Willis leads NMCC past Mater Dei

BREESE, Ill. -- Remond Willis rushed for 240 yards and three touchdowns as the New Madrid County Central Eagles held on to defeat Mater Dei (Ill.) 39-31 on Friday night.

The Eagles (5-2) led 19-9 entering the fourth quarter. A 2-yard run by Willis gave NMCC a seemingly safe 26-9 lead with 11:55 left in the game.

But that's when things got interesting.

Mater Dei (3-5) answered when Ryan Issak returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion run by Nathan Cook cut the lead to 26-17.

Willis then rumbled 65 yards for a touchdown on the Eagles' first play of the next series to extend the lead to 33-17 with 11:21 left.

The Knights cut the lead to 33-25 when Alexander Huelsmann broke off a 37-yard run, and then added the two-point conversion run with 7:39 left in the game.

Mater Dei then recovered the onside kick. They cut the lead to 33-31 when Jeff Henss scored on a 6-yard run with 6:04 remaining. The two-point conversion, however, failed, leaving the Eagles with the lead.

But once again Mater Dei recovered the onside kick, their third successful recovery of the game, and had a chance to win.

But after a couple plays, Cook fumbled the snap which Antonio McIntosh recovered at the Knight 49-yard line.

The Eagles put together a 10-play drive capped by a 13-yard circus catch by Edgar Givens to make it 39-31 with 37 seconds left in the game.

The extra point failed for the Eagles, but Mater Dei's desperation drive ended when Shepherd intercepted a pass with 10 seconds left to seal it.

"That was a great football game," said NMCC head coach Steve Rogers. "Fortunately we were able to come out on top. We've got some pretty good skill athletes and now we'll get ready for our district."

Mater Dei jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter on a Huelsmann 3-yard TD run and a safety.

Willis scored his first touchdown of the night on a 63-yard run with 1:54 left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 9-7.

The Eagles took the lead at 13-9 when quarterback Darrel Newsom hooked up with Vaughn Shepherd for an 18-yard TD pass with 6:20 left in the half.

Newsom was able to extend the Eagles' lead to 19-9 on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 5:59 left in the third quarter.

The two teams combined for 781 yards of offense.

Newsom finished with 92 yards passing on 6-of-10 completions.

Givens had 57 yards receiving on three catches.

Mater Dei's Huelsmann finished with a game-high 257 yards on 36 carries with two TD runs.

The Knights, who used a wishbone power game for most of the night, also got 96 passing yards out of Cook. Mater Dei edged the Eagles in total offense 392-to-389. NMCC will play at Fredericktown next Friday night at 7:30 to open Class 3, District 1 play.