Semoball

HIGH OCTANE: Explosive Scott City football team rolls past NMCC 52-14 in district semifinal

Scott City running back Jimmy May finds running room against New Madrid County Central in a Class 2 District 1 semifinal game Friday at Scott City High School.
David Jenkins ~ Standard Democrat

SCOTT CITY, Mo. — Spencer Stratman wasn’t going to let his senior season end on his home turf Friday night.

The signal caller paced the Scott City offense — along with a pair of key defensive plays — in the Rams 52-14 win over New Madrid County Central in the semifinals of the Class 2, District 1 Tournament at William Wilthong Field in Scott City, Mo.

Stratman completed 9 of his 12 passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns — both to fellow senior Joe Panagos.

Stratman also proved to be a capable runner, as he scored two more touchdowns on-the-ground, and rushed for 68 yards on eight carries.

“On the offensive end, their corners bit hard,” Stratman said. “Anything deep was working for Joe and me, and really me and anybody. Then, when I was running, it was just read the end and either give it to Jimmy or me take it.”

Stratman scored the first touchdown of the game, on a quarterback keeper, to make it 7-0 Rams with 3:24 left in the first quarter.

Then after NMCC sophomore Shamar Williamson returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to Eagles’ territory, junior running back, Quazavion Jackson made the drive a successful one, as he scored on a three-yard run. He then added the two-point conversion to put NMCC briefly up 8-7 with 2:21 left.

Jackson finished with 137 yards on 24 carries.

The wheels would come off for the Eagles in the second quarter, as Stratman picked off a Matt Riley pass and put the Rams in excellent field position as a result.

“I saw the slant coming inside,” Stratman said. “I knew that was my chance because it was a run-pass option, and he pulled it.”

Scott City would finish the drive with a senior Jimmy May 20-yard rushing touchdown, to put the Rams right back in the driver seat, at 14-8, with 11:13 left in the half.

May then added another rushing score, with 8:51 left, on a 5-yard score, to make it a 21-8 game. The senior finished with 24 carries for 180 yards and three touchdowns.

To end the half, Stratman picked off Riley again at midfield and followed that up by slinging a beautiful pass to Panagos from 47 yards out. After the catch, Panagos shed a tackle and raced to the end zone for the score to give his team a 35-8 halftime lead.

“I figured it was getting close to the end of the first half, and they were trying to go deep,” said Stratman on how he read his second pick. “So, I read it perfectly and picked it off.”

Turnovers hurt the Eagles in the end. NMCC finished with six miscues, as they lost a pair of fumbles and turned the ball over on downs once to go along with three interceptions.

For Riley, the jitters of a big game could have caught up with the sophomore, as he didn’t have his best performance. Riley threw for 23 yards on 5 of 9 passing.

“He’s done a great job all year long,” Fullhart said. “He was in a tough spot tonight, but it was a good thing that we had Christen to come in and fill his shoes.”

Phillips ended his night throwing for 69 yards on 4 of 6 passing and one touchdown, while also running for 16 yards on three carries.

Phillips’ touchdown pass came when he hit senior Austin Davis.

Davis cut back to the middle of the field and raced to the near sideline.

He then used his speed to beat the rest of the Rams’ defense for the score.

Davis’ touchdown made up the 52-14 final with 2:06 left.

“The offense struggled a little bit early,” NMCC head coach Tyler Fullhart said. “We had some momentum early, but then we fell into a rut, and we couldn’t really bounce back. You can’t do that with a good team.”

The cold conditions of Friday night, which saw the wind chill dip below freezing, didn’t seem to bother the Rams very much.

Scott City finished with nearly 400 yards of total offense, and head coach Jim May said that even with the cold conditions, the game plan didn’t change.

“It doesn’t change at all for us,” May said. “We’re going to do what we came out to do each and every week. When we run our offense, it didn’t affect us at all; I don’t feel like.”

Scott City hosts Caruthersville at William Wilthong Field next Friday for the Class 2, District 1 championship.

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First Quarter

S — Spencer Stratman 1 run (Jimmy May kick), 3:24

N — Quazavion Jackson 3 run (Jackson run), 2:21

Second Quarter

S — May 20 run (May kick), 11:13

S — May 5 run (May kick), 8:51

S — Joe Panagos 26 pass from Stratman (May kick), 8:28

S — Panagos 45 pass from Stratman (May kick), 0:31

Third Quarter

S — May 5 run (May kick), 6:53

S — May 26 field goal, 1:24

Fourth Quarter

S — Stratman 30 run (May kick), 6:37

N — Austin Davis 40 pass from Christen Phillips (pass failed), 2:06

TEAM STATISTICS

NS
First Downs813
Total Offense221381
Rushes-yards32-126251
Passing yards92130
Comp-Att-Int9-15-39-12-0
Penalties-yards5-345-39
Fumbles-lost3-20
Turnovers60

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — NMCC, Quazavion Jackson 24-137, Bryshawn Williams 2-1, Matt Riley 3-(-28), Christen Phillips 3-16; Scott City, Jimmy May 24-180, Kobe Hann 3-0, Spencer Stratman 8-68, Ramsey Evans 1-12, Devin Keller 1-(-4).

PASSING — NMCC, Matt Riley 5-9-2 23, Christen Phillips 4-6-1 69; Scott City, Spencer Stratman 9-12-0 130.

RECEIVING — NMCC, Austin Davis 4-57, Bryshawn Williams 2-5, Jaden McFerren 2-17, Kannon Nowell 1-13; NMCC, Joe Panagos 4-90, Landon O’Brien 2-16, Kobe Hann 1-26, Logan Speakman 1-26, Jimmy May 2-(-2).

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