​Penalties doom Eagles in season-ending loss to Webb City

by Michael Smith
 
Grain Valley had some golden opportunities.

The Eagles had great starting field position for their first three possessions against Webb City in Friday in the Class 5 District 7 semifinals.

Grain Valley started at the Webb City 27-yard line after a big opening kickoff return from senior Aaron Barr, the Cardinal 42-yard line and the 50. However, it was not able to score on any of those possessions due to penalty-killing drives.

“There were a couple of unforced errors that we had, and we’ve had issues with that all season, unfortunately,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “It wasn’t on one side or the other. As a team, we’ve struggled with errors all season.”

The Eagles also had two critical mistakes late in the contest as they suffered a season-ending 21-9 loss to the Cardinals at Moody Murray Memorial Field.

The home team was gifted two points early by Webb City after a bad snap that went out of the back of the end zone resulted in a safety and a 2-0 lead with 3:30 left in the first.

After the Eagles (6-4) shut down Webb City on its first two drives, the Cardinals got their first big play when 57-yard run from junior Slade Hurd in which he found a huge hole on the right side. That set up his 3-yard TD run two plays later to put the Cardinals ahead 7-2.

Grain Valley had their next drive start from its own 45, once again having good field position, but the offense once again went three-and-out. With 1:24 left in the first half, Webb City senior quarterback Jackson Lucas found senior wide receiver Andrew Young on a fly route along the left sideline for an 80-yard scoring pass as the Cardinals went into halftime up 14-3.

The Eagles had a solid drive late in the third quarter as they made it to the Webb City 46-yard line, but a high snap from senior center Korbyn Goodwin resulted in a 22-yard loss and quarterback Chase Neer pounced on the ball to prevent a turnover.

Barr helped the team get going after he intercepted Lucas on a pass over the middle and he returned it to the Webb City 43. After sputtering all game, the Eagles offense finally found the end zone. Senior running back DJ Harris found a big hole on the right side of the offensive line as he scored on a 17-yard run to narrow the gap to 14-9 with 11:08 yet.

It seemed like Grain Valley captured the momentum for the first time in the contest. It appeared Webb City was going to go for it on fourth-and-3, but quickly faked out the Eagles by running their offense off the field and subbing in their punt team quickly with just a few seconds left on the play clock.

The Eagles tried to sub in their punt return team but were called for a too many men on the field penalty after Webb City snapped the ball to get a first down. The Cardinals later put the game away as Lucas scored on an 8-yard run with 4:46 left.

“That killed us because we stopped them,” Barr said of the penalty. “What was a big momentum swing right there.”

Added Allie: “Their quarterback really got us on those midline runs.”

The Grain Valley offense was unable to get going as it totaled just 194 yards on the day. Senior running backs Robert Palmer and DJ Harris led the Eagles with 54 rushing yards each. On defense, Barr helped keep the Eagles in the game with a team-high seven tackles and the interception.

“I think our defense was the reason we were even in this position,” said Barr, whose defense held Webb City to just 298 yards. “I was hoping our offense could capitalize on the big plays we had, but we just couldn’t do that. That just killed us.

“If (the defense) didn’t play perfect, we played close to it.” Barr said.

Grain Valley will graduate 17 seniors after its five-year streak of winning a district championship came to an end.

“The seniors come to work every day,” Allie said. “At the end of the day, that’s what we ask them to do. I appreciate them and how much they put into the program. We’re going to miss them.”

Head Coach David Allie congratulates Eagles on a running touchdown. Photo credit: John Overstreet

DJ Harris with a hard fought gain on a running play. Photo credit: John Overstreet

Aaron Barr with an Eagles interception. Photo credit: John Overstreet