Football Game Preview: Willard Tigers vs. Joplin Eagles

Willard is 1-6 against Joplin since August of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Tigers will be playing at home against the Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Willard has given up an average of 45.6 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Willard's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Webb City on Friday. They were beaten by the Cardinals 55-0. While losing is never fun, the Tigers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri football rankings (they are ranked 132nd, while the Cardinals are ranked 23rd).

Meanwhile, Joplin played in-conference for the first time on Friday and got just the result they were looking for. They skirted past Neosho 31-28. The Eagles haven't had any issues with the Wildcats recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive victory against them.

The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Traevian McCadney and Keisean Rhone. McCadney had a great game and rushed for 207 yards and three TDs. Meanwhile, Rhone was balling out in the loss, rushing for 151 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 8.4 yards per carry.

Willard's loss dropped their record down to 1-6. As for Joplin, their win bumped their record up to 3-4.

Willard took a serious blow against Joplin in their previous meeting back in October of 2024, falling 35-0. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Eagles' Daniel Rose, who threw for 214 yards and three TDs while picking up 10.7 yards per attempt, and also punched in one score on the ground. Now that the Tigers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.