WC v. Branson

Something kind of rare happened this week. The preacher at church stepped on my toes twice in the same week.

Robin was preaching from James 3 on Sunday - Taming the Tongue - which done well is always a topic I'm convicted about.

The second was when Robin commented on this blog pointing out I'd been derelict of my duties to provide commentary about the Webb City Cardinals football season.

My bad.

Sitting in Neosho last Friday night hearing that Branson was physically dominating Carthage - who was supposed to be untouchable - I was very concerned about what the 10/10/08 showdown in Cardinal's Stadium might look like. Since playing out of their minds against Rogers, AR, the Cards had not put together a complete performance and had looked rusty at times against some weaker opponents. I knew we'd have to see the team that went on the road to Harrisonville and welcomed Rogers - and then found ways to beat both if they wanted to beat Branson.

One thing the Cards had struggled with was starting out slow. Not on this Friday night (which I'm told was homecoming, but the coronation was so bad that I think pretty much everyone forgot - really, it was an embarrassing debacle and is what you get when it becomes "Fall" Homecoming instead of "Football" Homecoming).

The Cards forced Branson to go 3 & out on its opening possession and then quickly moved the ball down and scored. On Branson's next possession on 3rd down an interception was returned for another WC touchdown. Branson's third possession was another 3 & out followed by another quick score.

That third score came on a pass play from Mack Kyle to Austin Lepper. I mention this because the ball was behind Austin - who was crossing left to right - but he managed to reach back across his body and grab it. It wasn't quite like Zerkel at CJ a couple of years ago, but it was a great catch. Austin later caught another TD pass and recovered a fumble. He's having a great season.

Webb made it 27-0 in the second quarter before Branson got on the board. From there WC put hit the cruise control button (or so it seemed) and finished the game 34-13.

Some observations:
- WC played a more physical game than we've seen them play and I hope they bring that with them next week to Carthage, because that is a big key to beating the Tigers. This week they had to play that way because Branson was playing very physical football and the Cards were getting hit hard. Their response? Give it right back. As the game went on, the Cards just kept hitting Branson again and again. We saw more highlight reel hits in this game (going both ways) than in any previous game of the season.
- Webb re-emerged as the team we saw early in the season. Sadly this makes me think I've been right that they tend to prepare and play based on what they think their opponent can do. I'd rather see them bring it every week, but at least they have a sense of the big game. Hey, Cards, memo for you: You'd better bring it next week, you can bet Carthage will.
- Cards fans saw something a little different on defense last night. It looked vaguely familiar from years gone by - a number 5 jersey patrolling the secondary. And when this 5 made tackles the last name was even familiar - his older brother wore that number a few years ago and was a standout for the Cards. For the first time this season Patrick Drake played several series on defense (we've seen him in places on spacial teams and offense, but not on defense yet) and seemed to get the hang of it quickly. Drake is 6-2 and athletic, which makes him a tough corner to throw over. Add to that his years of experience playing quarterback and watching his older brother and you can bet he understands the game and has a great sense of where he needs to be. Branson was a good opponent to start out against, they don't throw a ton and playing run-support requires less experience from a corner. Drake seemed eager to prove himself, making several tackles a handful of nice hits. He got hit hard covering a punt, jumped up and went right back at Branson. I'm anxious to see what this looks like going forward, I think he may be a key to helping WC play better in the back-end against teams that are threats to throw the ball (Carthage to name one) - and let's be honest, the secondary has been the Cards weakness on defense this season.


Next week's showdown in Carthage will be an interesting one. If WC comes out like it did last night and plays physical football for 4 quarters Carthage will be hard pressed to beat the Cards. I feel like the WC-Carthage rivalry is taking on a little of the tone that the Bedlam matchup I'm familiar with has (that's what we call it anytime OU and Oklahoma State play one another - doesn't matter if it's football or inner-tube water polo). By that I mean that even if one team has the ability to physically dominate the other, all bets are off and it's likely to be a close game. If there is one game all season Carthage is going to get up for it's WC. I'm not saying WC can or should dominate Carthage and anyone who tells you that (or the opposite) is pretty definitely wrong - at least I don't expect to see that actually happen. I will stand by my previous statement regarding this matchup: If WC can get pressure on and hit the Carthage QB (Derryberry) early they will have a massive advantage and that is their best chance of shutting down a very potent Carthage attack.

Friday night, 7pm, in Carthage. Please stay home so the 25 seats in the visitor's bleachers will be available for the rest of us.