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Herda, Nevada's district hopes fall at Seneca
By Joe Warren
Herald-Tribune
SENECA, Mo. -- The Nevada Tigers committed nine turnovers and lost starting quarterback Ronnie Herda to injury as their Class 3, District 11 hopes were crushed in a 35-12 loss to the Seneca Indians Friday.
The Tigers (2-7) threw five interceptions and committed four fumbles (all on center-quarterback exchanges) as they were dealt a sixth consecutive loss.
Meanwhile, the Indians (7-2) set up a Class 3, District 11 championship game in Cassville Thursday, with their second district win in two games.
The Indians topped Monett last week, and they face the Cassville Wildcats with a state playoff berth on the line after Cassville beat Monett Friday, 41-21.
Nevada and Monett will wrap up the 2006 season in Monett Thursday, with both teams looking to avoid the district basement.
The Indians weren't particularly sharp on the cold, Friday night under the dim Seneca lighting.
Seneca committed five turnovers of their own, and also had two punts blocked.
Nevada's Cole Bond was the culprit on both occasions in the second half, rushing from the left side and getting his hands on Seneca punts. Both times the ball was scooped up by senior Nathan Pike, but with Herda out with a left shoulder injury, the Tigers were unable to mount any offense after halftime.
Actually, the Tigers had a total of minus-2 yards offensively in the second half.
Had Nevada been able to double their first half tallies of 180 yards and 12 points, the game would have been much closer than the final score.
Seneca struck first, going 44 yards on three plays to take a 7-0 lead after a 1-yard run by quarterback Justin Staley.
The two big plays in the drive were a 28-yard run by Ishmael Hankins and a 25-yard pass from Staley to Skyler Rawlins.
The scoring drive came after Nevada turned the ball over on downs after their first four offensive plays.
Nevada's first miscue followed, as Herda was picked off by Rawlins and Seneca needed six plays to go 66 yards, capped by a 1-yard scoring run by Hankins for a 14-0 lead.
Nevada scored on the ensuing possession, going 76 yards on eight plays, capped by a 1-yard Herda run to make it 14-6. Herda missed a drop kick on the PAT.
Seneca needed only two plays to answer back, getting a 56-yard pass from Staley to Rawlins for a 21-6 lead.
The Indians really pulled away with a 97-yard drive in the second quarter, needing nine plays and overcoming a third-and-33 in the process.
An 8-yard pass from Staley to Erin Whitekiller completed the drive, as Seneca led 28-6.
The Indians looked poised to score again late in the first half, but Nevada senior Josh Underwood made a great read on a swing pass and picked it off, going 85 yards for a touchdown with 9.7 seconds left in the first half.
The Underwood score made it 28-12 and that's how the first half ended.
The second half was either a defensive struggle, or an offensive nightmare, depending on how you look at it.
Seneca scored the only points of the final half, scoring on a 3-yard run by Hankins with 7:28 left in the game. The score was set up by one of five second-half NHS turnovers, a fumbled snap that was recovered by the Indians at the Nevada 16.
The second half was just as bad offensively for Seneca, as they had the two punts blocked, and committed three turnovers of their own.
The Indians did have some bright spots offensively, collecting 435 yards of total offense, 261 of those on the ground.
The leading ball carrier for Seneca was Hankins, who has 190 yards on 25 rushes, including two scores.
Meanwhile Staley was 8-for-12 with 174 yards passing and a pair of scores.
Nevada's offensive highlights were 64 yards on fours catches for Jacob Cherry, and 53 yards on two receptions for Colby Shepherd.
Defensively, Dan Lovinger led the way with two interceptions, and Underwood had a fumble recovery to go with his pick.
The Tigers, showcasing one of the top passing offenses in the state, did not complete a pass in the second half.
Nevada's best chance to score in the second half came after Lovinger's second interception set the Tigers up at the Seneca 23.
Pike ran the ball three straight times, setting up a third-and-1 at the Indian 4, but a fumbled snap was recovered by the Indians at their own 20.
Four times in the second half Nevada started a possession in Seneca territory, three of those inside the 25. Two of the possessions were set up by the blocked punts, and one was by an interception.
To start the half Nevada recovered an onside kick at the Seneca 46, but a fumbles snap on the second offensive play turned the ball over to the Indians.
The Tigers have now given up 360 points this season, the most ever by a Nevada High School varsity football team.
The previous record was 320.
The Tigers have scored 213 points.
Nevada's nine turnovers were not a state record. Kansas City's Northeast High School holds the record with 15 against Lincoln Prep Academy on Nov. 2, 1985.
Nevada was still alive win the Class 3, District 11 race going into Friday's game. The Tigers needed to beat Seneca, win Thursday at Monett and hope somebody beat Cassville to set up a three-way tie for first at 2-1 in the district. Instead, Nevada and Monett are both 0-2 in the district, while the Wildcats and Indians are both 2-0.
This week is the final one of the regular season, with most games played on Thursday.