It was a chilly fall night Friday as the West Plains High School Zizzers football team took the field in Hannibal to face the Pirates in the quarterfinals of state playoffs. The contest that followed would be their hardest fight of the season.
The Zizzers opened the game kicking to the Pirates who would get the ball on their own 38-yard line. The Zizzer defense brought the pressure, but the Pirates managed to work their way down to the Zizzer 19-yard line. Connor Lair brought their drive to an end when he hit the Hannibal quarterback so hard he dropped the ball. Jason Lopez jumped on the ball, and West Plains would get their first look at offense.
West Plains didn’t gain much ground and were forced to punt, but that’s ok because that Zizzer defense just forced another Pirate fumble, and once again it was Zizzers’ ball. With 2:59 left in the first quarter, Lair found the end zone for the first Zizzer touchdown of the game. A successful extra point kick by Chase Larson and the Zizzers found themselves with a 7-0 lead.
The Pirates managed to make some good movement down the field, and on 4th and 6, the Pirates matched West Plains with a touchdown and PAT of their own to tie the game 7-7 with 49 seconds to go in the first quarter.
The Zizzers opened the second quarter with a 60 yard touchdown courtesy of a monster pass from Dagen Kenslow to Heston Miller. Another good kick by Larson, and the Zizzers were back on top 14-7.
The lead wouldn’t last long. The Pirates tied the score at 14 after the Zizzers were hit with a massive yardage penalty for targeting.
In a near reply of the last Zizzer touchdown, Kenslow completed another touchdown pass to Josh Leazer. The kick was no good, so the Zizzers went up 20-14.
The Pirates found their way to the top of the scoreboard with 3:37 left in the half as they pulled ahead 21-20, and that’s where the score would stand at halftime.
The Zizzers opened the second half on the receiving side of the kickoff.
The Pirates widened their lead to 28-0 with 6:05 left in the third quarter on what can only be described as an unbelievable play. The Zizzers nearly had a QB sack, but a short, ugly pass turned into a seven tackle breaking run all the way to the end zone.
That lit the fire under the Zizzers that they needed. Kenslow made a big run down the field to put the Zizzers in scoring position. Miller carried the ball the last 20 yards for a much needed Zizzer touchdown. West Plains failed to get the 2-point conversion, but still pulled themselves within 2 points at 28-26.
The Zizzer defense stepped up and shut down the Pirates to get the ball back in West Plains’ hands. That offense finished the third quarter with some impressive moves. There is no way to describe the athlete that Kenslow is. He is a fantastic quarterback, but his athletic skill would allow him to excel in any position.
There was 4:28 left in the game when the Pirates increased their lead to 35-26.
The Zizzers continued to fight with everything they had, but in the end they would come up short, brining a close to a great season.
While they will look back at the game tape, point to various moments and think “we should have...” or “if only we had...” this Zizzer team has undoubtedly earned the pride and respect of their school and their town.
Thank you to the 2021 football team for showing us all what it truly means to be a Zizzer.
Go Big Red!
