it on fourth-and-3 at their 46.
It looked like they would convert the play, a quick slant to receiver Nick Morrison, but the defender jarred the ball out of his hands before he hit the ground for an incompletion. Nixa then marched down the field and scored on Jordan Keeney’s six-yard run to make it 28-21.
“I didn’t want to put the team in a position to where I didn’t give them a chance,” Flannigan said. “We ran our plays and executed them very well. I was proud of our kids on that last drive.
"I would much rather play for the win right then — especially with a team that was running the ball effectively like they were — than to take a chance on going into a shootout with them,” he said.
Nixa (2-2, 1-1) effectively ran the ball right at the Wildcats in the second half, totaling 152 yards in the half. Quarterback Ryan Rehagen ran for 119 yards on 15 carries for the game.
Nixa trailed until the final play of the third when Rehagen plunged in from seven yards out to make it 21-19. The Eagles went for two points and nearly didn’t get it. Keeney was in the grasp of a Wildcat defender, but spun out of the tackle and hit Michael Marra in the back of the end zone to tie it.
The Eagles grabbed an early 13-0 lead after Neosho failed to move the ball on its first three drives. Nixa’s first possession turned into a nine-play, 66-yard drive that ended on an 11 yard run by Keeney.
After the Wildcats went three-and-out on their next drive, the Eagles found the end zone again just 3:17 later on a 36-yard pass from Keeney to junior wideout Joe Drum.
“We came out flat, played flat,” Flannigan said. “We didn’t perform. We didn’t do what we needed to do to win the game.”
Much like their previous home game in week two, Wise replaced Kyle Dickens as the Wildcats quarterback and on his second series helped march the team 38 yards on three plays before hooking up with Westfield on a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-7.
However, Dickens returned to the lineup on the ensuing Neosho series and orchestrated a 53-yard drive in eight plays, with Dickens scoring on a 14-yard run to give the Wildcats a 14-13 halftime advantage.
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