Last Southwest Conference season begins with loss

Saturday, September 22, 2007

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- It is never easy going on the road and opening your conference schedule against a really talented team.

It becomes even tougher when critical turnovers and injuries are added to the story.

The Tigers visited Carthage's K.E. Baker Stadium Friday night for their first Southwest Conference game of the season and found their hosts in a foul frame of mind. The host team rolled over Nevada, 35-0, in a loss compounded by the loss of starting quarterback Ronnie Herda to a knee injury in the second quarter of play.

Nevada, 0-1 in the SWC and 2-2 overall, actually started off the night with a big play. On the opening kickoff, Colby Shepherd fielded the ball at the Nevada 10-yard line, made a good cut and sailed through the Carthage return team for 45 yards to the Carthage 45. The Carthage defense bared their claws and after two short runs and a pass for a loss, Nevada was forced to punt. Ronnie Herda was able to pin Carthage back in what looked like tough field position at its own seven-yard line.

The ensuing drive would begin a pattern that Nevada would find difficult to stop all night. In a mix of runs and passes, Carthage, 1-0, 3-1, covered 93 yards in just seven plays to score their first touchdown, an eight-yard run by Beau Tommey.

Nevada took over after a poor kick return at its own 10-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Jacob Cherry made a quick step and was 15 yards downfield when a Carthage player punched the ball out from behind, which caused Nevada's first turnover of the game.

Carthage took over at Nevada's 28-yard line. For a time, the Nevada defense seemed to stiffen and perhaps stem the momentum of this turnover. A couple of losses on running plays and a clipping penalty pushed Carthage back to the 36. That's when the play of the game and perhaps the highlight of all of Friday's area games stunned Nevada.

Carthage's Stephen Poston raced down the right hash, leaped forward and made a one-handed catch of the pass from quarterback Trey Derryberry for the home team's second touchdown. The Tigers and their fans could only look on in disbelief as the deficit increased to 14-0.

Nevada head coach Shannon Jolley tried to slow down the game and get the running attack going. Herda ran twice and had his team within two yards of their first first down.

On third down, fullback Jacob Anderson ran the ball for what seemed a first down as he appeared to pass the first-down marker. However, the spot was less than gracious and found Nevada inches short, forcing a punt.

The Nevadans did put up a good stand and forced Carthage to punt on its next possession. Nevada took over on its own 20 and put together its first good drive of the contest. Several runs followed by a pass play to Colby Shepherd put Nevada into enemy territory at the 36. The drive stalled and a missed fourth-down pass gave the ball back to Carthage.

Once again Carthage's "big play" offense hit Nevada. The culprit again was Poston as he hauled down a pass deep in the secondary and only a saving tackle by Ronnie Herda at the three-yard line prevented a score. However, Carthage scored three plays later on Tommey's one-yard run and Nevada was in a 21-0 hole midway through the second quarter.

There's no doubt that Carthage is a good team, but Nevada was not getting any breaks either. And things would get worse as the game progressed.

Dan Lovinger's kickoff return put Nevada in good field position at Carthage's 49. Special teams play was one of the bright spots for Nevada, but the next play would deal a near finishing blow to any chance that the Tigers had to get back in the game.

Quarterback Herda avoided the first pass rusher and sent a shovel pass to Anderson for a gain of seven. The Nevada fans were back on their feet yelling, and then a collective groan was heard. Herda was down and he was not able to get up. Herda was taken to the sideline and the thought is that he perhaps has a torn ACL. The doctors will have to perform a MRI to be sure and Jolley told the Joplin Globe that Herda would see a doctor and be re-evaluated.

Nevada turned to sophomore quarterback Austin Baldwin. At practice earlier this week, Jolley said he was sure Austin was going to be a great player in the future. At that time, no one could know just how soon that future would be.

Carthage held Nevada and forced a punt. Unfortunately, the only time the special teams suffered a breakdown was on this punt. Carthage got close to blocking the it and it appeared as if it was tipped. The punt traveled only two yards and Carthage was once again in business.

In nine plays, Carthage moved from the 46 to the Nevada 21. But the Tigers looked as if they might keep Carthage out of the end zone before half. But Tommey caught a fourth-and-one pass and went all the way for another touchdown to make it 28-0, which was the halftime margin.

In the second half, Nevada held their blue-uniformed Tiger counterparts to a third-quarter touchdown. It was quite apparent that the Nevada players were not going to fold their tents. Some very loud hitting by the Tiger defense slowed Carthage dramatically.

Just when the defense seemed to have Carthage stalled again, a 15- yard face mask penalty moved the ball deep into Nevada territory. One more boot leg pass, a four-yard pass from Derryberry to Poston, ended Carthage's final scoring drive of the evening to put the score at 35-0.

Nevada made one final drive to try to score but once again a miscue would cost them. After hard runs by Anderson and a deep throw from Baldwin to Lovinger, Nevada moved the ball to the seven-yard line. Baldwin carried for three yards and was viscously sandwiched by two Carthage players. The ball popped out and Carthage recovered.

Carthage ended up unofficially with 193 yards passing and 177 yards rushing for a total of 370 yards of offense. It is easy to see why the blue-clad Tigers are so highly regarded.

Still Nevada played a hard-fought game, and the final score was more of an indication of the way the ball bounced, than of the quality of the two teams. Anderson had six rushes for 30 yards.

With the loss of Herda, Nevada will have to depend on other senior leaders to keep the ship headed in the right direction.

The Tigers have little time to rest and regroup. The Webb City Cardinals, ranked No. 1 in Missouri Class 4, are coming to town next week.

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