Lamar Hammers Mustangs On The Gridiron

PHOTO BY RICK PECK
PHOTO BY RICK PECK

The five-time defending state champion Lamar Tigers had little trouble proving their No. 1 state ranking is well deserved Friday night in the Tigers' 56-0 win over McDonald County.

Lamar scored five touchdowns on its five first-quarter possession to take a 36-0 lead after 12 minutes, then added a pair of touchdowns in the second period to take a 50-0 advantage into the locker room at halftime. The Tigers final score came in their opening possession of the second half.

But as good as the Lamar offense was, its defense might have been even better. The Tigers intercepted six McDonald County passes and held the Mustangs to 42 total yards, which included just 3 net rushing yards.

"We had no blocking," said coach John Diehl. "The offensive line has a lot of work to do this week. Our quarterback was running for his life the whole night. Lamar is a five-time returning state champion and looked every bit the part and they are well on their way to a sixth."

Anthony Wilkerson scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 6-yard run to cap Lamar's opening drive, that covered 50 yards in eight plays. Matt Whyman ran the conversion and then scored touchdowns the next two times he touched the ball, the first from 24 yards, the second from 13 yards.

Wilkerson scored on a 34-yard run before Cooper Lucas capped the Tigers' first quarter scoring blitz with a 3-yard run.

Lucas and Wilkerson added second quarter touchdowns, Wilkerson's coming on a 28-yard interception return.

Lamar's second-half score came on a 2-yard run by Chase Jordan.

MCHS' Peyton Barton threw for 39 yards on 6 of 18 passing. Jake Will had two catches for 22 yards to lead the receivers. Cole DelosSantos caught two passes, but for a minus 1 yard, while Oakley Roessler had one catch for 13 yards and Isrrael De Santiago had one catch for 5 yards.

Will led the running game, carrying four times for 22 yards while Barton, Roessler and De Santiago all finished with negative yards.

Defensively, DelosSantos had 11 tackles and De Santiago and Roessler eight each to lead the Mustangs, while Will added six tackles and Marshall Foreman had five.

McDonald County falls to 0-6 overall, 0-4 in the Big 8 Conference heading into Friday night's game at Monett. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Sports on 09/29/2016