Preview: Joplin Eagles vs. Nixa Eagles
Two dominant backs in Quin Renfro and Malachi Rider are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Joplin Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Nixa Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Joplin sitting on four straight wins and Nixa on ten.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Joplin walked away with it. They strolled past Kickapoo with points to spare on Friday, taking the game 45-29.
Joplin can attribute much of their success to Renfro, who rushed for 257 yards and a touchdown while picking up 8.6 yards per carry, and Hobbs Gooch, who rushed for 114 yards and three touchdowns on only eight carries. Gooch's longest rush was for an incredible 76 yards. Davin Thomas did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 82 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Nixa can now show off six landslide victories after their most recent contest on Friday. They breezed by Ozark on the road to the tune of 50-0. Given Nixa's advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri football rankings (they are ranked sixth, while Ozark is ranked 111th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Nixa's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Dylan Rebura led the charge by rushing for 92 yards and two touchdowns. Rider was another key contributor, rushing for 75 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries.
Joplin's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-3. They've been dominating during the games in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 24 points. As for Nixa, their win bumped their record up to 10-0.
Joplin came up short against Nixa when the teams last played back in September, falling 35-27. Can Joplin avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
