Less than 24 hours before the Class 3 semifinal round kicked off at the Hound Pound on Saturday, five previous Spoofhound state champion quarterbacks spoke to this year’s squad at a team dinner.
The words of wisdom from Jon Baldwin, 1982; Marcus Grudzinski, ‘09; Jonathan Baker, ‘12; Trent Nally, ‘13; and Will Walker, ‘17, paid off for junior quarterback Connor Drake against Cassville.
Drake threw a game-winning touchdown pass to sophomore running back Caden Stoecklein with 11.2 seconds remaining, beating the Wildcats 30-28.
“That just felt like, that was the best feeling I could have,” Stoecklein said of the reception. “ I was a little shocked honestly that we drove it down field that quick and scored. Just the feeling when it was a touchdown, it was amazing. The fact that we’re going to state, everybody counted us out but you know, we’re here.”
It didn’t appear such play would be needed at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Maryville (11-3) had a 17-0 lead, but allowed Cassville senior Hayden Sink to score from the goal line 11 seconds in.
At that point Cassville (10-3) began a series of bold moves, highlighted by two separate onside kicks.
The Wildcats took a 28-24 lead after its second onside recovery, leaving Maryville 1:07 to put up a game-winning touchdown.
For the rest of the story click here.
