Week 5 Southwest Missouri high school football takeaways and scores

Believe it or not, we are more than halfway through the 2023 high school football regular season. These last four weeks should turn out to be a lot of fun. Here's what week took away from Week 5.

Nixa retains control of the Central Ozark Conference

Nixa won its three games against the top programs in the Joplin area and retained its spot as the only team atop the Central Ozark Conference after a 35-27 win over Joplin.

The Eagles are in a great spot to repeat as conference champs although this year, they will look to finish the job and win it outright instead of slipping up and having to share late in the season.

Spencer Ward was the standout for the Eagles as he started the game by taking a quick bubble screen and outrunning the Joplin defense for a 67-yard touchdown. He followed with an interception and nearly returned it for a score. Malachi Rider also stood out by scoring three touchdowns and rushing for 105 yards.

More: 2022 Southwest Missouri high school football conference standings

Nixa got it done even with Quin Renfro returning for Joplin as the star tailback rushed for nearly 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The rest of the Eagles' schedule isn't a cakewalk as it has Carl Junction next week before hosting Willard during its resurgence. A trip to Republic on Oct. 13 might be the one to watch after the Tigers improved to 4-1 on Friday night and were the ones to beat the Eagles late last season. Of course, you can throw the records out the window when the Eagles host rival Ozark to conclude the regular season.

Willard is knocking on the door but couldn't beat its rival

Willard had a chance to earn a marquee win on Friday night while taking on its rival but came up a point short. However, there has been enough there this entire season to celebrate the turnaround for the Tigers under Frank Tristan and the positive direction this program is going.

Republic won 21-20 which saw the orange Tigers hold on to the ball for the final 6:02 of the game. We've seen Republic be able to eat up clock against some of the best teams in the Ozarks in recent years and not many have been able to use that strategy to perfection than Ryan Cornelsen.

Russell Roweton has emerged as an area star and has seen others around him take off. The defense has gone from a group that allowed 42.3 points or more over the previous two seasons to one that's allowing just under 20 points per game.

We'll see if Willard can get a marquee win during its next two attempts with a home game against Webb City next week before traveling to Nixa.

What Glendale looks like now that Kylan Mabins is eligible

A lot of eyes were on the football game in Bolivar with Glendale being in town just hours after a judge granted a preliminary injunction to Falcons senior quarterback Kylan Mabins, thus making him eligible to play for the first time this season.

There wasn't much of an expectation for Mabins to get a lot of time heading into the Week 5 game against one of the better teams in the Ozark Conference due to his lack of practice time with the starters and lack of game action since the end of his junior year with Kickapoo.

Mabins played one snap in the game when he filled in for sophomore starter Cash Newberry when he had to come out for a play because of injury after an un-called horsecollar. Mabins spent the remainder of the game on the sideline in a 49-28 loss.

More: Glendale QB Kylan Mabins granted preliminary injunction, regains football eligibility

Mabins received a loud ovation when he stepped onto the field from Glendale fans while former assistant coach Ben Mauk sat in the crowd. Mabins' family in the crowd wore T-shirts reading "Free as a Bird" with a football player silhouette inside a cage. "Bird" is Mabins' nickname.

We will now see what Mabins gets after a full week of practice. He was touted as the city's best quarterback heading into the year. He's a decent athlete who can move but he's more known for his accuracy and IQ. This is a kid who has received Division II interest for a reason.

Newberry looks like a promising young player who resembles the Glendale quarterbacks of the past. He has a strong, accurate arm and he knows the Mike Mauk offense that the Falcons continue to run. It still is difficult to imagine Mabins staying sidelined.

Week 6 won't be an easy one as the Falcons host Lebanon next week. The Yellowjackets look to be above the rest of the OC and they would present a challenge to anyone behind center. The following week is a Glendale trip to Parkview before an Oct. 13 game at Kickapoo that might attract some attention.

Nevada sent a message with win over Mount Vernon

After Seneca's win over Lamar last week, don't crown it just yet. Nevada could have something to say by the end of the year.

Nevada's 55-34 win over Mount Vernon continued to put it in the conversation for the Big 8 West's best. It won in dominant fashion over the Big 8 East's two best teams as it did to McDonald County a week ago when the Mustangs are capable of beating anyone on any given night.

More: How Mount Vernon took a big step toward return to being among area's best

The ground game for the Tigers is something that only very few across the state have. Jack Cheaney went from an unknown to one of the area's breakout stars while adding about 300 yards from scrimmage against the Mountaineers. We can't mention Nevada's ground game without mentioning one of the best offensive lines in the area, led by maybe the region's best player in Talan Chandler.

We're still two weeks away from seeing Nevada host Lamar on Oct. 6 to get a true feel for what kind of challenge the Tigers might present Seneca when the two meet to wrap up the regular season. Nevada travels to Cassville next week.

Conference realignment hits high school football

Friday marked what might be the start of a big year of conference realignment for many of the leagues around the Ozarks.

The Mid-Lakes Conference held a special session on Friday and voted in favor of adding Hollister, Catholic and Reeds Spring to the Mid-Lakes beginning in 2024-25. The three will join Clever, Fair Grove, Forsyth, Skyline and Strafford to create an eight-team league.

You now start to wonder what happens with the remaining Big 8 East teams like Mount Vernon, Logan-Rogersville, Aurora and Marshfield. Maybe they could merge with the Big 8 West or more movement could come about.

We have a feeling that this isn't the end and this is the first domino to fall. We've seen it at the highest levels of college football but we don't think television dollars are going to matter quite as much here.

Quick hits

The South Central Association appears to be Ava and then everyone else. Houston's surprising loss to Thayer, a week after the Tigers beat Cabool, ruined next week's matchup between Ava and the Bears. Mountain Grove has shown improvement and earned a 7-6 win over Cabool. Ava has a home game against Thayer on Oct. 6 that might be interesting.

Fair Grove and Strafford will meet next week in what might be the Mid-Lakes Conference title game. The Eagles continued their dominance while Strafford took care of Central in a similar fashion to what Fair Grove did to it.

The Marionville at Sarcoxie matchup on Oct. 6 is shaping up to be a Southwest Conference title game. Ash Grove has shown improvement since it was shut out by Stockton.

West Plains' 45-0 loss to Camdenton was definitely one that stood out this week. The Lakers have been awesome since their Week 2 loss at home to Kickapoo. They can send another message next week at Bolivar which could maybe give us something to think about before their rivalry game at Lebanon on Oct. 13.

Week 5 results

Thursday

• Kickapoo 42, Parkview 6

Friday

• Bolivar 49, Glendale 28

• Rolla 41, Hillcrest 15

• Logan-Rogersville 28, Catholic 6

• Strafford 41, Central 14

• Nixa 35, Joplin 27

• Webb City 38, Ozark 0

• Republic 21, Willard 20

• Camdenton 45, West Plains 0

• Lebanon 51, Waynesville 6

• Branson 21, Carl Junction 7

• Carthage 35, Neosho 21

• Lamar 28, East Newton 0

• Reeds Spring 63, Marshfield 44

• Fair Grove 54, Stockton 13

• Nevada 55, Mount Vernon 34

• Aurora 62, Hollister 7

• Seneca 56, Monett 0

• Forsyth 48, Skyline 8

• Ava 51, Salem 0

• McDonald County 28, Cassville 6

• Marionville 41, Diamond 8

• Buffalo 28, Sherwood 6

• Ash Grove 41, Miller 0

• Thayer 18, Houston 7

• Pierce City 21, Clever 6

• Mountain Grove 7, Cabool 6

• Willow Springs @ Mountain View 61, Willow Springs 0

• Butler 24, El Dorado Springs 0

Week 6 schedule

• Kickapoo @ West Plains

• Lebanon @ Glendale

• Waynesville @ Hillcrest

• Rolla @ Parkview

• Catholic @ Mount Vernon

• Central @ St. Dominic

• Carl Junction @ Nixa

• Joplin @ Republic

• Webb City @ Willard

• Carthage @ Ozark

• Strafford @ Fair Grove

• Hollister @ Logan-Rogersville

• Marshfield @ Aurora

• Neosho @ Branson

• Camdenton @ Bolivar

• Forsyth @ Diamond

• Ava @ Houston

• Lamar @ McDonald County

• Marionville @ Pierce City

• East Newton @ Monett

• Sherwood @ Stockton

• Thayer @ Cabool

• Mountain View @ Mountain Grove

• Willow Springs @ Salem

• Miller @ Sarcoxie

• Clever @ Skyline

• Buffalo @ Butler

• Warsaw @ El Dorado Springs

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield area high school football scores, takeaways from Week 5