CARTHAGE, Mo. — Neosho trailed 28-14 at halftime of Friday night’s Central Ozark Conference rivalry with major Class 5 District 6 seeding implications on the line at David Hafner Stadium in Carthage. Then the Wildcats used two onside kick recoveries to turn the game on its head.
With each onside recovery, the Wildcats turned in a touchdown-scoring drive to even the game at 28.
And they needed them both.
“Yeah, we did. We talked at halftime and we liked our defensive adjustments but if we’re going to beat a team like this you have to pull out all the stops and you can’t be afraid,” Neosho head coach Brandon Taute said.
“Obviously, those were huge and the difference in the game. Those two possessions. They’re clicking on all cylinders offensively. They’re hard to stop and you give them two extra possessions like that it’s not good,” Carthage head coach Jon Guidie said.
Then the Wildcats attempted a two-point conversion on each of their last two touchdowns of the night to try and earn their first lead of the game. The first was good to put them ahead 43-42. The second try also cashed in and they stretched their lead to 51-48.
There wouldn’t be a lot to say about either defense after the first quarter but Neosho’s defense had one last statement to be made in the final 62 seconds as it kept Carthage from converting on 4th and 1 just outside of field goal range at the 29-yard line to seal the victory.
“We kept saying we were going to get a stop when we needed it and they were able to do it when it mattered,” Taute said.
Neosho goes 8-1
Carthage looked for a quick throw to try and convert on fourth and short with 12 seconds left but Slade Stifler’s throw came up just short of his intended target and Neosho took over with six seconds to play. The Wildcats kneeled once and left Hafner Stadium with an 8-1 record to conclude the 2026 season.
“Special. Super proud of these kids, obviously. The resiliency the last two games for sure is unbelievable. … Job’s not finished, though,” Taute said.
Neosho overcame a deficit to come back and beat Webb City in Week 8 as well.
“All the hard work these seniors have been putting in since seventh grade is paying off. … But we have bigger goals than an 8-1 season,” Taute added.
Neosho earns the No. 2 seed in Class 5 District 6 and will face No. 7 Parkview (0-9) in the first round of the tournament. Carthage (6-3) will be No. 4 and host No. 5 Webb City (6-3). No. 1 Republic (8-1) gets a first-round bye. No. 3 seed Branson (8-1) hosts sixth-seeded Willard (1-8) in the first round.
The district will feature three teams in the top 10 from a week ago. Republic was No. 2 on Oct. 19 while Carthage was fourth and Neosho ninth. Webb City had been eighth the week prior before dropping out after its loss to Neosho. So four teams have recently been in the top 10.
More from the game
With the score tied at 35, following a score by the Wildcats, Taute thought he’d try to swing the momentum one more time with a third onside kick attempt. This time, the Tigers recovered.
They turned it into a 10-play, 5:16 drive of 44 yards. Stifler ran for 27 of the yards on that drive and capped it with a 2-yard touchdown to put the home team on top 42-35.
Neosho started its next drive with 10:31 to go and marched down the field in less than five minutes. The Wildcats got into the end zone on a hard-nosed 9-yard score from running back Lincoln Howard. Trailing 42-41, Taute decided to take another risk.
The two onside recoveries just didn’t seem like they were going to be enough as the Tigers kept on scoring. So, the Wildcats need to find a way to score more and that was with a 2-point conversion try.
Blayne Patterson hit Mason Spiva on a quick out toward the front pylon for an easy two points to go on top 43-42 with 5:45 left to play.
Taute mentioned that chances had to be taken in the game to beat a team like Carthage and it reminded him of a quote that he and his team live by.
“It’s an Emiliano Zapata quote: ‘I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.’ So, we’re going to come after people and that’s what we did,” Taute said.
Guidie’s Tigers had an answer in about two and a half minutes of gameplay.
On a wide receiver jet sweep from 36 yards out, Malachi Dougless took the ball and, as he got to the edge, a Neosho defender was able to get in the way but Dougless read that attempt to force him back toward the middle and saw green turf open in front. He made a jab step back inside and hit the open lane.
Dougless raced past the secondary and into the end zone to put the home team on top with 3:13 to go. Guidie’s crew also went for two but Stifler’s throw to the end zone was picked off, leaving the score at 48-43.
Neosho began its next drive from its own 20. And in less than 60 seconds, it had moved the ball 50 yards to the Tigers’ 30. On 4th and 3 from the 23, Patterson rolled to the right and couldn’t find anyone. He gathered himself and starting to work back to the left. As he did, he saw an open Spiva in the middle of the field working back that way with him. Patterson dropped in a perfect pass for a touchdown.
“That’s credit to Blayne and Mason being able to make a play. … We rolled out to the right. We were trying to slip out Lincoln and they covered it well and Blayne reset his feet and Mason worked back across the field with him,” Taute said. “Just a great play by those two.”
Patterson ran the ball in for a 2-point conversion to put Neosho up 51-48 with 1:06 to play.
62 seconds left
After Carthage’s return to the 23, it had 62 seconds to drive into field goal range to tie or 77 yards to win.
It took just three plays and two completions to get into Neosho territory after a 13-yard gain and a 1-yard gain with defensive pass interference to move the ball to the 48 of the Wildcats.
The next play saw Stifler scramble for 10 yards. In the hurry-up offense, he found Blake Wicklund for a 6-yard gain and Carthage took a timeout before 2nd and 4 with 22 seconds left.
Stifler had to evade pressure and run out of bounds on the next play for a loss of 3 yards. A false start pushed them back to 3rd and 12.
A quick dump off to Dougless in the flats saw the speedy receiver pick up 11 yards and set up the 4th and 1 play with 12 seconds left. But the Tigers were unable to convert and set up a chance to kick a game tying field goal. The kick would have been 46 yards from the 29-yard line on 4th and 1.
Before Neosho’s 51 points, the most scored on Carthage this season was 42 by Nixa and then 26 by Republic. The Tigers hadn’t allowed more than 38 in a game since a district championship loss to Webb City in 2024. Meaning, 48 points would have been enough to win every game the Tigers have played in the last three years until this one.
“Yeah, you would think,” Guidie said about 48 points being enough to win. “Give them credit and go back and look at it and hopefully get better next week.”
“The play of our offensive line in the second half was unreal. The first half they (Carthage) were kind of owning us up front a little bit and the second half we were able to create a ton of movement and run the football,” Taute said.
West injured
Carthage’s starting running back Landon West went down in the second half with what appeared to be an ankle injury and tried to play through it but was eventually unable to finish the game.
Jett Dalton took the carries after West was removed.
Guidie said he will be evaluated ahead of the district tournament.
22 Straight snapped
Neosho hadn’t beaten Carthage since a Class 4 state tournament meeting in 2008. The Wildcats won that game 39-13. They had lost 22 straight games to their conference rival since then with multiple years of meeting in the regular season and postseason.
In 2009, Carthage beat Neosho 27-25 in the regular season and 39-36 in the postseason. It earned two more wins in 2015 as well. The teams met twice again in ‘17 as well as the last two seasons prior to ‘26.
Friday night broke a 22-game skid and an 18-year drought.
Thumbs down
If you saw the Wildcats celebrating after the game with their thumbs down, it wasn’t as gesture of poor sportsmanship. Taute spoke about the celebration after the game.
Taute referred to the thumbs-down gesture after the win as a gladiator warrior mentality. A thumbs up gesture is believed to have represented life for a defeated gladiator while a thumb down meant death. A la, the reason for them pointing their thumbs down after defeating Carthage.
“It kind of became our mantra a little bit the last few weeks,” Taute said.