Monett Cubs falter in attempt to win Barry County Brawl

The Barry County Brawl trophy will spend another season in the hands of Monett rival Cassville as the Cubs fell 41-24 to the Wildcats in football action last Friday.
“We just made too many mistakes,” said Ben Mauk, Monett coach. “We have to control the things we can control. On offense, we must move the ball down the field and score touchdowns. I thought we did that well at times, but we have to get more consistent for all four quarters.”
The Wildcats looked on their way to a big blowout scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions.
However, the Cubs put together a pair of drives capped by a 1-yard Colin Umfleet run and another from seven yards out on back-to-back drives to take a 16-14 lead.
Umfleet finished the game with 55 yards rushing on 12 attempts. Monett was 16-of-40 passing for 202 yards.
Cassville rushed for 334 yards on 48 attempts and threw for another 73 yards.
The Wildcats added a pair of touchdowns to end the first half to lead 27-16 at intermission.
“I feel like we are getting better every week,” said Mauk. “We just need to create our breaks. Defensively, except for three big plays, we were solid. Fixable issues. All of them.”
Umfleet added a 2-yard run for a score in the fourth quarter to pull the Cubs within 33-24, but Monett could not get the necessary stops on defense to get closer.
The Cubs currently sit in sixth place in their Class 4, District 6 pod. As of press time, West Plains, Carl Junction, and Bolivar are the top three seeds, respectively. The Cubs will travel to one of those schools to open district play.
However, Monett still has one final game left as they host Mt. Vernon on Friday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.