Post by MizzouTiger on Dec 1, 2007 16:52:09 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/696/story/374558.html
Lawson overwhelms Blair Oaks for Missouri Class 2 title
By COLE YOUNG
The Kansas City Star
ST. LOUIS | Before the 2007 football season started, Lawson coach Todd Dunn talked at length about how strong the Cardinals defense would be.
Friday afternoon, that defense proved to be the difference for Lawson as it won the Missouri Class 2 state football title 38-17 over Blair Oaks at the Edward Jones Dome.
The Cardinals, 14-0, forced seven turnovers (three interceptions and four fumbles) as they won their first state football title in school history.
“I told my coaching staff it was like a car wreck,” Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said. “It was one those things that you want to look away but you can’t. We couldn’t get it stopped.”
Lawson got 24 points off the turnovers, the third most in Show-Me Bowl history.
The game was still in limbo late in the third quarter.
Blair Oaks, 11-3, had just converted on a fake punt and was moving the ball. However, quarterback Justin Eiken’s pass was intercepted by Lawson’s Nathan Robison. It was a telling sign of what would come.
Blair Oaks turned the ball over on five consecutive plays. Lawson capitalized, scoring on the first three of the consecutive turnovers.
Joe Kassanavoid scored on an 11-yard run and then tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Troy Green. Green capped off the Lawson scoring with a 21-yard field goal.
“No doubt that was a big turning point,” Dunn said of the turnovers. “It’s somewhat demoralizing on the other side, and we were fired up and able to get a couple more scores in there and get some breathing room. They were very scary offensively. We didn’t want to defend them with a touchdown or field-goal lead.”
Blair Oaks had won two of the last three Class 2 state titles, so if the game would have been close late in the game, the Falcons might have had a confidence advantage.
Kassanavoid, who also plays linebacker and punter, had seven tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles. He also had a punt land inside the Blair Oaks 1 in the third quarter.
His first forced fumble came with under a minute left in the first half. As he went for a sack, he knocked the ball loose, and chaos ensued. “I just went for the strip and it popped out,” Kassanavoid said. “I wish our guys would have picked it up and ran it in. But they had to make it interesting and knock it around with their feet.”
Lawson overwhelms Blair Oaks for Missouri Class 2 title
By COLE YOUNG
The Kansas City Star
ST. LOUIS | Before the 2007 football season started, Lawson coach Todd Dunn talked at length about how strong the Cardinals defense would be.
Friday afternoon, that defense proved to be the difference for Lawson as it won the Missouri Class 2 state football title 38-17 over Blair Oaks at the Edward Jones Dome.
The Cardinals, 14-0, forced seven turnovers (three interceptions and four fumbles) as they won their first state football title in school history.
“I told my coaching staff it was like a car wreck,” Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said. “It was one those things that you want to look away but you can’t. We couldn’t get it stopped.”
Lawson got 24 points off the turnovers, the third most in Show-Me Bowl history.
The game was still in limbo late in the third quarter.
Blair Oaks, 11-3, had just converted on a fake punt and was moving the ball. However, quarterback Justin Eiken’s pass was intercepted by Lawson’s Nathan Robison. It was a telling sign of what would come.
Blair Oaks turned the ball over on five consecutive plays. Lawson capitalized, scoring on the first three of the consecutive turnovers.
Joe Kassanavoid scored on an 11-yard run and then tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Troy Green. Green capped off the Lawson scoring with a 21-yard field goal.
“No doubt that was a big turning point,” Dunn said of the turnovers. “It’s somewhat demoralizing on the other side, and we were fired up and able to get a couple more scores in there and get some breathing room. They were very scary offensively. We didn’t want to defend them with a touchdown or field-goal lead.”
Blair Oaks had won two of the last three Class 2 state titles, so if the game would have been close late in the game, the Falcons might have had a confidence advantage.
Kassanavoid, who also plays linebacker and punter, had seven tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles. He also had a punt land inside the Blair Oaks 1 in the third quarter.
His first forced fumble came with under a minute left in the first half. As he went for a sack, he knocked the ball loose, and chaos ensued. “I just went for the strip and it popped out,” Kassanavoid said. “I wish our guys would have picked it up and ran it in. But they had to make it interesting and knock it around with their feet.”