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Nevada Tigers maul Stockton, 52-14, on Senior Night
By Eric Wade
Herald-Tribune
Senior Night is always a time for mixed emotions in any sport. It's a time when not only do some athletes have to watch their careers come to an end, but the rest of the team has to say goodbye to what can often be the most valuable players on the roster.
That night full of mixed emotions was exactly what the Nevada Tigers football team found itself in the midst of Friday night as head coach Wes Beachler's squad took to the field for the final game of the 2012 regular season against the Tigers of Stockton.
At the game's conclusion, Beachler had plenty of positive words to say about his seniors, specifically highlighting the simple fact that their work ethic and willingness to buy into his philosophies have been a significant source of pride in his mind. "There's no doubt. They understand that you don't achieve anything if you're not willing to work to get it and they understood that from day one," Beachler said. "I'm very proud of them; it was an emotional night.
Both teams came into the contest at Nevada's Logan Field hungry for a win. Nevada entered the contest on a five-game winning streak that included a 43-34 victory over McDonald County last week. Stockton, on the other hand, led by head coach Shad Edwards, tasted victory for the first time in the 2012 season last week over Pleasant Hope by the final score of 26-6.
At the conclusion of Senior Night festivities, the Tigers took the field and ran away with the game early, defeating Stockton by a final score of 52-14, in the first meeting between the two schools ever for a football game.
"I thought our kids played well. I thought we executed at a pretty high level and we spent a lot of time this week on just the breakdowns we had in the second half against Mac County last week that turned that week from 35-12 to 35-34 before we pulled away at the end," Beachler said. "So I'm proud of our kids for executing on the things that we worked on in practice."
Beachler's Tigers drew first blood after shutting the Stockton offense almost effortlessly. The first score of the game came on a 60-yard punt return by Bradey Denney, giving the Tigers a 6-0 lead with 10:02 left in the first quarter.
Keegan Bell gave the Tigers their best field position of the night as he recovered a fumble from Stockton's Nathan Kerr at the Nevada 5-yard line. Denney extended the Tigers' lead just three plays later with a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 12-0 with 7:53 left in the opening quarter.
It didn't take long to see that Denney was to be the star of the game and he proved why for the third time in the first quarter with 5:08 to go as he hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Payne to make it 20-0 after the two-point conversion.
It wasn't until the Tigers' fourth touchdown of the game when another player got into the action. Lucas Denman was that second player and he capped off a 99-yard touchdown drive with a 6-yard run to make it 28-0 after the two-point conversion with 1:18 left, still in the first quarter.
Cole Sanderson gave the Nevada offense its second turnover as he picked off a Jake Brown pass at the 29 with 35 seconds to go. Dalton Hendren needed just one play to give the Tigers a 34-0 lead on a 29-yard score with 26 seconds left.
The Tigers came into the game knowing that Stockton liked to both run and throw the ball and Payne gave Edwards' Tigers a taste of their own medicine as he threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Schmidt to make it 40-0 with 9:27 to go in the half. The Tigers finished the half outdoing Stockton in both the passing and rushing categories as Payne went 5-for-8 for 108 yards and the Tigers ran for 162 yards, taking a 40-0 lead into the locker room at the half.
Stockton threw for just 39 yards in the opening half and ran for 30, bringing their total offense to just 69 yards and turned the ball over twice. Nevada didn't turn the ball over in the opening half and the only penalty of the half was called against Stockton.
After putting the second string into the game for most of the first half, the Tigers brought the starters back onto the field for the opening play of the second half and that one play was all Hendren needed to tack on his second touchdown of the night. Hendren took a 57-yard scamper right through the middle of the Stockton defense to make it 46-0 just 30 seconds into the second half.
Sanderson got his second interception of the night deep in Stockton territory just 2 minutes later, setting up outstanding field position yet again inside the 20. Hendren capped off what was yet another short drive for the Tigers with his third touchdown of the night with 6:08 left -- an 11-yard run -- to make it 52-0.
Stockton's only touchdown of the night came with 10:13 to go in the game when Garrett Burns took a 1-yard run into the end zone through the middle of the Nevada defense to make it 52-7. Stockton scored the game's final touchdown as well with 1:01 left in the game on a 12-yards touchdown by Kerr to make the final score 52-14.
"They deserve it," Beachler said in response to his team's dominance. "I mean, they have a work ethic and a discipline that should reap benefits."
Hendren finished the night for the Tigers with 128 rushing yards on just five carries and three touchdowns, while Denney had three scores of his own and ran for 42 yards. As a team, Nevada finished with 353 yards of offense -- 239 on the ground -- to just 179 yards of total offense for Stockton.
"Denney and Hendren, I mean, they're just an outstanding 1-2 tandem in the backfield," Beachler said of his two star running backs. "I mean, probably as good as I've had and I've had some pretty good running backs in my 21 years of coaching and they're right there in the top five."
With the win, the Tigers finished the regular season with a record of 7-2 and will enter the district playoffs against an opponent that will be determined when they final regular season standings in Class 4, District 7 are tallied, which should happen sometime this weekend.
In other Class 4, District 7 games Friday, Bolivar beat Reeds Spring by a final score of 37-16, Harrisonville downed Pleasant Hill, 47-0, Raytown South lost to Platte County, 25-13, Grandview lost to Liberty North, 43-16 and Warrensburg fell to O'Hara by a final score of 10-6.