Worth County continues postseason run

By Phil Cobb | October 30, 2015 |

CHRIS ROUSH/DAILY FORUM
Worth County senior running back Brevyn Ross drags two Nort-West Nodaway defenders during Friday night’s playoff matchup.

The Worth County football team is one step closer to making it back to the state title game after defeating North-West Nodaway, 68-44, in the Class 1, District 1 semifinal matchup Friday night.

The Tigers were knocked out of the playoffs last year by the Muskets and were determined to return the favor this year, but North-West Nodaway wasn’t going to make it easy.

“We knew they had to make some adjustments from that game earlier in the season,” Worth County head coach Chris Healy said. “They were able to run the ball a little bit, but we made some adjustments and stopped them a little bit.”

North-West Nodaway won the coin toss and head coach Andrew Webster wanted to get his team’s high-powered offense going early.

The Muskets lead 8-man football in passing yards, but it wasn’t the passing attack that the Muskets leaned on early.

“We just looked and tried to take what they were giving us,” Webster said. “They were trying really hard to take away our passing game, so we thought we’d come out and run the ball on them.”

North-West Nodaway senior quarterback Koby Reynolds is known for his arm, but it was his legs that kept the Tigers at bay early.

After running the ball on four of its first seven plays, North-West Nodaway aired out to score on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Reynolds to junior wide receiver Dakota Smyser.

The Muskets went up early with a 6-0 lead and kept the momentum going, recovering an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff.

North-West Nodaway once again was able to run the ball effectively on Worth County and made it all the way down to inside the Tigers’ 10-yard line. Worth County knew it had to force a turnover or stop the Muskets on fourth down to slow down the Muskets’ momentum.

And the Tigers did just that. On fourth down, the Muskets came up short and the Tigers stopped them on the seven-yard line.

“Those are the big kind of stops,” Healy said. “You can bend, but you obviously don’t want to break. Anytime you can get a stop inside the 15-yard line, it gives your team a little more fight and knocks the other team down a little bit.”

On Worth County’s first possession, it had to go the length of the field to score with senior quarterback Ben Badell providing a majority of the offense. To cap off an eight play drive, Badell scrambled for 12 yards to tie the game at six and then Worth County’s two-point conversion was good, giving the Tigers an 8-6 lead.

With weather conditions cold and rainy, it was important for both squads to adjust to sloppy field conditions, and it also meant the Tigers were going to stick to their ground-and-pound attack.

The Tigers carried the 8-6 advantage well into the second quarter. It wasn’t until there was just over two minutes left in the half that Worth County scored again. The Tigers scored on a 27-yard run by senior running back Brevyn Ross giving the Tigers a 10-point lead, 16-6.

“You want to get the running game going all the time, but with it being rainy and cold, you want to get it going a little more,” Healy said. “We have a lot of weapons back there, so we can pick and choose where we go and how we attack.”

With time winding down in the half, North-West Nodaway needed to narrow the gap, but Worth County’s defense came up with a big play. Tigers senior linebacker Nathan Pointer intercepted a Reynolds’ pass, which set up a 32-yard score by Ross extending Worth County’s lead to 24-6.

“Anytime you can get turnovers, it’s a big momentum change,” Healy said. “You need to do that if you want to be successful, so that’s big. We got a few stops earlier in the first half and if you’re stopping that offense, you’re doing something well.”

Worth County took an 18-point lead into the half and came out looking to extend its lead early in the third quarter. The Tigers opened the second half with the ball and found the end zone less than a minute into the half on a 39-yard run by Badell.

Worth County opened up a 32-6 lead, but the Muskets weren’t going away. North-West Nodaway answered with 8:10 left in the third quarter when Reynolds connected with senior running back Colt McIntyre for a 40-yard touchdown pass.

The two squads traded scores as Worth County marched down the field and Ross finished off the drive leaping into the end zone from two yards out.

The Tigers built up their lead to 40-12 and looked to put the game away in the third quarter, but the Muskets offense still had fight in them. With Reynolds and the Musket rushing attack keeping the Tigers guessing, Reynolds went back to the air and found Smyser for the 22-yard touchdown.

“He (Reynolds) does a good job of running the ball and throwing it,” Webster said. “The offensive line was blocking hard and it was total team effort to be able to run the ball like we did.”

Heading into the fourth quarter and possibly North-West Nodaway’s last quarter of the season, the Tigers held a 40-20 advantage.

With a little over nine minutes remaining, Worth County’s offense went to the next level. The Tigers found pay dirt four times in a matter of two minutes including scores from freshman fullback Isaac Alarcon, Pointer, Ross, and sophomore running back Dylan Mildfeldt.

North-West Nodaway was able to answer with a touchdown of its own during the two-minute offensive frenzy. Freshman Korbin Koch scrambled for a 55-yard run to keep the Muskets’ playoff hopes alive.

With the Tigers holding a commanding lead, 66-28, the Muskets made a last-ditch effort to score on 13-yard touchdown pass from Reynolds to senior tight end Jakob Cordell and a 42-yard pitch and catch from Reynolds to Smyser.

North-West Nodaway’s two touchdowns made it 68-44. However, the Tigers had built up a big enough lead to keep any form of large Muskets’ comeback at bay.

Friday night’s loss ends North-West Nodaway’s season. The Muskets finished 5-6 on the season.

“It’s been a pleasure,” Webster said. “I’ve been able to work with the West Nodaway kids for two years and the North Nodaway guys for four and it’s been fun working with all of them.

“Our guys are adaptable. With the co-op and how quickly we did that, our guys are able to adapt to things thrown their way. They do a good job adjusting to whatever we decide to do. Our boys have a lot of heart. The record wasn’t that great, but we were in a lot of games. It’s tough, but we always fight until the end. There is a lot of heart and tenacity on this team.”

For the Tigers, they now prepare for the Class 1, District 1 championship against Rock Port. The Tigers host the Blue Jays Friday, Nov. 6.

CHRIS ROUSH/DAILY FORUM
During Friday night’s district semifinals match up against Worth County, North-West Nodaway senior quarterback gets a pass off before being hit by Tigers defenders.