Reeds Spring defeated Logan-Rogersville 40-15 on a rainy night at Carl Langley Field.

For the second year in a row, the home crowd saw the visiting Wildcats jump out early but for the second year in a row,  the Wolves came roaring back.

Rogersville took the opening kickoff and drove down the field.  Their drive ended when quarterback, Zachary Bergman scored on a 5-yard run giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.

Reeds Spring would get the equalizer near the end of the first quarter.  Blake Gronvold got a one yard touchdown run.

The second quarter would completely belong to Reeds Spring.  Seth Stamps and Coby Hughes would each have a rushing touchdown in the  period.  And, Blake Gronvold would add his second TD run in the final minute of the half.  Reeds Spring would go to the locker room with a 27-7 lead.

The rain would pick up in the second half.  Reeds Spring added a score from Colton Cramblett in the fourth quarter and added further on a spectacular one handed interception and return for touchdown from JT Bayliff.

From there, the Wolves gave the young kids a chance to finish things out.  Rog would push one into the endzone with 1:38 left to bring the margin to within 25.

Wolves would rush, unofficially for 366 yards on the night, 256 in the first half alone.  Reeds Spring had four runner top the 75 yard mark for the game.

Reeds Spring will travel to Mount Vernon next week in a rematch of the district championship game from a year ago.  Both teams are 3-0 coming in.

Don’t expect to see the Nike “swoosh” anytime in the Howell Keeter Athletic Complex.  Well, at least, no Bobcat athlete will be wearing the apparel.

The School of the Ozarks has announced that they will no longer wear the company’s brand after the company’s deal with  NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick

The Nike advertisement features Keapnerick, who was the player that began kneeling during the National Anthem to protest what he deems as  wrongdoings to African Americans and other minorities in the United States

“In their new ad campaign, we believe Nike executives are promoting an attitude of division and disrespect toward America,” said College of the Ozarks President Jerry C. Davis in a statement. “If Nike is ashamed of America, we are ashamed of them. We also believe that those who know what sacrifice is all about are more likely to be wearing a military uniform than an athletic uniform.”

Dr. Marci Linson, vice president for patriotic activities and dean of admissions, agrees with Davis.

“Nike is free to campaign as it sees fit, as the College is free, and honor-bound by its mission and goals, to ensure that it respects our country and those who truly served and sacrificed,” Linson says.

The College has been extremely consistent in standing up for its core values.  They gave up hosting the NAIA Division II National Basketball Championships after the  organization refused to require that all teams commit to requiring their players to stand for the National Anthem.

The field at Seneca is unique.  It can be intimidating and a very tough place to play, especially for a team that has never experienced that atmosphere before.

The Wolves made their first trip to Tom Hodge Field last night.  But, they were anything but intimidated.

As the game progressed, it became more and more evident that, on this night, Reeds Spring was the better football team.  They owned the game up front and that set the tone on both sides of the football.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Wolves got on the board with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Blake Gronvold to JT Bayliff with 7:56 left to go in the second quarter.

Reeds Spring looked to add to that lead before going to the locker room.  And, they used every possible second to do that.  With time running out in the half Reeds Spring went to their two minute offense as they finished marching towards the goal line.  As the clock got down to under ten seconds they went with a dive play to Colton Cramblett, who broke through the defensive line and rushed towards the goal line  He to to within a yard before being stacked up.  Reeds Spring immediately called time out.  The clock hit zero but the Wolves were granted the time out and two seconds were put back on the clock.  From here, Coach Lance Gosch showed confidence in his offense by going for it.  And that move payed off as Gronvold kept the snap and made his way into the endzone.  Cramblett made it 2-2 on extra points as he split the uprights and the Wolves went to the locker room with a 14-0 lead.

The second half was much of the same, as the offense continued to show the ability to move the ball and the defense kept the Indians in check.

Gronvold would toss his second touchdown pass of the night (sixth of the year) with :38 seconds left in the third quarter, hooking up with Seth Stamps for a 21 yard score.

The Defense/Special Teams would get into the scoring column in the fourth quarter.  A blocked punt for a touchdown would give Reeds Spring a 28-0 lead.

From there it was just a matter of preserving the shutout, and the defense was able to do just that.

I had Cody Hughes, unofficially, with 14 carries for 100 yards.  Cramblett added another 43.

Wolves move to 2-0 in the season and picked up another district win.  They will return to Carl Langley Field next week and welcome a familiar foe.  Logan-Rogersville will be coming to town.

 

Last Saturday Branson opened up their Soccer season at Monett.  After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Pirates saw Monett score the last five goals of the game and send them home with their first loss of the season.

Last Night, Coach Dave Brenner’s club made sure that didn’t happen again.  The Pirates had Bolivar on the defensive most of the night.  The aggressive, attacking style of the Pirates had the Liberators scrambling to keep them off the board.

The Liberators were able to withstand a number of Branson scoring opportunities early in the match.  Then,  Dwight Hyde was able to find the net from the back of the net from left side of the penalty are at the 17:44 mark left in the first half.

Just over nine minutes later, he would add his second goal of the night from a similar position.   That would send the Pirates to the intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Cristofer Abarca would get his name in the scoring column with 28:21 left in the match,upping the Branson lead to 3-0.  It would not stay that way long.  Just :22 seconds later, Hyde would complete the hat trick for the night, beating the Bolivar goal keeper for the third time, and the rout was on.

Branson was not done, and neither was Hyde.  With 7:44 remaining in the match Dwight would strike one last time.

Kyle Sutton broke out ahead of the pack and was pulled down from behind in the penalty area with 2:59 left.  That resulting in a penalty kick and goal as the junior was able to beat goalkeeper Raif Fullerton for the score.

Goal Keepers Garrett Smith and Isai Lopez would combine for a shutout.  Brady Brashers, Alex Brenner, and Garrett Wicker handled the defender duties, the majority of the night, and deserve a good deal of credit for the clean sheet as well.

Overall a very nice performance on a hot night at Pirate Stadium.   The 6-0 victory moves Branson to 1-1 on the season.  They travel to Springfield to take on Greenwood on Thursday.

For 3.5 innings Reeds Spring could do no wrong.  Their bats were exploding and Izzy Erickson was PERFECT in the circle..   Unfortunately a softball game is SEVEN innings long.

The Wolves struck early, after an Erickson fly out to start the game, Abby Rudd and Courtney Scobee hit back to back doubles.  And, that was followed by a Maddison Cantrell Big Fly.  That allowed the Wolves to jump out to a 3-0 lead before Republic had a chance to bat.

As good as things were going offensively, they were going even better with the Wolves in the field.  Erickson sat down the first 9 batters she faced, seven of them with strikeouts.

Reeds Spring would add a four spot in the top of the fourth, as Ericson, Scobee, Welch, and Brooke Davis all had hits.  It was 7-0 and folks had to be wondering if this was going to be an early night.

But then, here came the Tigers.  Republic would score four runs of their own in the fourth, including back to back homers from Julia Higgins and Livi Collier.

The Wolves did not seem to be deterred as they responded with three runs, themselves, in the top of the fifth.  The big blow was a three-run homer off the bat of Courtney Scobee.

But, just when it seemed that control had been regained, Republic came up in the fifth and put up a SEVEN SPOT.   Collier had her second homer in as many innings, as the Tigers sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning.  They would add another run in the sixth and ended up coming away with a 12-10 decision and dealing Reeds Spring their first loss of the season.

Erickson, Rudd, Courtney Scobee, Dusty Welch, and Brooke Davis all had multiple hits.

Erickson struck out 14 in her six innings of work.

Kaitlin Ragsdale, Higgins, and Collier were all 3-4 for Republic.  Higgins was only a single short of the cycle and drove in five.

Reeds Spring gets right back on the field Tuesday vs Lamar.

The Branson Pirates got the opportunity to be the fist team to visit the new football complex at Republic and the Pirates were able to take full advantage of it.   The Pirates were able to capitalize on a late Tiger turnover, turning into a Stephen Derks TD run with under 3:00 left to play and came away with a 19-13 win.

The Pirates will play their home opener next week when they host Neosho.  The Wildcats pulled off a big surprise vs Ozark last night.

In Hollister, the Rich Adkins era got off to a great start.  The Tigers got a 35-0 shutout victory over East Newton.  Hollister was able flex its muscles and their more physical brand of football was evident as they took it to the Patriots.  Armitage had an 85 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The Tigers hit the road next week, with a trip to seven-time defending Class 2 State Champion Lamar.

In Forsyth, the Panthers were never really able to quite get on track and the visitors from Skyline took full advantage.  In the end it was a 60-12 Skyline win.

Forsyth will be on the road next week.  The play Lighthouse Christian.  The game will be played at Kickapoo High School in Springfield

Reeds Spring got the 2018 season off on a good note, with a 52-32 victory over Nevada at Carl Langley Field.

The Wolves struggled with mistakes in the first half and the Tigers were able to take advantage.  Reeds Spring fumbled on their first drive and Nevada went into their bag of tricks and pulled out a half back pass for a touchdown on their first play from scrimmage.

Reeds Spring was able to answer when Blake Gronvold found Cole Watson, for the first time, on a 18 yard scoring strike.  But, the joy was short lived as Kaden Denney returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the score.

The teams went back in forth for the first half.  Reeds Spring led 20-18 at the break.  But, that is where things would turnaround for the Wolves.

The third quarter would totally belong to Reeds Spring.  This time it was the Wolves that would force mistakes and take advantage of them.  The Wolves would score FIVE times in the third quarter, alone, to put the game on ice.

Colton Cramblett getting his first start at fullback  would score on runs of 16 and 24 yards.  And Cole Watson and Blake Gronvold would hook up for their third and fourth touchdown connections of the game.  When the smoke had cleared the home team had marched out to a 52-18 lead.

Reeds Spring would substitute liberally in the fourth quarter and the Tigers would add two scores to get back to within the 52-32 final.

Seth Stamps went well over the century mark and found the endzone twice.  The Reeds Spring running game ran for nearly 400 yards on the night and the FOUR TD receptions puts Cole Watson’s name in the school record books.

Wolves will travel to Seneca next Friday.. If you can’t make it make sure to tune to 100.1 for the action.

The countdown to football season is reaching its final stages.  Tonight across the state teams will be taking part in their annual Jamoborees.  Basically scrimmages against three other opponents.  Its a chance to see your kids go up against other teams at full speed to make final evaluations before heading into Week 1

Branson will be hosting this year and Reeds Spring will be one of the schools making their way to Pirate Stadium.  The Wolves and Pirates will be joined by Lebanon and Aurora.

Hollister has hosted the past few years but this year will make the trip up to Springfield Catholic.  Diamond and Ava are the other two teams that will be taking part in that Jamboree.

And Forsyth will be donning the pads tonight as well.  The Panthers will be taking the long bus ride to Jasper.  Liberal and Rich Hill are going to be there as well.

For Coaches its a chance to make some overall evaluations for their team and maybe even make a decision on any remaining position battles.  For players its a chance to “hit someone else” and to see the game at FRIDAY NIGHT speed.

For me and other fans its a chance to see the kids play and a sign that it is finally FOOTBALL SEASON.

It wasnt just the football districts that were released today… All Fall Sports had their district alignments revealed.

Branson Soccer was one that we were watching with anticipation.  The thought was there was a chance they could fall to Class 4.  Well, that did not happen and to top it off, they find themselves in a tougher district to boot.  Their four team district includes the Pirates along with Ozark, Nixa, and Kickapoo.

 

Softball Districts involving the area schools:  Branson is grouped with Nixa, Ozark, Glendale, Kickapoo, and Parkview

Reeds Spring draws Buffalo, Bolivar, Hillcrest, Rogersville, and Marshfield

 

Volleyball:

Branson, Kickapoo, Nixa, Ozark, Parkview, Republic and West Plains

Forsyth, Ava, Rogersville, Catholic, Willow Springs, and Marshfield

Reeds Spring, Hollister, Aurora, Cassville, Monett, Mt Vernon and Seneca

 

Well this is the day that some have been waiting for.  The Missouri State High School Activities Association, released the classifications and district assignments for fall sports.

Most of the predictions that I posted last week have come to pass.  Monett moved up to Class 4.  East Newton dropped to Class 2.  And, Logan-Rogersville held on to its Class 3 Status.  Also, Ozark did make the jump to Class 6.

Things did go a little different with the district alignments though.  Instead of grabbing Catholic and Rogersville, MSHSAA went the other way and pulled Nevada and Clinton into the District that has Reeds Spring and Hollister.  History says that is a big break for the Irish and the Wildcats.

So that being said, here is a look at the districts for our local schools.

Class 5 District 6

Branson

Carthage

Nixa

Parkview

Republic

 

Class 3 District 6

Reeds Spring

Hollister

Aurora

Cassville

Clinton

Mt Vernon

Nevada

Seneca

 

Class 2 District 3

Forsyth

Ava

Fair Grove

Houston

Mtn View-Liberty

Mountain Grove

Strafford

Willow Springs

As reported earlier MSHSAA looked at the idea of balancing the classes so that there are an equal amount of teams in each Class.  Instead they stuck with the current plan that the largest 32 schools make up Class 6.  They then go down to Class 1 and the smallest 64 make up that class.  They then move up and the next 64 are Class 2.  The process is repeated to make up Classes 3 and 4 and what is left over goes into Class 5.  That is why there are several byes in Class 5 come District Playoff time.  Some districts only have 5 teams.