Logan Uding carried most of the load for Festus tonight (Sept. 22) with the Tigers missing their leading rusher. The senior running back scored four touchdowns and amassed 116 yards on 10 carries in a 42-7 homecoming victory over Windsor.
Festus was without senior running back Jordan Fielder, who has run for a team-high 405 yards this season. Festus coach Russ Schmidt said Fiedler didn’t play because of disciplinary reasons.
“He was being disciplined,” Schmidt said. “I can’t discuss discipline. At this time, he’s not playing tonight.”
Festus (3-3, 2-2 Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division) didn’t miss a beat without thanks to Uding, who scored three of his four touchdowns in the opening quarter. Uding scored on runs of 19, 13 and 5 yards in the game’s first 11 minutes for a 21-0 lead over Windsor (0-6, 0-3 MAFCRD) after the first quarter.
“It was definitely one to remember,” said Uding, who came into the game with 219 rushing yards and nine touchdowns this season. “It’s probably (our biggest win) so far, because we’ve come through a lot this last week and this whole year with the quarterback things we’ve had.”
Festus, which lost one quarterback to transfer before the season started and another quarterback because of disciplinary issues, added another touchdown with 36.7 seconds left in the first half. Sophomore Jayden Rystrom scored that touchdown with a 17-yard run.
Windsor got its lone touchdown of the game on the ensuing kickoff. Senior Ethan Reisel fielded the ball at his own 20 and sprinted 80 yards to cut Festus’ lead to 28-7 with 24.7 seconds left in the first half.
Festus quickly increased its lead at the start of the second half. The Tigers marched 65 yards for another touchdown by Uding, who broke free for a 42-yard gain on the second play of the second half. His fourth touchdown of the night came on a 5-yard run and gave Festus a 35-7 lead with 9:41 left in the third quarter.
RaShaun Hyde finished the scoring with a 42-yard touchdown run with 6:18 left in the third quarter.
Festus 42, Windsor 7
Windsor 0 7 0 0 – 7
Festus 21 7 14 0 – 42
First quarter
F: Logan Uding 19 run (Chase Cole kick), 9:51
F: Logan Uding 13 run (Chase Cole kick), 4:27
F: Logan Uding 5 run (Chase Cole kick), 1:45
Second quarter
F: Jayden Rystrom 17 run (Chase Cole kick), 0:36
W: Ethan Reisel 80 kickoff return (Connor Portlock kick), 0:24
Third quarter
F: Logan Uding run (Chase Cole kick), 9:41
F: RaShaun Hyde 42 run (Chase Cole kick), 6:18
Strip sack provides Fox with game-winning TD
Senior Dominic Monti didn’t find much daylight when he carried the ball for Fox against visiting Oakville on Friday night.
So he took matters into his own hands – literally – on defense. With the Suburban West Conference National game in Arnold tied 24-24 in the third quarter, Monti stripped Oakville quarterback Jordan Jost at about midfield and outran the Tigers to the end zone for the game-winning touchdown as the Warriors held on 31-24 on their homecoming night.
“I felt that a crucial play was needed at that moment,” said Monti who carried the ball 14 times for 35 yards and had three rushes for negative yardage. “The coaches called my number and I was able to get the sack. (Jost) was starting his throwing motion and I happened to hit him at the same time and the ball fell right in my arms.”
“People get frustrated with the amount of pressure we bring,” Fox head coach Brent Tinker said. “We dialed that up at the right time. Dominic’s an opportunistic kid. He’s quick and has a great first step and he made the play when the opportunity was there.”
One play after Monti’s touchdown, the Tigers fumbled again and senior Chase Waters recovered the ball at their 30-yard line. All 230 pounds of running back Bob Neibert gained 10 yards on fourth-and-7, but Neibert fumbled and defensive tackle Tyson Eaton recovered for the Tigers at their own 13. The play before Fox quarterback Gavin McGinness found junior Cade Thomas in the end zone with a perfect pass, but Thomas dropped the ball.
That kept the quick-strike Tigers within range of tying the game throughout the fourth quarter. Seconds into the final quarter, Oakville launched a drive from its own 13. Nineteen plays and three Fox 15-yard penalties later and the Tigers were at the Warriors 1. Jost was stuffed on his first two attempts, and after an Oakville false start moved the ball back to the 6, Jost could only gain two yards and the Tigers turned the ball over at the Fox 4.
“You have to limit their big plays,” Monti said of Oakville. “They like to throw the ball deep.”
From the shadow of their own goal post, the Warriors needed to grind out a couple of first downs to keep Jost and the Tiger offense on the sideline. The bruising running of Neibert between the center and guard moved the chains twice, and Waters caught a 16-yard pass from McGinness to keep the drive going. But a holding penalty on Fox forced a punt and the Tigers had one more chance to tie or win the game.
The Tigers moved the ball across midfield but the Warriors held firm and improved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference. The Tigers are 2-4 and 1-1.
“It was nerve wracking, but I enjoy that,” Monti said. “Bobby stepped up big time. It was good to see that. We’re a triple threat with me, Gavin and Bob.”
McGinness navigated the Warriors from their 9-yard line to the end zone on the game’s first drive. His 40-yard run to the Oakville 1 was a thing of beauty, complete with jukes and spin moves. He carried the ball over from a yard out and Jack Weis made the extra point as the Warriors led 7-0 with 7:17 left in the first.
“We had good blocking on the line and I took off and avoided the defenders,” McGinness said about his long run.
Fox forced Oakville to punt after its first series and executed its second long touchdown drive to take a 14-0 lead. Neibert’s run of 11 yards on third-and-10 kept the drive alive before McGinness fired a perfect pass to junior Cole Elwood who was running a post pattern and caught the 41-yard throw for a TD.
The Tigers converted a fake punt to keep their next possession going and Jost hit Matt Paule for a 30-yard completion that set up Jost’s 29-yard TD on the next play. The Tigers attempted and made the two-point conversion after all three touchdowns.
Neibert scored on a 25-yard gallop on the next Fox drive to give the Warriors a 21-7 lead.
When Oakville turned the ball over on downs on the next series, it looked like Fox would go to halftime up by at least two scores. But a pitch between McGinness and Monti was almost taken away by Golden and Monti covered up the fumble for a 13-yard loss.
The Warriors punted and the Tigers wasted no time in driving for the next TD. Golden caught a 50-50 ball from Jost in front of Fox defender Daryl Krieger at the goal line and scored with eighth-tenths of a second left in the half.
“That’s a wonderful young man who almost made the play,” Tinker said of Krieger. “Daryl’s not afraid of any moment and he’ll make that play some day.”
The Warriors started at midfield on their first series of the second half and quickly moved into range for Weis to boot a 23-yard field goal to give them a 24-16 lead with 5:58 left in the third.
Golden tied the game on the first play of Oakville’s next drive on a dazzling catch and run with Jost’s 73-yard TD pass.
“I’m exhausted,” Tinker said. “We had to fight hard to make up for the mistakes we had. Winning’s hard though and we’re going to celebrate our homecoming win.”
Fox 31, Oakville 24
Oakville 0 16 8 0 – 24
Fox 14 7 10 0 – 31
First Quarter
F: Gavin McGinness 1 run (Jack Weis kick), 7:17
F: Cole Elwood 41 pass from McGinness (Weis kick), :53
Second Quarter
O: Jordan Jost 29 run (Preston Schmidt pass from Jost), 10:48
F: Bob Neibert 25 run (Weis kick), 7:10
O: Gerrelle Golden 28 pass from Jost, (Jermaine Lacy pass from Jost), :00.8
Third Quarter
F: Weis 23 field goal, 5:58
O: Golden 73 pass from Jost (Jost run), 5:27
F: Dominic Monti 47 fumble return (Weis kick), 2:46
Other county football scores from Friday night: St. Vincent 41, Crystal City 14; De Soto 55, Fredericktown 12; El Dorado Springs 52, Herculaneum 6; Valle Catholic 49, Jefferson 14; Hillsboro 48, North County 28; Northwest 51, Seckman 13; Cuba 49, St. Pius X 14