That reputation reached its apex in Friday night’s Class 4A Division I regional semifinal round game against Lampasas at the Mustang Bowl. In a matchup between offensive juggernauts who refused to be stopped, West Plains was stopped far less often, as the Wolves cruised to a 63-35 victory with a huge second half which left no doubt.
West Plains (10-3) now faces arguably its biggest test in its three-year history next week, when the Wolves face historically powerful Stephenville (12-1) in a state quarterfinal game tentatively scheduled for next Friday in Midland. Stephenville advanced by routing West Plains’ Canyon ISD rival Randall 47-7.
What Friday’s result against Lampasas (10-3) means next week remains to be seen. Nobody could blame the Wolves, though, for celebrating a night in which they had probably the best offensive half in school history in dominating the second half.
“We thought it could be a shootout,” West Plains coach Adam Cummings said. “It’s just a credit to our kids and coaches for putting a good game plan together and executing it at a high level. If you had told me we were going to put 63 on Lampasas I wouldn’t have believed it. Our kids just continue to get better and keep believing in themselves, their teammates and their coaches.”
A huge offensive game was necessary for the Wolves considering their opponent. Both teams lived up to their billing offensively.
However, he wasn’t even the most successful quarterback in the game with his first name. Reid Macon answered Jerome in just about every category for West Plains.
Macon was almost flawless, completing 19-of-29 passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns while running for 54 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.
“Our motto’s been ‘Prove ’em wrong’ all year long and we did a pretty good job of that again tonight,” Macon said. “Kudos to the O-line because they were blocking their tails off all night long. Our goal every drive is to get in the end zone regardless of what our game plan is. It was definitely a scoring matchup between two great offenses.”
West Plains just happened to have then greater offense of either team on this night, piling up 636 total yards. It was necessary in a game where neither team forced to other to punt.
Both teams lived up to their offensive reputations in the first half, as both put together long scoring drives to force a 14-14 tie at halftime. That was a mere prelude to the second half, especially for the Wolves.
Macon threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter alone, two of them looking similar. Only 42 seconds into the second half, Macon hit Lawson Betancourt on an inside receiver screen and he took it 70 yards for a score as the Wolves never trailed again.
After the Wolves stopped the Badgers on their next possession when Tryston Hernandez recovered K.J. Reed’s fumble, they ran a similar play, only with Kane Whjite-Tinsley on the receiving end. This time, Tinsley took it 42 yards for a score to make it 28-14 and give the Wolves a much-needed cushion.
“It was a little jailbreak,” said White-Tinsley, referring to the team’s name for the play. “Before the game watching film, we knew screens were going to work. We have a powerful receiving corps, and we know if we get the ball in our hands great things can happen. We’ve had that play in since the first year.”
Lampsas wouldn’t work go away and the Badgers cut it to 35-28 on an 11-yard scoring pass from Jerome to Heagan Oucken on the last play of the third quarter. They then appeared to recovered an onside kick to start the fourth quarter and seize back momentum.
However, Lampasas was ruled offside and had to rekick, and the Badgers never seemed to get back in it.
In the fourth quarter, Macon and sophomore Slade Russell both ran for two touchdowns to put the exclamation point on the game. It was a partcicular big game for Russell, who ran for a game-high 187 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, picking up 165 yards in the second half.
“At halftime we just talked about keeping the motor going and keep having faith in everyone,” Russell said. “The ball just kind of finds me and I’ve got to do my job. Any game we play we kind of take it personally each and every week.”
“This was a really quality win for our program,” Cummings said. “Anytime you can get turnovers on defense they’re momentum shifters, and the way our offense was scoring that’s really what broke open the game.
After the Wolves stopped Lampasas on a fourth-and-two on the game’s first possession, they wasted no time when they got the ball back. Macon hit Ladd for a 48-yard gain, setting up Russell’s 2-yard scoring run for a 7-0 lead.
Lampasas answered back with a 4-yard scoring run by Jerome early in the second quarter to tie it 7-7.
West Plains then put together a five-minute drive to retake the lead, concluding the drive with Macon’s 11-yard scoring pass to White-Tinsley to go up 14-7. Jerome then decided he could do the same thing with his own 11-yard scoring pass, this one to Ty Johnson to tie it 14-14.
Johnson was Jerome’s favorite target with a game-high 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
