Tigers scale Mt. Vernon in an epic contest of unbeatens

Nevada High School began playing organized high school football in 1921. For that inaugural season, and the two that followed, the Tigers played their home games at a location known as Twilight Park. In 1924, local businessman and longtime school board member, George E. Logan donated Twilight Park to the school district, and in appreciation for the gift, the district named the location in his honor. For the past 99 years folks have known this venue as our beloved Logan Field.

The stadium has seen some tremendous games over the last century and Friday night’s contest between the Mountaineers and Tigers was one of them. Both Mt. Vernon and Nevada have a storied past. They, along with eight other southwest Missouri schools, formed the Southwest Activities Association in 1920. In 1929, Joplin and Springfield were voted out of the association and what remained was a conference that has endured for 94 years. You know it as the Big 8 Conference.

Nevada won last year’s contest 36-23 at Mt. Vernon after losing three previous contests to the Mt, Vernon since 2018. Coming into Friday’s game, both teams were state ranked in their respective class. The Mountaineers of Lawrence County, were giving up under 9 points a game on defense while the Nevada Tigers were averaging over 45 points per game. Something would have to give.

To start the game both teams traded possessions. Brice Budd intercepted Mt. Vernon Quarterback Gavin Johnston on the Mountaineer opening drive and then, after a Braden punt, made a key special teams play by downing the ball on the Mt. Vernon 1 yard line.

After a poor punt by the Mountaineers, Nevada started their second possession with excellent field position. A few plays later, Jack Cheaney would score on an 11-yard touchdown run with 3:17 to go in the quarter. The PAT kick by Braden was good and the Tigers had the lead at 7-0.

Mt. Vernon, on the ensuing possession, took over at midfield. With 1:01 left in the quarter, Junior Quarterback Gavin Johnston connected on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Senior WR Calvin Dawson. The PAT kick was good. The quarter would end knotted at 7-7.

The Tiger’s Brice Budd took the ensuing kick all the way to the Mt. Vernon 41-yard line, giving Nevada excellent field position again. The Tiger run game pushed the ball down field and at 9:28 to go in the half, junior running back Gabe Smith scored on a 3-yard touchdown run. The PAT was good, giving the Tigers a 14-7 lead.

On their next possession, Mt. Vernon would connect a 38-yard pass but the Mountaineer receiver, trying to gain extra yardage, would fumble as result of a Tyler Longobardi hit and Nevada LB Henry Campbell would recover for the Tigers. Nevada would methodically move deep into Mt. Vernon territory and at 4:37 Brice Budd would cross the endzone on a 5-yard run. The PAT was good and the Tigers held the 21-7 advantage.

If you thought this would be the opportune to run to the concession stand before the halftime rush, you would have been mistaken. In the final 4 minutes in the half, an explosion of scoring occurred in a very short amount of time. Mountaineer running back Cody Downing would score on a 2-yard touchdown run. Nevada answered at 1:13 with a 72-yard pass from Braden to Cheaney. Then with 42 seconds remaining, Mt. Vernon QB Gavin Johnston connected on a 25-yard touchdown pass to WR Calvin Dawson. The Mountaineer PAT was good. The score at the half now stood at Nevada 28-Mt. Vernon 14.

The third quarter would see the offensive fireworks continue. Nevada’s Dezmon Robinson returned the second half kickoff to midfield. Then, on the first play from scrimmage, Brice Budd broke a 38-yard run to the Mt. Vernon 12-yard line. At 9:06, Jack Cheaney would score his third touchdown of the evening a 4th down 7-yard run. The PAT kick was no good.

The Mountaineers would immediately answer at 7:29 when Mt. Vernon Quarterback Gavin Johnston threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to senior WR Ryder Dampf. The PAT kick was unsuccessful.

With Nevada holding serve, at 1:35 to go in the 3rd quarter, Nevada Sophomore Quarterback Kellen Braden, on a roll out, runs 5 yards for pay dirt. The two-point conversion failed. At the end on three quarters, Nevada held a 40-27 advantage over Mt. Vernon.

As the 4th quarter opened, it took Mt. Vernon only a minute and 35 seconds to bring the game within a single score when at 10:25, Mt. Vernon QB Gavin Johnston scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Juliun Hernandez. The PAT kick was successful and the scoreboard read, Nevada 40-Mt. Vernon 34.

A nervousness fell over the South stands. Looking at the faces in the crowd you could not only see it, you could feel it in the air. The teams would exchange possessions. Mt. Vernon held Nevada deep in their own territory on downs. Nevada’s Gabe Smith would answer with a key interception returning the ball to the Mt. Vernon 43 with 5:11 to go.

Nevada, after a game saving fumble recovery by offensive lineman Talan Chandler, and a series of untimely penalties on the Tigers, would have to punt with under 4 minutes to play. The Mountaineer offense was having a lot of success throwing the football and had proven time and again they could move down the field in a very short time span. The Mt. Vernon aerial show would have 288 yards passing on the evening. Now they were within 6 points and a touchdown and extra point would give them a late lead with very little time to play.

Football, not unlike a lot of team sports, is sometimes a game of momentum. The fate of a contest can turn a single play. Case in point: in the 1966 Homecoming Game when the Tigers took on the Neosho Wildcats, Neosho had cut a Tiger lead late to 14-13. When the Wildcats attempted to run the conversion, Nevada High School Hall of Famer Larry Householder stopped the ball carrier short of the west goal line at Logan Field. Preserving the win, the Chuck Shelton led Tigers would go on to its first undefeated season. Another moment that is celebrated in the annals of Logan Field lore is when, in October of 1973, defensive tackle Carl Steffan batted down a pass on a two-point conversion try in the endzone in a 7-6 win over Monett and propelled the Tigers to their second undefeated season in seven years.

Single plays, by Crimson & Gray defenders, preserving undefeated records at historic Logan Field. It has to make one both think and dream given what was about to happen.

Enter Nevada’s defensive linemen Luke Andersen and Bryan Mendez. With 2:51 to go, Anderson penetrated the Mt. Vernon backfield and had put Mountaineer QB Gavin Johnston under heavy pressure. Trying to free himself from Andersen’s grasp, the Mountaineer quarterback attempted a desperate throw. Nevada junior defensive tackle Bryan Mendez intercepts the Mt. Vernon pass and he returns it 20 yards for the touchdown, thus taking his storied place in Logan Field history. The 2-point PAT pass from Kellen Braden to Tyler Longobardi was successful.

Nevada’s Jack Cheaney would add a 43-yard touchdown run with 1:16 to game giving the Tigers a three-touchdown advantage.

Final Score: Nevada 55-Mt. Vernon 34.

There were some outstanding performances for the Crimson & Gray:

• Kellen Braden rushed for a TD and threw for a touchdown giving him two on the night.

• Brice Budd rushed for a touchdown and had a spectacular interception.

• Gabe Smith matched that feat by finding paydirt on a run of his own. He too would pick off the Mountaineer quarterback.

• Jack Cheaney was Jack Cheaney: 183 yards rushing with 4 game touchdowns (3 rushing and 1 TD reception). To date Cheaney has 906 yards rushing through five games and has 17 total touchdowns.

But the real story, not obvious to the casual fan, would have been the Nevada Offensive and Defensive line. The offense managed 373 yards on the ground. The Nevada Defense allowed only 57 yards rushing on the evening. They say games are won in the trenches. Those statistics tend to reinforce that old cliché. But cliché or not, it is consistently true.

Nevada’s Head Coach Wes Beachler had the following reflections after the win: “I am very proud of our players. It was a hard-fought game between two really good teams. Our young men overcame some adversity and tough situations to pull away late. Bryan Mendez, not only caught the ball thrown during the sack, he got up off the ground to do so. That’s what we want, young men who play from the snap until the whistle for all four quarters!” Looking ahead to next week’s opponent, the Cassville Wildcats, Coach Beachler stated: “We have to clean up the penalties and some missed blocking assignments on the offensive line. We have some alignment, and assignment issues on defense that need to be addressed as well. We will take care of those things.”

The Tigers will make the long trek to Barry County next Friday with a start time of 7 p.m., at Cassville High School.