Spoofhounds set tone early, roll into district final
Maryville sophomore Mike Steffen smiles after a sack to end Friday’s game at the Hound Pound. (JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM)
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Spoofhounds wasted absolutely no time setting the tone Friday night in the district semifinals. After receiving the opening kickoff, Maryville ran 7-straight fullback dives for a 63-yard touchdown drive.
“You want to take what they will give you,” Maryville coach Matt Webb said. “And if they want to sit there and play us the way they were playing us, then we are going to run the ball on them.”
It was a mixture of Will McCollough and Luke Allen running the dive behind the offensive line of Tyson Atwell, Beckett Kendrick, Charles Myrick, Kade Watkins and Kyle Vierthaler. The statement carried on in a 63-30 dominant district semifinal victory.
“It feels good that we can come out and attack,” Watkins said. “That first drive, we came out and attacked and scored. That is a huge confidence boost.”
The Spoofhound defense immediately forced a 3-and-out and Maryville showed off their versatility with Jackson Dredge hitting Lucas Ziegler in stride for a 49-yard gain, before McCollough punched in the touchdown.
Richmond answered with a touchdown and 2-point conversion, but Maryville’s offense didn’t slow down and Allen, Dredge and McCollough each broke off big runs. Dredge hit Ziegler on a third-and-10 with a 15-yard touchdown strike for a 21-8 lead.
“It just kinda helped set the tone for the game, line-of-scrimmage game,” Vierthaler said. “Our backs ran hard. It helped our pass game open up too.”
Maryville capped the first-quarter scoring with a 15-yard Dredge scramble and a 52-yard pass to Payton Willrich setting up McCollough’s second touchdown.
“It was basically, just have confidence, communicate and have confidence that you are going to beat the guy in front of you,” Watkins said.
Dredge hit Ziegler again for a 34-yard touchdown. Dredge finished 5-for-5 for 196 yards with both scores going to Ziegler who had 98 yards.
“He’s not forcing the ball, and one of his best traits is athleticism and just being the best athlete on the field — and he did that,” Webb said of Dredge.
Dredge added a 31-yard touchdown run for a 42-8 lead, and Richmond answered with a long touchdown run. Allen closed the half with his second touchdown — a 3-yard carry to give him 95 yards in the half — and Maryville took a 49-14 lead into the locker room.
“Luke Allen ran with a fury tonight,” Webb said.
The second half allowed Maryville’s junior varsity and freshmen to play a full half against Richmond’s varsity.
Ryder Barmann broke off a 32-yard touchdown to push the margin to 56-14.
Richmond scored on another reverse, but Maryville put their varsity hands team out for a potential on-sides kick. The Spartans kicked it deep, but Carson Hageman wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to run it back — and took it to the house.
“I can’t say enough about Carson Hageman,” Webb said. “The kid has been sick. And my gosh, the kickoff return. … The kid has literally been under the weather for two weeks. He’s doing breathing treatments and it is like, ‘you need to come out of this game.’ He wouldn’t come out. It is easy for a kid to say, ‘I’m sick, I’m not going to be here.’ But it shows his character and what he stands for.”
Richmond added added another late touchdown, but the Maryville junior varsity and freshmen played Richmond to a 16-14 second half in an impressive showing for the future.
Now Maryville resets for a trip to Kansas City as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Class 3 meet early in the district championship. St. Pius X rolled 49-0 over Chillicothe on Friday.
“It is going to be awesome,” Watkins said. “We are going to have to show up and it is going to be be a dogfight, line-of-scrimmage game like always, and it is going to be a fun, fun environment. And we are going to be ready.”
