McDonald County's triumph over Logan-Rogersville suggests Mustangs are continuing their ascent
ROGERSVILLE — An SEC aesthetic with the physicality to match.
Wearing road jerseys that mimic Auburn University's, McDonald County leaned on a turnover-forcing defense and hard-running quarterback in its 21-14 edging of Logan-Rogersville on Friday.
Sixth-year Mustangs coach Kellen Hoover even offered a Power 5-like reprimanding to help right his slow-starting offense.
After junior quarterback Destyn Dowd was nearly intercepted in McDonald County territory, an animated Hoover called timeout and loudly pointed to drive-killing mishaps and botched assignments.
They responded.
"We bounce back, no matter what's going on," Dowd said.
Big-yard plays and scoring came at a premium — the Class 4 contest was deadlocked 7-7 at halftime — but the Mustangs (2-1) began to wear down a Logan-Rogersville team (1-2) with similar grit.
Dowd's legs accounted for all three Mustangs touchdowns, including his one-yard keeper with five minutes left in the fourth quarter that gave his team a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
More: Southwest Missouri high school football takeaways and scores from Sept. 9
McDonald County's defense, which forced three first-half turnover and caused several turnovers on downs, gave an otherwise modest Mustangs offense (232 total yards) plenty of chances.
"Our defense played great tonight. They gave us several opportunities, but early on, we couldn't capitalize," Hoover said.
The Mustangs, coming off their first winning season at least 2004, according to MaxPreps records, are working through growing pains after graduating many of their primary playmakers.
When McDonald County went 5-5 in 2020, it was considered a coup. In 2021, its 10 wins were a school record. After holding a capable Wildcats offense to 242 total yards on Friday, Hoover's team still appears to be trending upward.
"We knew it was going to be a physical game, and thought it might be a low-scoring game," Hoover said. "It came down to who would score last. It was a classic Big 8 Conference game, with two physical teams that want to be physical."
Logan-Rogersville, a Big 8 East hopeful that has been on the rise in recent years and returned 14 starters, dropped its second game in as many weeks. The Wildcats also fell 28-0 to state power Lamar on Sept. 2.
More: Here were southwest Missouri's top high school football performers of Week 3
Timely return
After Wildcats quarterback Thessen Prenger's 12-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run made it a 14-14 ballgame, McDonald County's special teams swiftly deflated the sizable home crowd.
Mustangs returner Sam Barton took the ensuing kick to the Logan-Rogersville's 30, setting up Dowd's final touchdown run.
"That was a huge play," Hoover said.
Prenger's arching 35-yard completion to Brady Buckman, one of the game's few electric offensive plays, put the Wildcats in scoring position to knot the game before Barton's return.
Luke Hauer's two-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter capped a methodical second-quarter Wildcats drive, their first score of the game.
Big stops
Recovering a fumble on Logan-Rogersville's opening drive helped set a tone. Stopping Logan-Rogersville in the red zone just before half following an interception by Wildcats defensive back Cameron Wray was also big.
McDonald County came up with a pair of game-saving stops late in the fourth quarter to preserve its 21-14 lead, atoning for a special teams lapse.
Logan-Rogersville speedster Logan Cook followed Dowd's final touchdown run with an impressive kick return of his own, which ended in a facemask call against McDonald County.
That sequence put the Wildcats on McDonald County's 30 with a chance to tie or take a lead. Instead, the Mustangs' defense clamped down and forced another turnover on downs.
Hoover praised his cornerbacks. Slyte Osborne and Jack Parnell often operated in single coverage against the Wildcats' talented receiving corps, which includes Cook, an All-Big 8 selection a year ago.
McDonald County had a very active front seven, perhaps a bigger reason for holding the Wildcats' aerial attack to 16 of 32 attempts for 202 yards and an interception.
They also put a lid on Logan-Rogersville's running game, limiting the Wildcats to 42 yards on 28 carries.
"(The defense) just kept stopping them, and it was our time on offense to do something," Dowd said.
Life after Martin
When former McDonald County quarterback and 2021 Big 8 West Offensive Player of the Year Cole Martin left to play college baseball, Hoover plugged in a running back.
Dowd, an all-district running back a year ago, still plays a downhill style of football despite his QB tag.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior totaled 62 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 16 carries on Friday, and completed 9 of 16 passes for 97 yards and an interception.
Dowd's top receiver? His senior brother, Cross Dowd, who caught five passes for 63 yards.
"He can run and throw," Hoover said of his new QB. "But running between the tackles is still his forte."
Dowd's longest run was a 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Logan-Rogersville High school football loses 21-14 to McDonald County
