Joplin collides with Nixa in massive COC road tilt

Derek Shore, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·4 min read

Sep. 23—It's the battle of the unbeatens. The battle of the Eagles.

And to go a little further, the battle for the right to be considered the team to beat in southwest Missouri.

Ranked sixth in Class 6, Joplin (4-0) collides on the road against fourth-ranked Nixa (4-0) with the top spot in the Central Ozark Conference and District 3 standings on the line. The winner will also have the early lead for home-field advantage in the district playoffs.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. from Eagle Stadium.

"Overall, Nixa is just a solid Class 6 program," Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. "When we get to districts and we face a good, solid Class 6 program, this is what it will look like."

Nixa has victories by scores of 42-19 over Webb City, 65-21 over Neosho, 22-21 over Carthage and 56-17 over Branson. Points could be aplenty on Friday night as Nixa's averaging 46 points and 461 yards of total offense (275 rush and 186 pass) per game while Joplin scores at a 34.8 clip and averages 368 total yards of offense (198 pass and 170 rush).

But no team has scored more than 22 points against Joplin this season. Joplin's defense is allowing just 11.5 ppg while Nixa's surrendering 19.5.

Probable starters for Nixa include quarterback Connor Knatcal, tailback Ramone Green, fullback Gaven Krans and wide receivers Noah Engleman, Kael Combs and Rylan Michel.

Nixa's offensive line consists of tackles Timothy Eckert and Landon Carson, guards Ethan Cho and Jacob Lile as well as center Garrett Davidson.

"They have a lot of really good skill kids," Jasper said. "Ramone is back and healthy (following a broken collarbone from last year). They've got the Combs kids. Their quarterback (Knatcal) is back. They have another basketball kid at receiver. They have a plethora of weapons offensively. Obviously, they are really solid up front."

Defensive starters for Nixa include tackles Avery Rutherford and Brett Cook as well as ends Corbin Speaks and Jaydon Antonelli. The Eagles' linebacker core features Gage Sporleder and Ty Hartman on the outside, while Tanner Grant is the middle.

Nixa's secondary includes corners Broden Mabe and Jordan Tyler as well as safeties Jake Miller and Spencer Ward.

"Defensively, they've got several kids back on defense," Jasper said. "Two or three on the defensive line, a linebacker and two defensive backs. They have guys back at all levels. They are playing well on both sides of the ball. Their kicker (Kaleb James) is really good, too. He generally kicks it out of the end zone on kickoffs. He's made one or two field goals already and made all but one of his extra points because it got blocked."

Green is arguably one of, if not, the best running back in southwest Missouri. He carried the ball 10 times for 193 yards and totaled four TDs against Branson.

A senior, Green has netted 764 yards on the ground in 68 attempts this season. He's amassed 11 TDs (one pass) overall.

"He's got really good balance, change of direction and explosiveness," Jasper said. "I really appreciate how explosive he is from a cut or once he gets to a hole. He's just an explosive runner."

Knatcal has completed 48 of 85 passes for 709 yards. He has 10 TD passes with one interception. Michel leads Nixa with 15 catches for 260 yards and three TDs, while Combs has 11 receptions for 116 yards and two TDs.

Hartman and Ward pace the Nixa defense with 48 and 45 tackles, respectively.

Joplin quarterback Hobbs Gooch has completed 45 of 69 passes for 740 yards this season. He has 10 TDs and four INTs (just one over the last three weeks).

Quin Renfro has scored five TDs and rushed for a team-high 377 yards in 58 carries, while Drew VanGilder has ran the ball 27 times for 252 yards (9.3 ypc) and scored three times.

Davin Thomas and Terrance Gibson lead Joplin's receiving corps with 12 and 11 catches, respectively. Thomas has amassed 282 yards through the air, while Gibson has 216.

The 1-2 punch has a combined eight TD receptions.

Drew VanGilder is tops on the Eagle defense with 39 tackles. He's averaging almost 17 stops per game.

Coming off a victory as significant as Webb City, Jasper's message to his players remains the same:

"We have to keep getting better everyday," Jasper said. "We've achieved what we have so far this year. We just have to focus on the task at hand and get a little better today. If we do that, obviously go out and execute, play hard, do all the things we should on Friday night then we'll live with the results whatever they are."