CARTHAGE — Reid Potts completed his comeback from the woes that have hindered his senior season. But the Nixa quarterback couldn't finish an Eagles rally in what amounted to be a COC championship game Friday.
Looking to make it a one-score game, Potts was intercepted in Carthage territory midway through the fourth quarter. The Tigers went on to make themselves conference champs by claiming a 35-12 victory.
When Potts was picked by Carthage's Davion King, Nixa trailed 21-12.
Throwing against a stubbornly consistent and cold wind, Potts' pass of 25-30 yards appeared to be knocked down by the wind and into the lucky hands of King.
"It might have," Potts said of the wind being a factor. "We thought about the wind in the pre-game. But I didn't have a ton of throws against the wind, so I didn't think about it. It was just a tough drive. We wanted to get down there and score, but didn't pull it off.
"I probably shouldn't have thrown the ball," he added. "I threw a post route and left it a little short."
Potts otherwise was finally feeling like his old pass-happy self. Returning to the site where the problems have have plagued his senior season began, he took all of the Eagles' snaps from center for the first game this season.
"This is the first game I played the first to fourth quarters. It was pretty fun," said Potts, who was ejected during the late stages of Nixa's Class 5 District 6 final loss at Carthage a year ago, prompting him to be suspended for this year's Week One contest.
Potts went on to re-injure a knee in Week Two versus Joplin and missed three more games. He returned in Week Six and shared time at quarterback with upstart sophomore Austin McCracken for three games.
Potts hasn't seen a doctor since the pre-season and with Nixa (7-2) beginning its playoff run this coming week, he hopes to wait to have an X-ray or MRI until sometime after Thanksgiving.
"After we hurt it the second time, we didn't go to the doctor," Potts said. "It felt like it did before the Joplin game, so I said, 'I just want to play again, do what I can do and we'll see what it's like after the season.' I'm moving on it a lot better now. It's been feeling pretty good. I haven't had much pain."
Potts may have thrown his two best passes of the season prior to his interception Friday. He and wideout Smith Wheeler hooked up for a pair of perfectly-executed passes and catches against a tight Carthage defense. One play later, though, it was all for naught.
Potts gave credit to Carthage's secondary.
"They flew around playing man-to-man the whole game and just beat us," he said.
Carthage (8-0) turned the only Nixa turnover on the night into a clinching one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Patrick Carlton. The Tigers added a final score on a seven-yard touchdown run by running back Luke Gall.
Carlton, in particular, converted on short runs all night en route to a four-touchdown game. He came through repeatedly on third- and fourth-down runs to get a Carthage first down.
Facing a fourth-and-one from its own 30-yard line with two-plus minutes to play in the second quarter, Carlton gained a first down. He followed up by throwing a 40-yard pass for Blake Snead to the Nixa one-yard line to set up a Tigers touchdown just before halftime.
"We got beat on those short plays," Eagles linebacker Steven Ward said. "Their linemen got off the ball to help the quarterback and running backs make plays. They're a stronger team and pushed us back. We have to come back and push ourselves to our limits so we can beat a team like this."
Carthage received plenty of help or Nixa hurt itself mightily, however one wants to phrase it, as the Eagles were flagged for a handful of personal foul penalties. Several of the flags were thrown after play had stopped.
"Our kids played hard, but (had) too many stupid penalties," coach John Perry said.
"I tried to keep everybody under control," Ward said. "But it got out of hand, especially with the foolish calls they were throwing (flags) against us. (A ref) said he was going to throw a flag if I flexed."
Chirping by players on both sides could be heard through the first three quarters. More often than not, Nixa would be penalized.
"They would say something at us and we would say something back and we would get the flag," Ward said.
"We've got to keep our mouths shut and play the game," safety Riley Childs said. "If (the refs) tell us to stop, we've got to stop."
Carlton ran 27 times for 102 yards and Gall had 81 yards on 18 carries.
Nixa running back Ramone Green made quick work of his countdown to 1,000 yards rushing. Needing 60 yards for 1,000 going into the game, he broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
Green went on to gain 147 yards on 19 carries.
Carthage won't officially learn if it will have to share the COC title with Webb City (8-1 overall and 7-1 in the COC) until a meeting of conference officials. The teams didn't play due to quarantine issues at Carthage. There has been seemingly far-fetched speculation the Tigers will have to forfeit their contest with the Cards.
No matter to Nixa, which embarks on the Class 6 playoffs with a District 3 home game next week.
Carthage 35, Nixa 12
Nixa 6 0 6 0 — 12
Carthage 7 14 0 14 — 35
Scoring
N — Green 80 run (kick no good)
C — Carlton 2 run (Calvin kick)
C — Carlton 6 run (Calvin kick)
C — Carlton 1 run (Calvin kick)
N — Green 3 run (kick no good)
C — Carlton 1 run (Calvin kick)
C — Gall 7 run (Calvin kick)
For the Ozone recap and video highlights, click here.
