Joplin, Carl Junction look to end slides in Week 7
Oct. 5—Joplin and Carl Junction are coming into Friday night's matchup at Bulldog Stadium after both lost a third straight game last week. Both teams earned wins in Week 3 and have been on the losing end of their games since.
For Joplin (3-3), those losses came at the hands of Nixa, Webb City and Republic. Carl Junction (1-5) fell to Nixa, Branson and Carthage.
The Eagles and Bulldogs will look to regroup and earn a much-needed win.
"Obviously, that's going to test anyone's resolve," Joplin head coach Curtis Jasper said. "We know we have to respond.
"We have to focus on the task at hand. It does us no good to worry about our last three opponents. We have to focus on Carl Junction. We have to focus on getting things right."
For Jasper's bunch, getting things right includes taking care of the football. The turnover differential has leaned in the direction of Joplin's opposition the last three weeks. Coach also wants to see his team be more physical than CJ while winning all three phases of the game.
Carl Junction battled the turnover bug last week as well in a 47-0 loss to Nixa with three turnovers.
CJ head coach Todd Hafner mentioned limiting those mistakes as well as penalties in order for his team to have their best opportunity on Friday.
"You put the film on and they're as talented as anyone we've played," Hafner said.
That talent is what Hafner considers "SEC and Big 12 talent" all over the field. He isn't wrong. With guys like Dontrell Holt and Whit Hafer committed to be playing football in those conferences next year, Joplin certainly possesses that type of talent.
Hafner thinks that level of talent goes beyond those two and he added comments about running back Quin Renfro, who is headed to South Dakota State next year.
"Just how explosive he is," Hafner said. "It seems like teams have had him bottled up and all of a sudden he's in the secondary past everybody and running for a touchdown. ... He's a very special player and one of the elites in the area for sure."
Jasper knows that he has some skill players to watch out for in this contest as well. He said it starts with quarterback Dexter Merrell, calling him a "hard-nosed" and "athletic" kid. Other skill players he mentioned were Johnny Starks and Tony Stewart, who run the ball for the Bulldogs.
Jasper noted that a lot of these athletes are veteran players that he can recall preparing for multiple years now.
"We're going to have to be able to stop the run and the pass," Jasper said.
Hafner said that Starks and Stewart make a difference on both sides of the ball as they play the linebacker position on defense as well. He added that Bentley Rowden is another effective player who plays halfback and makes an impact through his blocking and other things he's required to do in the offense while also making tackles from linebacker.
Carl Junction is battling with having to play multiple players on both sides of the ball in each game this year. Coach Hafner talked about the ability of his group to do that each week.
"We have guys that have played in almost all 48 minutes of the game," Hafner said. "Our guys have done everything we've asked them to do. They work extremely hard. They're tough."
