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Cheaney finds end zone five times, propels Tigers past Patriots
In my youth, some 44 years ago, the band “Meat Loaf“ had a song my close friend and 1980 Tiger Basketball teammate, the late John McNeley, loved to sing on our bus trips entitled "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
Such lighting may be good for driving and even a few other things, but not for writing sports articles. It was 10:30 p.m. as I sat alone in my pickup truck in the Neosho Walmart parking lot. Feverishly typing on my outdated iPhone, I was writing my summary of the Nevada Tiger victory over the East Newton Patriots. I had an 11 p.m. deadline to meet. As I was marching down the proverbial field towards completing my weekend article, I fumbled my pen in the writer's endzone. The headline in Saturday's Daily Mail would read: "Cheaney's Repeat Four Touchdown Performance Moves Nevada to 3-0." I guess this is what they call in the newspaper business, a retraction. It is one certainly worth noting. Jack Cheaney surpassed last week's stellar 4 rushing touchdowns vs. Reeds Spring with FIVE rushing touchdowns vs. the Patriots of East Newton.
Through three games, all wins, Nevada's rushing attack has been remarkable. The Tigers are averaging over 450 yards on the ground per game. The offensive line play with its traps and other schemes combines both finesse and power to open up holes for the Nevada backfield. Seven different running backs have scored 22 rushing touchdowns through three games. The junior Cheaney has 11 of those scores followed by fellow junior Gabe Smith with 4 and senior Brice Budd with 3. The offense is led by sophomore quarterback Kellen Braden who, maturity wise, resembles a typical sophomore about as much as I do. My wife would say sometimes my sense of humor resembles the maturity of a high school sophomore, although I am three month's shy of 60, but I digress. Kellen was 6/7 on his passing attempts vs East Newton for 114 yards including a 35 yard toss to TE Tyler Longobardi.
Meanwhile the stingy Nevada defense is giving up just over 12 points a game and the Tiger special teams have had some huge plays in the young season. None bigger than the opening 2nd half kick off Friday night. The Tigers had only three offensive possessions in the first half Friday night. They would score on two of those with the second touchdown coming as time expired to take a 13-6 halftime lead.
Coming out of the halftime locker room, East Newton was intent on holding the Tiger offense and looking to reach paydirt for a second half lead. The Patriots, to their credit, played inspired football in the first half and never gave up the entire evening. Nevada needed a jolt. That spark would come as junior Gabe Smith took the 2nd halftime kickoff 65 yards all the way down to the Patriot 8 yard line. With just 27 seconds gone in the 3rd quarter, Cheaney would score on an 8 yard touchdown run. Jack would follow with the 2 point PAT and the Tigers never looked back.
At 3:47 left in the period, Cheaney would add his third touchdown in as many quarters on a 34 yard romp. The PAT this time would fail and the Tigers led by a score of 27-7. With 33 seconds to go in the quarter, East Newton would counter with a 50 yard run by sophomore River Enlow, his second TD of the game. Then just 16 seconds later, Cheaney would counter the Patriots score with a 61 yard touchdown run. The PAT would fail and the Tigers led heading into the final quarter by a score of 33-13.
Early in the 4th quarter, East Newton would score on a 53 yard run by junior Aiden Engle. The PAT failed and the score stood at 33-19 Tigers with 10:15 to go in the game.
At 5:16 to go in the contest, Cheaney would find paydirt for the 5th time on a 5 yard run. The PAT kick by Braden was good and thus expanded the lead to 40-19.
Nevada would add one more score with just over 2 minutes to play on a 4 yard run by Gabe Smith. The same Gabe Smith that started the second half with just the spark that Nevada needed. Braden again would split the uprights on the PAT.
The Missouri Class 4-7th ranked Nevada Tigers were victorious by a final score of 47-19 to move to 3-0 on the season.
Looking ahead to this Friday's contest vs McDonald County, Tiger Head Coach Wes Beachler had the following to say about the Mustangs "They do always seem to play us tough. There shouldn’t be any “extra incentive.” This is a team that has beat us two years in a row and we know how hard they play against us. They are very, very good on defense, and will provide some challenges for our defense when they have the ball. They have a very effective passing game complemented by a sound running game that can roll behind a big offensive line."
This week is Homecoming for the Tigers as they look to keep the momentum going at Nevada's Logan Field. Game time is slated for 7 p.m., with the coronation preceding kickoff.