Football Recap: Blayne Patterson Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Branson

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Neosho had no problem doing just that on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 42-20 margin over the Branson Pirates. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 28-7.

Blayne Patterson

Passer Rating (Career)

10/31/25 @ Branson	164.7
09/12/25 vs Lebanon	143.6
09/05/25 @ Kickapoo	141
09/19/25 @ Waynesville	140
11/08/24 vs Carthage	137.5

Neosho's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Blayne Patterson, who threw for 260 yards and four touchdowns while completing 85.7% of his passes. The dominant performance also gave Patterson a new career-high in passer rating (164.7). A healthy portion of Patterson's aerial production (92 yards to be exact) went to Haven Plummer, who also brought in three receiving touchdowns.

Special teams also deserves some recognition, posting 12 points in total. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Oliver Martin, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.

Neosho moved to 6-4 with that win, which also ended their three-game losing streak. As for Branson, they moved to 7-3 with that defeat, which also ended their four-game winning streak.

Coming up, Neosho will take on Carthage at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Branson does not have any more games scheduled as of now.