By Matt Newbery
sports@joplinglobe.com
LAMAR, Mo. — Lamar High School head football coach Scott Bailey summed up his Tigers’ 34-18 victory over Pierce City in the sectional round of the Missouri Class 2 Playoffs on Monday night at Thomas M. O’Sullivan Stadium in just a few words.
“That game was a battle.”
The Tigers (6-6) collected their fifth straight victory on the strength of three touchdowns from sophomore running back Markell White, including a touchdown pass that helped give Lamar the lead for good early in the second quarter.
LHS will travel for the first time in the 2009 playoffs on Saturday, heading to Fair Grove for quarterfinal action.
The Eagles (7-5) scored the first offensive touchdown against the Tigers in five games to take a 6-0 lead at the 3:45 mark of the opening quarter. Senior running back Alex Clayton broke through a big hole on a draw and rambled 46 yards to the end zone to complete a seven-play, 80-yard drive.
Pierce City dodged a bullet when junior quarterback Wayne Sooter dropped the football while scrambling for a first down. The pigskin checked back up to him and he didn’t miss a stride in gaining 24 yards into Lamar territory.
The Tigers answered with a nearly seven-minute drive on the ensuing possession. Similar to a drive in the first-round win over El Dorado Springs, LHS converted three straight third-down situations, but came up 12 yards short on the fourth when senior quarterback Trenton Doyle gained 7 to the PCHS 15-yard line on a third-and-19 play.
On the next play, White was supposed to get the ball from senior running back Chaz Blackwell off the direct snap. The exchange misfired, and the ball rolled toward the sideline.
Not missing a step, White scooped up the ball and tossed a pass to a senior wide receiver Dillon Bass in the right corner of the end zone to tie the game with 8:34 to go. Blackwell’s point-after kick was good, putting the Tigers ahead 7-6.
“I picked it up, saw the receiver was open and just threw it,” a visibly exhausted White said of the TD toss. “I was hoping he’d catch it, and he did.”
“I had two of my coaches say to me as I turned back to the sideline, ‘It’s better to be lucky than good,’ ” Bailey said of the tying play.
After the Tigers’ defense forced a three-and-out, White wrapped up a seven-play, 65-yard march with a 3-yard run at the 4:48 mark to extend the lead to 14-6. A 34-yard run on a double-reverse by senior wide receiver Andrew Fowler put LHS at the Eagles’ 17, and White went the rest of the way over the next three plays.
Pierce City took advantage of a prevent defense in the final minute of the first half to pull within two points. Sooter, who did not play in the 35-0 regular-season setback to the Bulldogs, completed 3-of-4 passes on the drive for 66 yards, the last one a 32-yard prayer to junior running back Cody Cox for six points as time expired. The conversion pass failed, leaving Lamar ahead at the half 14-12.
The Tigers took advantage of a big play on the second-half kickoff to regain momentum. Blackwell boomed the kick to the Eagles’ 2-yard line, where it bounced away from Cox, the PCHS return man. Sophomore Brett Campbell won the race to the ball to give Lamar possession at the 6.
White then took the handoff and swept around the right end to extend the Tigers’ lead to 21-12 just eight seconds into the third quarter. He finished the game with 90 yards on 20 carries, while adding 52 yards on three receptions and the 15-yard TD toss.
With the pressure on, Pierce City started pounding the ball inside to move to the LHS 33. After getting sacked for a 6-yard loss by junior linebacker Nick Gariss, Sooter was picked off by Gariss after getting pressured by Blackwell’s pass rush.
That turnover helped Lamar put the game out of reach. Doyle, after completing a 56-yard pass to White to put the Tigers at the PCHS 11, scored two plays later on a 4-yard draw to make it 28-12 with 5:17 left in the third stanza.
Sooter was picked off again on the first play of the ensuing drive by Fowler before having his night come to a sudden end when he was knocked out making a tackle one play later. He was 5-of-13 for 72 yards, one TD and the two picks.
“I have nothing but respect for the Pierce City football program,” Bailey said. “They came out here tonight, and with a turnover here or a turnover there this may be a different game.”
Sooter’s replacement at quarterback, freshman Cedric O’Hara, found sophomore fullback Curtis Palmer for a 9-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to cut the gap to 10. Doyle answered to wrap the scoring with a 3-yard scoring run with 7:05 left.
The Tigers finished with 332 rushing yards and 89 through the air. Sophomore Cody Lear led LHS with 99 yards on 12 rushing attempts.
