October 1, 2016
NMCC football wallops Kelly for first win
BENTON, Mo. -- There was plenty of firsts in Kelly's home game Friday night against New Madrid County Central. It took seven games but the Hawks not only scored their first touchdown of the season, but took their first lead in the process. Ultimately it was the Eagles taking home the biggest first: a 54-7 win that gives head coach Tyler Fullhart his first win at the helm of the NMCC program...
By Brent Shipman ~ Standard Democrat
BENTON, Mo. -- There was plenty of firsts in Kelly's home game Friday night against New Madrid County Central.
It took seven games but the Hawks not only scored their first touchdown of the season, but took their first lead in the process.
Ultimately it was the Eagles taking home the biggest first: a 54-7 win that gives head coach Tyler Fullhart his first win at the helm of the NMCC program.
"It feels real good," Fullhart said. "I'm proud of the guys and the way they executed. They played hard and they deserve it. Our game plan I felt was pretty solid in defending them, but I think we came out a little flat.
"We had to respond to that and I think the kids did a good job."
NMCC (1-5) put the Hawks (0-7) in a familiar hole when Darrion Phillips scored on the Eagles first offensive play from 58 yards out.
Unlike in their previous six games, however, Kelly found a way to respond while exercising some demons.
Marching 65 yards down the field on their opening drive, the Hawks used a pass heavy attack to work their way to NMCC's one-yard line.
A few stumbles pushed them back to the five-yard line before quarterback Christian Worley found receiver Evan Ebert in the endzone on third-and-goal.
Worley's pass ended a scoreless drought that lasted the first six games of the season and Gavin Childer's point-after gave them a momentary 7-6 lead three minutes into the game.
"That was very exciting," Kelly head coach Lance Powers said. "We're leading the ball game. I'm very proud of my boys that came right down after they were scored on. We marched down on an eight or nine play drive and answered the bell.
"We made some adjustments this week and we thought we had a good game plan going in. Obviously our first drive reflected that."
Though there's was plenty of celebration at putting their first crooked number on the scoreboard, Kelly's good fortunes didn't last long.
NMCC went on to score on every offensive possession in the first half, save for their final drive of the first half when time expired.
Craig Beasley's 110 yards led the way on just nine carries as NMCC amassed 403 total yards in the first half alone to set up a turbo-clock finish.
A 34-yard touchdown run from Jacob Keene gave the Eagles the lead back after the Hawks' score and Phillips followed it up with a 38-yard interception for a touchdown to make it 20-7.
JaMonte Sykes scored on back-to-back possession with carries of eight and 25-yards respectively to put NMCC firmly in control, 34-7, entering the second quarter.
"The offense ran real smooth," Fulhart said. "The kids executed. We've been preaching that all year long that if they just execute plays I think we'd be alright. They were able to do that tonight and I was proud of them."
Quarterback Brock Blakey connected with Tra Ranson from 14 yards out early in the second quarter for NMCC's lone passing touchdown. Phillips scored for the third time and Beasley capped his night with a 28-yard rushing touchdown to make up the 54-7 final before the half.
The Eagles out-gained Kelly 432-113 yards on the night. Beasley's 110 yards and a touchdown on nine carries were a game high. Phillips added 66 yards on six attempts while scoring on three straight touches.
Through the air, Blakey went 7 of 8 for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Ranson and Walker caught three passes each, for 72 and 28 yards respectively.
"This is a really good group of kids," Fulhart said. "They're young and hungry. I hope they enjoy this, build on it and get ready for work on Monday."
For Kelly, Worley carried the bulk of the offensive load. He threw for 144 yards and a score on 14 of 30 passing.
Several sacks and a few bad snaps combined to leave the Hawks with negative-31 yards on the ground on 18 attempts. Quintin Lara rushed eight times for 43 yards.
While the winless streaks stretches to seven games this season, 11 overall , Powers was pleased to see his team show some positive signs offensively.
"That's a monkey that was on my back," Powers said of scoring the touchdown. "I'm more happy for the boys, that now they know what it takes.
"All that hard work that we put in Monday through Friday and they finally felt the success of that coming down here, so I'm very excited for them."
NMCC 34 20 0 0 - 54
Kelly 7 0 0 0 - 7
First Quarter
N -- Darrion Phillips 58 run (Eric Humphrey kick missed), 11:40
K -- Evan Ebert 5 pass from Christian Worley ( Gavin Childers kick good), 9:05
N -- Jacob Keene 34 run (Craig Beasley run failed), 7:25
N -- Darrion Phillips 38 interception return ( JaMonte Sykes run good), 6:58
N -- JaMonte Sykes 8 run (Eric Humphrey kick good), 4:04
N -- JaMonte Sykes 25 run (Eric Humphrey kick good), 0:15
Second Quarter
N -- Tra Ranson 14 pass from Brock Blakey (Eric Humphrey kick blocked), 11:43
N -- JaMonte Sykes 8 run (Eric Humphrey kick good), 6:13
N -- Craig Beasley 28 run (Eric Humphrey kick good), 3:09
Team Statistics
N K
Total yards 432 113
Rushes-yards 35-321 18-(-31)
Passing yards 111 144
Comp.-Att.-Int. 14-30-1 7-10-0
Individual Statistics
Rushing -- NMCC, Darrion Phillips 1-58, Craig Beasley 9-110, JaMonte Sykes 6-66, Jacob Keene 2-53, Mason Palmer 4-7, Grae Palmer 4-14, Tra Ranson 2-5, Gavin Bond 4-8, JaMonte Smith 1-1, Keilan Gibbs 1-1, Brock Blakey 1-(-2). Kelly, Quintin Lara 8-43, Landon Hahs 1-(-4), Christian Worley 8(-72), Christian Williams 1-2.
Passing -- NMCC, Brock Blakey 7-8-0 111, Grae Palmer 0-2-0 0. Kelly, Christian Worley 14-30-1 144.
Receiving -- NMCC, Johnnie Walker 3-28, Tra Ranson 3-72, Craig Beasley 1-11. Kelly, Trystan Wohlfred 8-73, Landon Hahs 1-25, LJ Thomas 3-25, Evan Ebert 1-5, Quintin Lara 1-6.
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