Carthage is just one win away from the state title game after knocking off Capital City 36-17 in the Class 5 quarterfinals on Saturday in Jefferson City.
The scoring was limited early before Carthage found its rhythm in the second quarter to take a X lead into the intermission. The Cavaliers trimmed the lead to five in the third quarter before the Tigers scored twice unanswered down the stretch to pull away for the win.
Carthage (11-1) will play Cardinal Ritter (9-3) in the Class 5 state semifinals on Nov. 29.
Carthage got the scoring started on the Tigers’ first drive of the game when QB Zane Browning kept the ball on third down for a 31-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 8:21 left in the first quarter.
After a first quarter that saw just three drives combined by both teams, Carthage pushed the lead to 15-0 when Browning found TE Landon Bland on play-action over the middle for a 34-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion was successful for a two-score lead early in the second period.
Capital City got on the board for the first time when QB Evan Schaffer hit WR Marcus Driver for a 36-yard passing score at the 10:21 mark of the second period to trim the margin to 15-7.
The Tigers used the big play again for a score when WR Tate Nichols took the jet sweep and broke loose at the second level with a spin move before sprinting his way to a 66-yard rushing score for a 22-7 advantage with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.
Capital City opened the second half with RB Jaqures Richardson broke off a 60-yard run to set up a short-yardage score from RB Jaylen Thomas to make the score 22-14 early in the third period.
Capital City got on the board again late in the third quarter with a 33-yard field goal from K Weston Schofield to make the score 22-17.
Early in the fourth quarter, Carthage was facing a fourth-down-and-goal from the 1-yard line when RB Landon West took the wildcat snap to the left for a touchdown to make the score 29-17 with 9:44 left in the game.
The Tigers put the game away late in the fourth quarter when Browning found paydirt on a keeper from 4 yards out to make the score 36-17 with less than two minutes to play.
OTHER NOTABLE SCORES
Seneca 47, Mountain Grove 14
Liberty 12, Lamar 7