After being embarrassed 62-0 by North County the week before, De Soto went to Festus on Friday night to show some signs of life.
The unbeaten Tigers (4-0) beat the winless Dragons (0-4) 36-13 in the Mississippi Area Football Conference Red Division game, but De Soto trailed 7-0 at halftime and were in the red zone down 15-0 in the third quarter when senior running back Dominic Punjani was flat on his back after carrying the ball.
Punjani was injured on the play and the fans for both sides held their breath as emergency personnel tended to him. Punjani was placed on a backboard, then a gurney and taken by ambulance to St. Louis Children’s Hospital. De Soto athletic director Jon Roop said Punjani had feeling in all of his extremities and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons.
“Any type of a head injury, you can’t take a chance on it,” De Soto head coach Chris Johnson said after the game. “He felt like his neck was tingling and it was going down his spine. There was no choice but to get the paramedics here.”
Punjani had carried the ball for 124 yards before his injury. Quarterback Ethan Reissing misfired on fourth down after the game was restarted and the Tigers needed just two plays to increase their lead to 22-0. Festus quarterback Cole Rickermann found senior wide receiver Daylen Wagoner behind the Dragons’ defense and hooked up for a 79-yard touchdown pass.
Despite starting at midfield on its next drive, De Soto had to punt. The Tigers started at their own 3-yard line, but the Dragons’ defense stiffened and after a short punt, De Soto started at the Festus 17. Three plays later Reissing fired a 7-yard scoring pass to senior receiver Levi Fischer to cut the Tigers’ lead to 22-7 with 10:29 left in the game.
Festus responded with a quick six-play drive covering 54 yards that was capped by senior running back Cayden Glaze’s 11-yard TD run with 8:39 left. Stephen Darden made one of his four extra points to make it 29-7.
Instead of giving in, the Dragons mounted their own long drive from their 20 that was helped along by two facemask penalties and a personal foul against the Tigers. On third-and-goal from the 5, Reissing scrambled out of the pocket and was surrounded by Festus defenders, but he saw junior Brody Fischer standing flat-footed in the back of the end zone and completed the pass to cut the Tigers’ lead to 29-13 with 3:20 to play.
Unofficially, Festus was called for 12 penalties for 105 yards. Another Tiger personal foul pushed them back to their 10 after the Dragons scored and Anderson shrugged off several De Soto defenders grabbing at him as he swerved and cut his way for a 90-yard TD to seal the win.
Anderson carried the ball 20 times for 252 yards. It’s the second time this year he’s rushed for more than 200 yards.
In somewhat of an odd statistic, Festus has allowed 13 points in each of its four games.
For a complete account of this game, read Thursday’s Leader.
Festus 36, De Soto 13
De Soto 0 0 0 13 – 13
Festus 0 7 15 14 – 36
Second Quarter
F: Austin Anderson 5 run (Stephen Darden kick), 6:37
Third Quarter
F: Dallen Yates 6 run (Collin Doyel run), 10:56
F: Daylen Wagoner 79 pass from Cole Rickermann (Darden kick), 6:20
Fourth Quarter
D: Levi Fischer 7 pass from Ethan Reissing (Bradley Hunt kick), 10:29
F: Cayden Glaze 11 run (Darden kick), 8:39
D: Brody Fischer 5 pass from Reissing (kick blocked)
F: Anderson 90 run (Darden kick), 2:53