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The Boonville Pirates football team and the Owensville Dutchmen will have a first for tomorrow night’s Regional Playoff game at the BHS Sports Complex.
Although the Pirates will enter the game as a No. 1 seed versus No. 2 Owensville, the game will mark the first time in the history of the programs that these two have played.
Of course at 9-1 overall and ranked ninth in today’s Missouri Sports writers and Sportscasters Poll, the Pirates have also won nine straight games heading into Wednesday’s game against the Dutchmen.
Boonville also captured its first NCMC title since joining the conference in 2008 not to mention that they also captured the district title for the second year in a row while going undefeated.
As for Owensville, who enters the game at 5-5, they have had an up and down season while finishing 2-1 in District 7 behind undefeated Osage. However, in the game last week against St. James, the Dutchmen rewrote the history books for total points by two teams scored in a single game. Luckily, Owensville finished on the winning end against St. James 80-75.
Lincoln Prep Academy and Northeast Kansas City held the previous record of 138 points set back on November 2, 1985. Lincoln Prep shutout KC Northeast 138-0.
Owensville coach Dale Long said it was definitely a crazy game.
“It was non-stop scoring,” Long said. “Neither team really played that much defense. A bunch of kids got hit, we just didn’t wrap up around their fee. We just kind of slid off and the kids just kept running. We missed tackles and that was a big part of it and they threw over the top of us every once in a while. They also had a really good wide receiver and he jumped up and got balls. For them and everything else there were a lot of broken plays. When we had a lot of kids back their quarterback would take off and run.”
With both teams combining for over 1,600 yards in total offense, the Dutchmen trailed St. James 42-32 at the half and then it was off and running in the second half with Owensville holding a 48-33 advantage for the victory.
As for the season, Long said even though his team is currently 5-5 he feels they are a lot better than their record.
“I feel like we are better than our record,” Long said. “We had a lot of games that could have went either way. I know some of the scores don’t look that way but if we get a couple of scores on a couple of other games, it might have turned out a little bit different.”
The Boonville Pirates football team and the Owensville Dutchmen will have a first for tomorrow night’s Regional Playoff game at the BHS Sports Complex.
Although the Pirates will enter the game as a No. 1 seed versus No. 2 Owensville, the game will mark the first time in the history of the programs that these two have played.
Of course at 9-1 overall and ranked ninth in today’s Missouri Sports writers and Sportscasters Poll, the Pirates have also won nine straight games heading into Wednesday’s game against the Dutchmen.
Boonville also captured its first NCMC title since joining the conference in 2008 not to mention that they also captured the district title for the second year in a row while going undefeated.
As for Owensville, who enters the game at 5-5, they have had an up and down season while finishing 2-1 in District 7 behind undefeated Osage. However, in the game last week against St. James, the Dutchmen rewrote the history books for total points by two teams scored in a single game. Luckily, Owensville finished on the winning end against St. James 80-75.
Lincoln Prep Academy and Northeast Kansas City held the previous record of 138 points set back on November 2, 1985. Lincoln Prep shutout KC Northeast 138-0.
Owensville coach Dale Long said it was definitely a crazy game.
“It was non-stop scoring,” Long said. “Neither team really played that much defense. A bunch of kids got hit, we just didn’t wrap up around their fee. We just kind of slid off and the kids just kept running. We missed tackles and that was a big part of it and they threw over the top of us every once in a while. They also had a really good wide receiver and he jumped up and got balls. For them and everything else there were a lot of broken plays. When we had a lot of kids back their quarterback would take off and run.”
With both teams combining for over 1,600 yards in total offense, the Dutchmen trailed St. James 42-32 at the half and then it was off and running in the second half with Owensville holding a 48-33 advantage for the victory.
As for the season, Long said even though his team is currently 5-5 he feels they are a lot better than their record.
“I feel like we are better than our record,” Long said. “We had a lot of games that could have went either way. I know some of the scores don’t look that way but if we get a couple of scores on a couple of other games, it might have turned out a little bit different.”
Boonville Pirates football coach Devin Brown said the Dutchmen scored a lot of points in the last game.
“They are big up front and they have running backs and their quarterback can throw it,” Brown said.
“Offensively, they can move the ball and score some points. Defensively, they have a little speed and size up front and the same guys on the O-line as D-line.
“We just need to read our keys and trust what we see and react,” Brown said. “Because of the playoffs you get a short amount of time to prepare and everything else so you have to be fundamentally sound and you have to be able to tackle. Offensively the big thing for us is to be able to execute with no turnovers. We only had four penalties and that was the fewest we have had all year. And with no turnovers last week, we just have to keep it that way and hold on to the ball and just run the ball.”
In the game last week against Versailles, the Pirates led 14-0 at the half and then added 13 points in the second half to record their fourth straight shutout and fifth of the season.
Boonville also finished the game with 315 yards in total offense while holding Versailles to 181 yards.
As for the season, the Pirates couldn’t play much better defensively while holding opponents to 182.3 yards in total offense and 6.3 points per game.
Boonville has also put up some points for the season while averaging 26.2 ppg along with 2,781 yards rushing and 416 passing for a total of 3,202.
As for Owensville, senior quarterback Shawnee Wright has completed 48 of 118 passes for 637 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. Wright has also rushed 97 times for 461 yards and six scores.
Senior running back Jason Kottwitz, meanwhile, leads the Dutchmen in rushing with 156 attempts for 1,309 yards and 17 touchdowns. Senior running back Terry Adams also has 58 carries for 300 yards and one touchdown.
The Dutchmen also have three players with over 150 yards in receiving for the season. Junior slot receiver Tanner Goodman leads the team with 14 catches for 251 yards and two touchdowns while Adams has 16 catches for 202 yards and two scores and Kottwitz with 12 catches for 161 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker A.J. Harrell leads the Dutchmen with 68 total tackles with 47 solo stops and 21 assisted tackles. Adams has 67 tackles on the season with 56 solo stops and 11 assisted tackles while senior defensive end Garret Baker has 59 tackles with 43 solo stops and 16 assisted tackles.
Baker also leads the team with three sacks while Wright has three interceptions to lead the Dutchmen.
For the season, Owensville is averaging 253.7 yards rushing per game, 77.1 passing yards ppg and 21.7 ppg. The Dutchmen have also rushed for 2,283 yards and passed for 694 yards for a total of 2,977 yards in total offense.
Long said he feels the game is wide open tomorrow night.
“I know they are favored and they should be because they have had a great year so far,” Long said, “but I tell the kids everybody is 0-0 and it doesn’t matter what our record is from here on out, it’s win or go home. The kids are buying into it and they understand that and are practicing hard.”
Of course Long also feels like the Pirates have some weapons up front on offense.
“They have a pretty tough quarterback that runs as well as throws the ball,” Long said. “They have a tailback that is shifty and lowers his shoulder and runs hard and they have a receiver that runs downhill and is kind of their deep threat and catches the ball real well in space. They also have weapons up front as well. The offensive line will come up and pop you in the mouth and they expect to establish the line of scrimmage.
“We are going to have to control the line of scrimmage on our front four and they will have to control their front five and our linebackers are going to have to be able to scrape well, especially our outside linebackers. I think our inside backers will be alright but the outside linebackers are going to have to be physical and come up and make hits, wrap up and run free.”
As for Boonville defensively, Long said they are big up front, they fire off the ball and they are physical.
“They are aggressive, they are scrappy and they have four really good linebackers that flow well to the football,” Long said. “they are also quick and when they get on you, they wrap up and make tackles. As for the front four, they do their job which is to make sure that our offensive line will not get to their linebackers. They have some corners who can play well against you and they have a free safety that runs the alleys real well.
“Again, we are going to have to control the line of scrimmage up front. Our bigs are going to have to take care of their bigs. The running backs are going to have to run hard downhill and make some cuts and get up field. Receiving-wise just basic stuff. They are going to have to block well and whenever they have a chance to catch the ball, they are going to have to make plays for us. Also the quarterback is going to have to have a big game for us.”
For the season, senior quarterback Wes Davis leads the Pirates in several categories with 1,520 rushing yards and 386 passing yards for a total of 1,906 all-purpose yards. Davis also leads the team in tackles with 137 with 82 solo stops, 53 assisted tackles, 11 tackles for losses, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
Junior linebacker Jalen Poindexter is second on the team in tackles with 65 solo stops, 43 assisted tackles, three sacks, 14 tackles for losses, two fumble recoveries, one interception and one forced fumble.
As for receiving yards, senior Holden Hinkle has 13 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Note: The winner of Wednesday night’s game will advance to the sectional round of the state playoffs on Monday, Nov. 7. The winner of Boonville-Owensville will face the winner of Osage-Eldon.
