Saturday’s eight-man state semifinal showdown from Ludlow between the Southwest Livingston Wildcats was billed as a battle between the power running game of the Wildcats, led by senior quarterback Mack Anderson, and the lethally good Panther passing attack, spurred by the right arm of senior Steven Willhite. Following a wild 48 minutes of back-and-forth action, broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, the actual game definitely lived up to its advanced billing.
The Southwest Wildcats, with a key last minute interception Ethan Hoerr providing the last momentum shift of a wild day of football, outlasted the Grand River Conference champion Pattonsburg Panthers by a score of 74-68, moving the Wildcats into Saturday morning’s state championship game at Memorial Stadium in Columbia (11 AM) against the Mound City Panthers.
The first quarter was dominated by the home team, with Anderson rumbling through the Panther defense for five scores, with the PHS offense consistently coming up empty, with deep passes missing their mark on a windy day on the prairies of Livingston County. The score after the first quarter was 36-8, and for the Pattonsburg faithful, the game that more remembrances of a shutout loss to Worth County in the semifinal round a year earlier, than any semblance of an ‘instant classic’.
The Panther offense used the running game to begin to stir early in the second quarter. With the Wildcat defense concentrating on stopping the legs of Willhite, the Pattonsburg senior hit Patrick Cowley on a 41 yard scoring strike. Just under three minutes later, a six yard pass to Carter Crone, and a successful two-point run by Cowley, had cut Southwest’s advantage to 36-24. However, the strong work done by the Panthers became nullified by the end of the half, with Southwest answering on a 26 yard pass from Anderson to Chase Neptune, pushing the halftime margin to 44-24, with a 41 yard surge on the legs of Anderson, 11 seconds into the third quarter, pushing the Wildcat lead to 52-24.
What followed from that point was an onslaught of Pattonsburg momentum, stemmed every so often by a Southwest score to try to hold off the Panther offense. In a seven minute span in the middle portions of the third quarter, Pattonsburg scored back-to-back touchdowns, with a 56 yard pass to Cowley and a five yard run by Cowley cutting the Wildcat lead to 52-38. With 1:54 remaining in the quarter, the Southwest lead was pushed back to 22 points, on a 23 yard strike from Anderson to Neptune, and a two point pass to Neptune. Pattonsburg, on a one yard sneak by Willhite, cut the score to 60-44 at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth roller coaster adventure for fans on both sidelines, not decided until the final possession for Pattonsburg. The visitors from Daviess County cut the lead to 60-52 just 1:08 into the fourth quarter, as Willhite converted an eight-yard touchdown run, with a Cowley two-point run. The game remained at an eight-point margin for the next 8:20, as both teams moved the ball, but had drives short-circuited by fumbles. With 2:32 to go, Anderson, on a 32 yard run, put his seventh scoring scamper of the day on the scoreboard, pushing the lead to 66-52. With their season survival hanging in the balance, Pattonsburg’s passing game sizzled, with Willhite and Cowley connecting on a 48 yard score just 14 seconds later. The successful Cowley PAT run cut the Wildcat lead to 66-60. In what appeared to be a clinching touchdown, Anderson galloped 35 yards with 2 minutes to play, with a successful two-point pass to Neptune leaving the ‘Cats up 74-60.
However, there continued to be zero quit in the PHS offense, with a 60 yard laser on a deep slant sending Brett Emig into the south end zone at Southwest, with a pass to Cowley cutting the score back to 74-68.
The issue throughout the fourth quarter for Pattonsburg had been unable to get the football down by just one score, as the inability to get either a key defense stop, or convert a successful onside kick, hampered the comeback hopes of the “team in green”. However, on what would turn out to be Pattonsburg’s final onside kick of the 2019 season, Patrick Cowley found perfection. The kick hopped and bobbled to the midfield stripe at the 40 yard line, and with Southwest waiting to hop on the ball, the Panthers, once the ball hit the chalk of the 40, pounced. The successful recovery gave the Panthers life, with a sense of impending doom overtaking the Wildcat side of the field. With the score 74-68, Pattonsburg drove to the Southwest 20. Hoerr picked off a Willhite pass with 42 seconds remaining, saving the day for the Wildcats. With Pattonsburg unable to stop the clock, the Wildcats knelt on the football once, ending the Panthers season in the state semifinal for the second straight year.
Saturday’s other eight-man semifinal was not nearly as dramatic, as Mound City hammered Drexel by a score of 52-6.
In 11-man state quarterfinal action on Saturday, Mid-Buchanan flexed their muscles in a 35-8 win over the South Harrison Bulldogs, in action broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3. The win sends Aaron Fritz’s squad into the state semifinals for the second straight season, this time to Ste. Genevieve on Saturday, where the Valle Catholic Warriors will host the KCI Conference squad. In Saturday’s other Class 1 semifinal, #1 ranked Lincoln will host the Marceline Tigers, after Marceline upended South Callaway by a score of 20-7.
In Class 2, Lathrop hammered Summit Christian on Saturday, 38-6, sending the Mules to St. Louis on Saturday and a meeting with fellow unbeaten Lutheran North. In the Class 3 quarterfinals, Odessa outscored Savannah 53-31.
