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Strong fourth quarter propels Kennett football team past NMCC 34-22
Kennett quarterback Patrick Maddox completes a pass against New Madrid County Central Friday at Metz Cherry Stadium
KENNETT, Mo. — The Kennett Indians football program moved one step closer to an outright conference championship Friday night.
Kennett receiver Ty Ellis races downfield against the New Madrid County Central defense Friday at Metz Cherry Stadium.
Kennett broke a 22-22 tie at the end of the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth period as it outlasted the New Madrid County Central Eagles 34-22 on Homecoming Night at Metz Cherry Stadium.
“We finished it well,” Kennett football coach Joel Wyatt said. “The kids showed some grit there in the fourth quarter. But it’s disappointing we made the same mistakes. But hats off to New Madrid County because they played harder than we did.”
Kennett led 16-0 by the 6:43 mark of the first quarter after Patrick Maddox threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Parker McClain on the opening drive, Ty Ellis intercepted a pass and Maddox followed by throwing a 55-yard touchdown pass to Zane Wallace. The Indians padded its lead to 22-0 when Maddox threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ellis with 2:03 left in the first half.
Kennett receiver Nik Franklin reports Friday at Metz Cherry Stadium in Kennett.
NMCC cut the deficit to 22-10 by halftime after Maddox was sacked in the end zone for a safety with 56 seconds left in the first half and Christen Phillips followed by throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to Chase Silman with eight seconds left in the second quarter.
The success continued for the Eagles in the third period as it recorded touchdowns on two of its first three drives of the third quarter to tie things up at 22-22. Phillips threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Austin Davis with 6:08 left in the third period and 27-yard touchdown pass to Tra Ranson with 1:10 left in the third period.
Kennett broke its scoring drought on its third offensive possession of the second half when X’Zavier Whitfield ran 16 yards for a touchdown with 9:44 left in regulation to put his team back on top 28-22.
Kennett’s No. 44 Elijah Lemons eyes quarterback Patrick Maddox being chased by NMCC defender Mason Burton Friday night.
NMCC punted and turned the ball over on downs on its next two offensive possessions.
Maddox took care of the rest when he threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Ellis with 2:08 left in regulation to set the final score.
“It’s about as disappointing of a win as I’ve ever had,” Wyatt said. “It’s hard to enjoy it when we just continue to make the same mistakes. I just cannot get through to some of these kids. It’s just aggravating. I keep wondering when we are going to turn the corner and eliminate some of these mistakes.”
Ellis caught two touchdown passes and intercepted two passes.
“He’s a great player for us on offense, defense and special teams,” Wyatt said. “He had some great runs. The officials were so flag happy and he had one or two touchdowns called back. But he’s a great player for us and I don’t know where we would be without him.”
Maddox completed 11 of 19 passes for 214 yards. He threw four touchdown passes.
“I don’t know if the fans noticed but Parker McClain went out,” Wyatt said. “He’s our tight end and tonight our numbers caught up to us because we don’t have a backup tight end. That eliminated our under center two-back run plays so we had to get in the shotgun and when we threw it Patrick was very accurate.”
Phillips completed 11 of 24 passes for NMCC (0-5). He threw two interceptions and three touchdown passes.
Kennett (4-2) is back in action Friday when it hosts conference and district rival Dexter. Caruthersville (4-2) beat Dexter 42-13 in its Week 6 contest.
A victory would make Kennett the only 3-0 team in its conference. If Dexter (4-2) wins Kennett, Caruthersville and Dexter would all have one loss in conference play setting up the possibility of another three-way tie among the teams for the conference title.
“Huge game,” Wyatt said. “But if we play like we did tonight we will get slapped. They will just line up in the I and run over the top of us. If we don’t play any harder and smarter it won’t be pretty. Everybody knows what Dexter is going to do and they know that the opponent knows what they are going to do and here it comes.
“But there is a lot at stake,” Wyatt added. “If we win the game we are outright conference champs. That would be a huge accomplishment, especially here.”
SCORING SUMMARY
Kennett 34, NMCC 22
NMC 0 10 12 0 - 22
KHS 16 6 0 12 - 34
First Quarter
K - Parker McClain 39 pass from Patrick Maddox (two-point conversion good), 8:31
K - Zane Wallace 55 pass from Maddox (two-point conversion good), 6:43
Second Quarter
K - Ty Ellis 14 pass from Maddox (two-point conversion failed), 2:03
NM - Safety, 0:56
NM - Chase Silman nine pass from Christen Phillips (two-point conversion good), 0:08
Third Quarter
NM - Austin Davis 72 pass from Phillips (two-point conversion failed), 6:08
NM - Tra Ranson 27 pass from Phillips (two-point conversion failed), 1:10
Fourth Quarter
K - X’Zavier Whitfield 16 run (two-point conversion failed), 9:44
K - Ellis 30 pass from Maddox (two-point conversion failed), 2:08
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing - (NMCC): Austin Davis 1-3, Brian Sylvester 7-50, Tra Ranson 2-(-8), Christen Phillips 8-4, Jacob Keene 2-(-7), Tyler Chadd 3-18; (Kennett): Ty Ellis 5-14, X’Zavier Whitfield 13-77, Patrick Maddox 15-90, Marsayv’ann Harrell 1-0, Joquan Williams 1(-3).
Passing - (NMCC): Christen Phillips 11-24-2 = 186; (Kennett) Patrick Maddox 11-19-0 = 214.
Receiving - (NMCC): Mark Underwood 3-33, Brian Sylvester 2-31, Chase Silman 3-19, Austin Davis 1-72, Tra Ranson 1-27; (Kennett): Elijah Lemons 1-7, X’Zavier Whitfield 1-8, Zane Wallace 5-99, Parker McClain 1-39, Ty Ellis 3-66.