As he prepared his Panther football team for a critical league battle Friday against Liberty at William Jewell College, Raymore-Peculiar football coach Tom Kruse delivered what he thought was probably his best pre-game speech to date.
Raymore-Peculiar High's Cameron Coffman.
Photo by Dean Backes
Then his Suburban Big 7 squad took a couple of steps out of the locker room only to be told they'd have to wait two, maybe three hours before determining the fate of Friday's contest featuring two of Class 6's more potent offenses. Eventually the game was delayed 15 hours due to inclement weather.
Still, Kruse's words must have struck a chord.
Leading 7-3 at halftime, the Panthers traded touchdowns with Liberty in the second half, and scored the winning points with 26.5 seconds remaining in the game on a 1-yard strike from
Cameron Coffman to
Walker Evans.
"It was awesome. I mean a quarterback dreams of that situation when you're down with a couple of minutes to go," Coffman said after teaming up with a receiving corps that took its share of shots but still managed to hold on to the ball. "That's what you train for all summer. That's what you work for.
"My receivers have really gotten better," he added. "They've really stepped up their game these last few weeks. They've grown up and they're taking hits but they're catching the ball."
Raymore-Peculiar and the Bluejays traded touchdowns in the third quarter. Liberty took a 10-7 lead following Austin Weese's 20-yard strike to Lucas Norton. The Panthers then jumped back on top with Coffman's 25-yard toss to
Trevor Vogelsmeier.
Weese scored on runs of 4 and 13 yards in the fourth quarter, while Coffman teamed up with sophomore
Aaron Russell from 12 yards out to set up the game's final minutes. Weese's 13-yard run gave Liberty a 24-21 advantage with about 3:30 remaining.
On the game's final scoring drive, Coffman and company overcame numerous penalties and fourth down situations to drive 77 yards for the win. Coffman also had to overcome three first-half interceptions.
"We just made some mistakes and we can't worry about that," Coffman said. "You got to move on.
"My dad always tells me, 'Don't let your highs be too high and your lows be too low.' I mean if I would've thrown three touchdowns I should have the exact same attitude as if I throw three interceptions going into the second half. We got to put that behind us. That's over."
On Friday, Raymore-Peculiar takes a 2-1 record into a home contest against 0-3 North Kansas City. Liberty, meanwhile, takes its 2-1 mark on the road to battle undefeated and second-ranked Rockhurst Friday.
LAST WEEKEND’S TOP FOOTBALL PERFORMANCESRUSHINGTrent Davis of
Wright City rushed for 355 yards and six touchdowns on 35 carries in a 48-6 win over O'Fallon Christian… Vance Purdun of
Princeton ran for 354 yards and seven touchdowns in a 58-14 win over Gallatin…
Dylan Haney of
Southwest (Ludlow) rushed for 336 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries in a 56-48 win over Hardin-Central...
Tyler Grethen of
Southern Boone (Ashland) ran the ball 33 times for 268 yards and four scores in a 36-14 win over Cuba… Penney's
Trevor Dixon ran the ball 17 times for 245 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-8 win over Maysville…
Kellen Kempf of Boonville rushed for 233 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries in a 41-13 win over Marshall… Chaminade's
Rob Standard scored four touchdowns and rushed for 227 yards on 24 carries in a 42-7 win over Vianney…
Trey Lewis of Sikeston rushed for 217 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-0 blanking of Dexter.
PASSINGAaron Frost of
Joplin completed 24 of 43 passes for 378 yards and four touchdowns in a 36-35 overtime win over Springfield-Hillcrest… Trevor McDonagh of
St. Louis University completed 24 of 37 passes for 355 yards and a touchdown in a 31-14 loss to Webster Groves…
Matt Futrell of
Hillcrest (Springfield) connected on 13 of 40 passes for 339 yards and three scores in a 36-35 overtime loss to Joplin… Cameron Coffman of Raymore-Peculiar completed 33 of 49 aerials for 320 yards and four touchdowns in a 28-24 come-from-behind win over Liberty…Hogan Prep's Jevon Bausby completed 14 of 21 throws for 283 yards and a pair of scores in a 26-20 win over Miller…
Grant Gavin of
St. Pius X (Kansas City, Mo.) connected on 11 of 16 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown in a 38-12 win over Clinton… Bolivar’s
Kolton Peavey connected on 12 of 23 passes for 229 yards and three scores in a 40-6 win over Marshfield…
Kahlid Hagens of Maplewood-Richmond Heights completed 11 of 23 aerials for 220 yards in a 22-6 win over Potosi.
RECEIVINGDeVante Bausby of Hogan Prep caught six passes for 185 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a 26-20 win over Miller… Joplin's Dayton Whitehead caught 11 aerials for 179 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-35 overtime win over Springfield-Hillcrest…
Jermey Coleman of Springfield-Hillcrest caught six passes for 163 yards and a pair of scores in a 36-35 overtime loss to Joplin… Stefan Sansone of St. Louis University High caught 12 passes for 159 yards in a 31-14 loss to Webster Groves… Bolivar's
Matt Magana latched on to seven passes for 149 yards and a score in a 40-6 win over Marshfield…
Dorial Green-beckham of Springfield-Hillcrest hauled in three passes for 143 yards and a touchdown in a 36-35 overtime loss to Joplin… Maplewood-Richmond Heights'
Cortez Cooper caught six passes for 126 yards in a 22-6 win over Potosi… Joplin's Keegan Tinney caught five passes for 119 yards and a score in a 36-35 overtime win over Springfield-Hillcrest.
MISSOURI FOOTBALL RANKINGS
