By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Nii Abrahams was late reporting for Carl Junction’s pregame warmups on Friday night.

“He had a soccer game in Joplin,” Bulldogs head coach Bret Gosch said. “We were on the field at 6, and Coach (Roger) Carter yells ‘Nii’s here.’ Nii is sprinting in from the parking lot into the door, gets dressed, and in five minutes he has full gear on.”

But with the game on the line, Abrahams delivered on time. His 20-yard field goal with 1:16 remaining boosted the Bulldogs past Cassville 23-22 in a key Big 8 Conference game.

From the start, mistakes by both teams set up scoring opportunities, and the Bulldogs cashed in the final short-field opportunity.

Trailing 22-20, the Bulldogs (6-1, 6-1 Big 8) tipped a punt and began their final drive at the Cassville 36 with 7:46 remaining. Quarterback Matt Thompson’s 6-yard run on fourth down-and-4 kept the drive alive, and two third-down conversions left the Bulldogs with first down at the 2.

The Cassville defense stuffed Kyle McConnell and Chase Price, who gained 106 yards on 27 carries, for no gain on the next two plays. Thompson rolled right on third down, but defensive back Cody Pierson tackled him for a 1-yard loss.

Abrahams, whose late field goal forced overtime one week earlier against East Newton, lined up a 20-yard attempt from the right hash mark, and his kick split the uprights to cap the 14-play, 33-yard drive.

“It went in a lot of directions,” Cassville head coach David Large said. “It was like no one wanted to win that game for a while. Finally Carl Junction stepped up and said we’ll take it and got the job done. The kicker coming in and making a kick like that is pretty tough in a tough situation. He nailed it and did a great job.”

Cassville (5-2. 3-1), thanks to Brent Elkins’ 29-yard kickoff return and a late hit out of bounds, began its final possession at midfield. The Wildcats hoped to reach the 35 to give Aaron Jamieson a chance to kick the game winner, but an incomplete pass on first down and three short snaps by the backup center — the starter suffered a broken hand in the first half — ended the drive.

“I think it came down to had the fewest turnovers,” Gosch said. “They made their mistakes, and we made ours. We capitalized on theirs, and they definitely capitalized on ours. It came down to a field goal.

“Bottom line is, I was scared to death. They got the ball because of the penalty on the 50, and with the wind, it scared me to death. We had a one-point lead, and they have one of the better kickers in the area. I told our kids they can’t get to the 40 because he’s got the leg to nail it from there. Our kids hung in there, and we had some luck with some dropped snaps.”

“We gave them short fields,” Large said. “Honestly I don’t think they could have driven the field against us. I felt like our defense was playing good enough if they had to go on a long drive, it was going to be hard for them. Our defense did a great job but we put our backs against the wall and gave Carl Junction some short fields ... similar to them giving us short fields at the start of the game.”

The Bulldogs’ high snap on a punt gave Cassville possession at the 4, and Joseph Gouvion scored two plays later from the 2 just over two minutes into the game.

Four minutes later, Cassville defensive end Robbie Coberly forced a fumble by Thompson near the goal line, and Thompson fell on the ball in the end zone for a safety and a 9-0 lead.

Price’s 19-yard jaunt late in the first quarter put the Bulldogs on the board, and they took their first lead on Thompson’s 37-yard pass to Joey Braeckel just before halftime. The ball was tipped twice before Braeckel caught the ball near the goal line.

“I actually ran the wrong route, but I could feel it,” Braeckel said. “So I just went over there and tipped it up the best I could do, to see if one of us could catch it. And it came out with a pretty good result.”

Quarterback Jake Nolan’s one-yard run on the first drive of the second half put the Wildcats back on top, and they regained possession at the CJHS 7 when the Bulldogs mishandled the ensuing kickoff. Gouvion scored on fourth down from the 2.