By Pat Dailey
The Joplin Globe
BRANSON, Mo, —
Branson’s much-maligned defense finally showed up on Friday night. But so did Cassville’s highly-touted defense.
On the strength of a goal-line stand at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Class 3 No. 1-ranked Wildcats outlasted Branson 14-7.
It was Cassville’s first win opposite a Class 5 school.
“We’re excited to show what a Class 3 school can do against a Class 5 school,” said linebacker Devin Linenbrink, who had a team-high 10 solo tackles. “We’re not just a small school with little guys.”
The difference proved to be Branson’s failure to get in the end zone after having a first-and-goal at the Cassville 2-yard line. On four running plays, the Pirates couldn’t put a dent in the Wildcats’ defense.
The final play saw running back Malachi Daniels take a pitch while running to his right and lose a yard while brought down immediately by linebacker Trenton Tanner.
“We were talking about staying low along the line and thinking they were going to run a dive or something like that,” cornerback Chris Smith said. “But they bounced it out and ran it outside. Most teams wouldn’t do that.”
The Wildcats (2-0) contained Daniels almost the entire game. He broke loose for a 46-yard run in the fourth quarter, but that equaled his rushing total to that point. He had just 21 yards rushing in the first half and finished with 91 on 16 carries.
Cassville was well aware of Daniels’ explosiveness, having been burned by him for a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown a year ago.
“He’s a fast guy,” Linenbrink said. “We knew we had to make all the right reads on blocks.”
The Wildcats, who boast 10 defenders with at least a year’s starting experience, thwarted another Branson drive when Smith intercepted a Cameron Chancey pass in the first half.
“I saw the quarterback’s eyes and read them,” Smith said. “He threw right where I thought he was going to throw. I got a good break on the pass and made the interception.”
The Wildcats scored on their second play from scrimmage on a 35-yard touchdown run by quarterback Ricky Nichols. He finished with 68 yards rushing and 61 yards passing. Their only other score was a 27-yard touchdown run by Kyle Brattin.
At that point, it seemed Branson’s defense was in for another long game. The Pirates yielded 585 yards of total offense to Carthage last week.
“Our defense played a whale of a game, which is what we needed out of them,” Pirates coach Steve Hancock said. “But offensively we didn’t get the job done.
“We’re too talented and have got too much speed not to put points on the board. Obviously, when we get the ball down to the 2-yard line, we’ve got to get it in.”
Branson’s offensive line was overmatched, just as it was against Carthage.
“We’re finding out people are a lot bigger than us up front,” Hancock said. “We’re losing the battle up front.”
“We did a little better job with pass-blocking tonight,” wideout Paul Stevens said. “But at the beginning of the game (Cassville defenders) were getting through pretty easily.”
