Joplin's season ends in district title game at Nixa

Nov. 10—Joplin was struck by the powerful force that is Nixa's rushing attack on Friday night at Nixa High School.

Senior Malachi Rider and junior Dylan Rebura combined for six touchdowns as Nixa (11-0) earned a 56-34 victory over Joplin (7-4) to claim the Class 6 District 5 championship.

"Obviously not the way we wanted it to end," Joplin head coach Curtis Jasper said. "But, obviously, Nixa is a really good team. They got off to a hot start. We struggled to stop them there in the first half."

The home team Eagles tallied 42 points in the first half on three Rider rushing touchdowns and one rushing and one receiving for Rebura. The duo at running back was hard to stop all game long.

"It's unbelievable having two of them behind that offensive line that can stay fresh, they can get big yards when they need it," Nixa head coach John Perry said. "Those two are absolutely awesome. To have two guys rush for over a thousand, I don't think I've ever had that in my career."

It wasn't just the rushing attack. Nixa had it all clicking from the offensive line to the passing game with Nate Uber and wide receiver Wyatt Vincent.

"Really good " said Perry of his offense. "As good as I've seen of high school football that I've been coaching for 30 years. They executed. They did everything they needed to do. That obviously sealed it when you can go out there and put that many points on the board in the first half."

This is Nixa's first district championship in eight years. The Eagles will move on to face Rockhurst next week — who defeated Lee's Summit North 24-21 on Friday.

"I just want to keep getting better," Perry said. "We've not played our perfect game yet. That was a perfect half, but we need to put four quarters together.

"I think we can be as good as anybody. We've got playmakers. We can throw it. We can run it behind that offensive line. We're pretty good. ...I think we're as good as anybody in this state."

That offensive line is large and is anchored by 6-foot-7 sophomore Jackson Cantwell. Cantwell and co. did their job all evening by making lanes for the tail backs and keeping Uber protected.

The game began with Nixa marching downfield and putting the ball in the end zone on a touchdown run by Rider from 13 yards out. Joplin turned the ball over on downs on its first possession and gave Nixa the ball back on its own 39.

49 yards of that 71-yard drive were made on a long strike from Uber to Vincent to go up 14-0. A 3-yard run from Rider later made it 21-0. That touchdown came on a short drive after Joplin mishandled a pooch kick from Nixa.

Joplin responded with a long drive and found pay dirt when Hobbs Gooch connected with Whit Hafer for a 12-yard score. Hafer broke two tackles and drug a third defender into the end zone on the catch.

Nixa added a 5-yard rushing touchdown from Rebura to go back up by three touchdowns. But, in a matter of about 30 seconds, Joplin made it 28-14 after two runs from Quin Renfro. Renfro busted a 72-yard run all the way down to the 1-yard line and punched it in on the next play.

Rider got his third score of the game to put his team up 35-14 from 3 yards out. Joplin's next possession was cut short near midfield when Nixa's senior defensive back Parker Mann jumped a slant route and intercepted Gooch's pass.

Nixa later scored on a low pass from Uber to Rebura that the running back had to showcase some athleticism on to slide down to catch the ball right on top of the turf.

"It's awesome," Rebura said. "It's a big game for us. I'm happy. I'm emotional. I'm proud of Mal (Rider)."

That was the halftime score with Nixa ahead 42-14.

Joplin's second half scoring started with a 13-yard rushing touchdown by Gooch that he started to roll right on but was flushed and spun back to the right where he found an open field ahead and ran in to make it 42-21.

The Eagles added a score on a Chavis Coleman touchdown run from the 1-yard line. And the final score was a 51-yard connection from Gooch to Jett Beal to make it 56-34.

Nixa's running game was slowed down some in the second half but its defense forced multiple turnovers by coming away with interceptions to help keep the lead. The final interception was pulled down by senior Spencer Ward.

"We knew they would have to work to drive on us," Ward said. "Good game plan and we executed it as good as we could have asked. ... It's amazing. This is the first time (district championship) in eight years.