Webb City, Neosho seek first victory
Sep. 3—The old cliche is football teams make the biggest improvement from the first game to the second game of the season.
After season-opening losses last week, Webb City and Neosho are looking for better things when they collide Friday night in Central Ozark Conference action. Kickoff is at 7 at Bob Anderson Stadium in Neosho.
Webb City came within one play of a victory but fell to Joplin 41-40 on Joseph Ipsen's 42-yard field goal as time expired. It's the first time the Cardinals have lost consecutive season openers to the same team since East Newton beat Webb City 6-0 in 1982 and 20-13 in 1983.
"We didn't think that (kicking a field goal) was what they were going to do," said Webb City coach John Roderique, who was a sophomore on the 1983 team. "I should have called a timeout myself to get a better block set up or maybe even ice the kicker. That was a little bit of a surprise to us, but kudos to the young man who stepped up and made the kick. That was a great job by him."
Neosho lost its debut under coach Brandon Taute by a 47-12 margin last week at Republic. The Wildcats trailed 33-0 at halftime but played much better in the second half and scored on a pair of 19-yard plays — Jared Siler's run in the third quarter and Evan Haskins' pass to Isaiah Green in the fourth quarter.
"Being the first game — it's everybody's first game — but I think we were a little bit nervous and came out and a couple things went wrong and we fell behind," Taute said. "We had to regroup at halftime, and our kids came out and played a much-better half. They did a good job of taking to the coaching and the adjustments we made.
"Their effort was great all night long. We're extremely proud of the way they fought all night."
The Wildcats' defense was on on the field for the majority of the first half. On one Republic possession, the Tigers had two touchdowns called back on penalties before finally getting the TD.
"(Our defense) got a little bit gassed in the first half, which is understandable with how much time they were out there," Taute said. "They did a great job continuing to fight, and in the second half we wore them down a little bit."
Both coaches said their teams have had a good week of practice.
"Kids are resilient," Roderique said. "They understand what we need to work to get better. Win or lose, it's all about trying to get better next week."
"It's been a good week," Taute said. "We've identified the things that we struggled with, and our kids are committed to getting better every day.
"It should be exciting and a fun game. Any time you get to play a team and a program the caliber of Webb City, it's a fun night. We have a great opportunity in front of us, and we're excited for that opportunity."
"There are still quite a bit of unknowns (about Neosho)," Roderique said. "They didn't get the win last Friday, but they did some good things. Going back to the old Southwest Conference days, Neosho always has some physical guys up front and some good skill guys. Like everybody, they'll probably show a lot of progress between weeks 1 and 2."
Follow Sports Editor Jim Henry on Twitter at @Jim_Henry53.
