NMCC hangs 61-16 loss on Tigers

Cape Girardeau Central ran back the opening kickoff of Friday night's game for a touchdown, but the remainder of the game belonged to host New Madrid County Central, as the Eagles claimed a 61-16 victory.

Thanks to an 84-yard kickoff return by Cantrell Andrews and a 27-yard field goal by Tyler McNab on the Tigers' first two possessions of the game, Central led 10-0 after the first quarter. But New Madrid answered with two touchdowns in the second quarter for a 12-10 halftime lead.

A 12-yard touchdown run by Lennies McFerren III and a 26-yard fumble recovery by Dadrian Farr, which came on Central's ensuing possession, put the Eagles in front and were merely a warmup act for the second half.

New Madrid (2-0) added seven touchdowns in the second half to hand Central (0-2) its second straight lopsided loss. The Tigers lost their season opener to Parkway North 56-7 last week.

The Eagles added to a string of 34 consecutive points when Sedrick Hemphill intercepted a Chase Johnson swing pass and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown came one play after Central's Joe Uhls recovered a fumble at the New Madrid 26-yard line. A two-point conversion extended the Eagles' lead to 20-10.

New Madrid quarterback Lesle Williams then hooked up with Justin Beasley on a 38-yard touchdown pass for a 26-10 lead with 8:37 left in the third quarter.

Markell Long followed with New Madrid's third defensive touchdown of the game when he scooped up a Central fumble and returned it 60 yards. Williams ran in the two-point conversion to cap the 34-point run with 7:33 left in the third quarter.

Johnson accounted for the bulk of Central's offense when he scored on a 72-yard keeper to cut the lead to 34-16, but New Madrid tacked on four more touchdowns. The final two touchdowns were provided by freshman running back G'Darius Stevenson, who scored on runs of 43 and 58 yards.

Mountain View Liberty 21, Chaffee 19

Chaffee's Andrew Hendrix kicked a 30-yard field goal to win the game on the last play of the game.

Unfortunately, Liberty was offsides and he had to retry the kick.

When Hendrix tried the game-winner for the second time, the kick sailed wide right and the Red Devils barely avoided starting the season 2-0.

Chaffee jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter when Dylan McAlister punched the ball in from the 3-yard line.

Liberty answered with a touchdown later in the first quarter. It went ahead 14-6 in the second quarter, but Chaffee answered.

Steven Atkinson scored on a 26-yard run to pull the Red Devils within two points at 14-12.

Liberty again padded its lead in the third quarter, but the Red Devils refused to go away. Trenton Horman caught a 17-yard pass from Hendrix to pull Chaffee to 21-19, but the Red Devils couldn't complete the comeback.

Chaffee rushed the ball 52 times, with Atkinson leading the way. He finished with 13 carries for 100 yards.

Chaffee's defense toughened up in the second half as it allowed 150 yards on the ground in the opening half and only nine in the second half.

-- From staff reports