Worth County football captures 8th title

By Morgan Guyer

Worth County Football, now a co-op with Northeast Nodaway, has been one of the best programs in Missouri 8-Man for several years, and they returned to the top December 4 in St. Joseph, defeating Rock Port 56-46 to take home the title.

It was revenge for Worth County after losing 26-34 at home against the Blue Jays to open the campaign. It was a loss that motivated the Tigers for the rest of the season, as the they went 13-0 after that to capture the program’s 8th title.

The first half of the cold state final game was fairly low scoring, with the Tigers going up 14-12 under a minute left in the first half. Rock Port responded right before halftime to go up 18-14. The second half saw much more scoring, with Rock Port going up two scores on three occasions in the third quarter, but the Worth County team continued to grind through and never gave up, always responding with a score.

The Tigers were able to capitalize on Rock Port errors, and eventually took a 50-46 lead in the fourth quarter. A long scoring drive from Worth County with minutes remaining helped secure the victory.

Northeast Nodaway Junior Jude Archer was one of the best players on the night, rushing for 152 yards on 13 carries and three touchdowns. Other Northeast Nodaway students on the roster include Junior Lance Runde and Freshmen Jace Burnes, Liam Cordell, Bentin Roberts, Xander Bodle and Wyatt Scadden.