Tigers fall to Harrisonville 40-0 in district semifinals

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Trailing 33-0 at halftime, the Nevada Tigers football season eventually concluded with a loss to the formidable Harrisonville Wildcats in the semifinals of the Missouri Class 4 District 6 playoffs.

The 40-0 victory Friday night in Harrisonville advanced the top-seeded Wildcats (8-3) to the district championship game Nov. 4 against Grain Valley.

"We knew coming in that we were going to have to contain them by playing hard-nosed defense, and we weren't able to do that," Tigers head coach Erik Yoakam said during his postgame radio interview.

Nevada's best drive of the night was its first, as the Tigers picked up two first downs while driving across midfield.

Facing a fourth-and-3 from the Harrisonville 48-yard line, Nevada senior running back Payton Bright was stopped short of the first down. The Wildcats struck quick, as senior quarterback Brandon Eickhorst hit junior tailback Morgan Selemaea for a 22-yard gain.

On first down from the NHS 30-yard line, Selemaea took an inside handoff from Eickhorst and sprinted 30 yards for the touchdown. The extra point followed, handing Harrisonville a 7-0 advantage midway through the first quarter.

On the Tigers ensuing possession, junior quarterback Braeden Hinton was intercepted by defensive back Nick Laughlin, who eluded several Nevada players en route to a 30-yard touchdown scamper.

The extra point put Harrisonville on top 14-0 with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.

On its third possession of the game, Eickhorst connected with junior Jasper Davis for a 45-yard touchdown strike, with the extra point staking the Wildcats to a 21-0 lead with 3:34 left to play in the first quarter.

With under two minutes on the first quarter clock, Nevada tailback Zach Gardner had the ball ripped out of his hands by linebacker Nathan Kreimeyer, who galloped 40 yards to paydirt. The extra point was off-target, as Harrisonville led 27-0.

"We moved the ball, but really started to shoot ourself in the foot at times," Yoakam said of the turnovers.

Early in the second quarter, Nevada's attempt at a fake punt was snuffed out, as the Wildcats took over at its own 37-yard line. On first down, Selemaea, who entered the contest averaging 7.4 yards a carry, broke off a 62-yard highlight reel run, before finally being forced out of bounds at the Nevada 1-yard line.

"(Selemaea) hits the hole hard," Yoakam said.

Eickhorst then finished off the drive, plowing in from a yard out. A second unsuccessful point after attempt left Nevada trailing 33-0 with 9:20 remaining in the first half.

The Tigers were able to come up with an impressive goal line stand late in the second quarter. After a turnover set Harrisonville up on the NHS 5-yard line, Nevada's defense stiffened, as Eickhorst was stuffed for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the half-yard line.

Despite Selemaea having the superior season statistics, Yoakam indicated he was more concerned with Wildcat running back Joe Bowers.

"(Bowers) is the better back in my opinion," Yoakam said after Wednesday's practice at Logan Field. "He gets downhill and he protects the ball."

In the first half, Selemaea carried the ball six times for 100 yards, while Eickhorst threw for 80 yards and a touchdown. Hinton, who was heavily pressured in the first half, completed four passes for 75 yards.

Harrisonville's only second half score came early in the fourth quarter as Davis rushed in from 8-yards out.

"Harrisonville is a good team," Yoakam said. "You have to execute and do everything perfect to beat a good team, and we were unable to do that early on."

Hinton was knocked out of the game in the second half, further hampering the Tigers ability to find the end zone. Hinton was replaced by sophomore Jaren Powrie.

"Jaren's an option quarterback," Yoakam said. "Not a great thrower, but an option quarterback. We tried to get that option game going and get something positive (out of it)."

Yoakam also focused some of his postgame radio comments on Nevada's 21-20 defeat of Grandview last week in the opening-round of the district playoffs.

"That's a game that a lot of people didn't think we would come out on top of," Yoakam said of the No. 4 vs. No. 5 (seed) district matchup.

Yoakam said Nevada's 15 seniors are a special group, as he took over the program when they were freshman.

"They're a bunch of good kids," he said. "I look forward to seeing how they develop as young men."

Nevada concludes its season 3-8 overall.

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