Tigers carry drop-kick buzz to Webb City

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- Sandwiched in between arguably their two toughest games on the schedule, the Nevada Tigers are currently preparing with a big buzz following the team. The buzz has nothing to do with the 69-25 loss to the now third-ranked Carthage Tigers last week, or the matchup with first-ranked Webb City this Friday. Instead, it has to do with a drop kick.

During the first quarter of Friday's loss to Carthage, Nevada quarterback/kicker Ronnie Herda not only attempted a drop kick on an extra point try, but he made it. The kick was traditional, with the ball hitting the ground first and the multi-talented junior booting it through the uprights.

But the kick was far from conventional.

The Tigers, who have not made a regular extra point kick this season, have become the talk of Southwest Missouri, and it's not for their 44-point loss.

"Maybe we were a part of Missouri high school football history there," Nevada head coach John Skeans said. "I think it was really neat to see. It's kind of a lost art."

Archaic at least, drop kicking was in vogue in the 1920s and 1930s. Last season Doug Flutie successfully drop kicked during an NFL game for the New England Patriots, and that was the first time it had been done in the league since 1941.

While there is no way to know when the last drop kick was attempted (or made) in Missouri high school football, Herda's boot has definitely made waves locally.

"Some of our coaches were in Carthage for the JV game Monday and noticed they had some varsity players trying it," Skeans said. "I think that's great."

Skeans said Herda brought the idea up in practice a year ago.

"Ronnie had actually approached me last year and told me he could do it," Skeans said. "We toyed with the idea of doing it last year but Ronnie got hurt so we just carried it over."

Skeans said the team had actually planned on using it in a game and even practiced formations.

Herda's kick came with him almost in a shotgun formation Friday.

"It's another weapon for us," Skeans said.

The drop kick was only one of the unusual things about the Nevada-Carthage game. Nevada actually had more total offense (411-385) than Carthage in the game, despite losing by 44 points.

Carthage was able to put 41 points on the board in the first quarter, despite running only six offensive plays.

Skeans said his players need to keep their minds off the top ranking of the Cardinals.

"We're trying to not focus on things we can't control, like their ranking. We just have to focus on ourselves."

Nevada (2-2 overall, 0-1 in the Southwest Conference) will be trying to stop a team that whipped the fifth-ranked team in Class 4 last week (Ozark) by a 42-0 clip.

"Mentally, we're realizing that we can play with high caliber competition," Skeans said. "We just have to start fast."