By Wendell Redden
sports@joplinglobe.com
Lamar, to put it simply, overpowered its three Class 2, District 11 opponents and, as a result, has the home-field advantage in the opening round of the state playoffs tonight.
The Tigers (5-5) of Coach Scott Bailey greet Skyline-Urbana (6-4) of the Mid-Lakes Conference in a 7 p.m. contest.
Lamar, led by senior quarterback Blake Howarth, outgunned its district rivals 157-27. Only Pierce City was able to score on the Tigers. Lamar’s other victims were Diamond and Stockton.
“Our kids had been looking to playing schools our own size after playing in the Big 8 Conference,” Bailey said. “Our confidence level going into the playoffs is the difference of night and day from a year ago.”
Skyline, coached by Brandon Shelby, has good size on both sides of the ball and quality players at the skill positions, Bailey said.
“But lining up against bigger offensive and defensive lines is nothing new to us. We did that every Friday night in our conference,” he said.
Shelby’s Tigers have been plagued by a rash of late-season injuries. Skyline will be without the services of running back-linebacker Andre Hicks.
“He’s not only our statistical leader on both sides of the ball, but he’s also our emotional leader,” Shelby said. “We’ve had two other defensive starters out and we may look like a M*A*S*H unit rolling into Lamar. But that’s football, especially at this time of the year.”
Shelby said he’s been impressed by Lamar’s precision in running its offense. “We’ve seen that same misdirection scheme before, but they do it very, very well. And their quarterback (Howarth) does a great job of hiding the ball. Our kids have to focus on their keys and not worry about anything else. I’ve been especially impressed with Lamar’s blocking on the perimeter.”
Shelby said that with the injury to Hicks and his backup, he’s had to move wide receiver Zack Wallace to running back. He ran for 200 yards against Cole Camp last week but he’s banged up, too. “Hopefully, most of our kids will be ready to go,” Shelby added.
While Howarth leads Lamar in passing and rushing yardage, the development of running back Chris Lear has been fun to watch for Bailey.
“This is his first year to start, but he earned his opportunity to play through a lot of hard work,” said the Lamar coach. “He got stronger working out in the weight room over the winter and got faster working out during track season. He’s prepared to play every week and is a serious-minded student and athlete.”
Lear has rushed 78 times for 623 yards and 10 touchdowns. Howarth, who has thrown for 580 yards and five touchdowns, has carried 122 times for 768 yards and 11 scores. Parker Garfield has 598 yards and 5 TDs on 68 rushes. Darren Mahurin and Keaton Holzbach have combined for 24 catches and 318 yards receiving.
Skyline’s offensive leaders include quarterback Cody Dampier, a junior, who has thrown for about 1,000 yards and rushed for 700, Shelby said. He said Cameron Yates and Wallace have combined for more than 600 yards in receptions.
“We know they have a good team,” Bailey said of Skyline. “We’re certainly not looking past them or anyone else. We’re just trying to figure out how to beat Skyline.”
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Lamar hits state playoffs on major roll
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