For one half on Saturday afternoon in Hamilton, the Wellington-Napoleon Tigers played toe-to-toe with the top-ranked Penney High School Hornets, only to have the Hornets take the lead on the first drive of the third quarter, and roll to a 35-14 win, putting the Hornets two wins away from a third state football title in the last four seasons.
Hamilton appeared to be in trouble in the second quarter, as the visiting Tigers scored back-to-back touchdowns on a 16 yard run by Blaine Beissenherz and a 76 yard pass from Jacob Beckemeyer to Jake Ruskey for a 14-0 lead. Wellington-Napoleon converted the first, but failed on the second, two-point conversion.
Seizing momentum before the end of the half were the Hornets, with Derrick Hughes scoring on runs of 59 and 22 yards, with Matt LaPiana's extra points leaving the score tied at 14 at the break.
The Hornets dominated the third quarter with touchdown runs of 9 yards by Devan Hughes and 18 yards from Kellen Overstreet, with an Overstreet touchdown run of 11 yards putting the game away in the fourth, with LaPiana finishing a perfect five-for-five on extra points.
For Hamilton, Derrick Hughes finished with 27 carries for 268 yards, while Wellington-Napoleon's passing attack resulted in 290 yards through the air for Beckemeyer.
The win improves the Hornets to 13-0 on the season, and sends them to Salisbury for a state semifinal this Saturday, November 17th at 1:30. Salisbury advanced with a 21-13 win over South Shelby.
In the other Class 1 state semifinal, Tipton plays at Valle Catholic. Tipton advanced with a 28-7 quarterfinal win over Skyline, while Valle Catholic ripped Miller, 48-25.
Here are the rest of the SATURDAY quarterfinal scores from across Missouri:
Class 2:
Caruthersville 54, Maplewood-Richmond Heights 37
Lamar 55, Liberty (Mountain View) 14
Blair Oaks 34, Clark County 3
Holden 48, Lathrop 27
Semifinals (Saturday at 1:30 PM):
Caruthersville at Lamar
Blair Oaks at Holden
Class 3:
John Burroughs 24, Central (Park Hills) 0
Monett 49, Eldon 6
California 21, Duchesne 12
Maryville 49, KC Center 26
Semifinals (Saturday at 1:30 PM):
California at Maryville
John Burroughs at Monett
Class 4:
St. Mary's (St. Louis) 37, Hillsboro 14
Webb City 35, Sullivan 6
Helias Catholic 31, Clayton 8
Harrisonville 28, Platte County 7
Semifinals (Saturday at 1:30 PM):
Webb City at St. Mary's (St. Louis)
Helias Catholic at Harrisonville
Class 5:
Kirkwood 33, Rockwood Summit 31
Parkway Central 7, Camdenton 0
Ozark 26, Lee's Summit West 23
Fort Osage 20, KC Staley 3
Semifinals (Friday at 7:00 PM):
Ozark at Fort Osage
Kirkwood at Parkway Central
Class 6 Semifinals (Friday at 7:00 PM):
Lafayette Wildwood at Francis Howell
Blue Springs at DeSmet
Eight Man Semifinals (Friday at 7:00 PM):
Rock Port at Stanberry
North Andrew at Southwest Livingston (Ludlow) |
