No. 1 seed Hounds massacre Lincoln Prep

The Missouri High School Activities Association's decision to allow every team into the playoffs beginning this year acted as more of a punishment to Lincoln College Prep than a reward.

In the opening round of the Class 3 District 8 Tournament, top-seeded Maryville put a 66-8 beating on eighth-seeded Lincoln Prep that was as wicked as the winds that howled throughout a bitterly cold Thursday night at the Hound Pound.

During a first half played almost entirely on one side of the field, Maryville (10-0) amassed a jaw-dropping 60-0 lead and it would've been even worse were it not for two red zone trips that resulted in only three points.

The Hounds scored the first nine times they touched the ball and prevented Lincoln Prep (2-8) from ever making a first down in the first half.

Maryville scored once more late in the third quarter with its back-ups in the game, and its third-string unit consisting of mostly freshmen gave up a touchdown with under four minutes left.

The Hounds set a new season-high for points, topping the score 63 they scored at Cameron.

The 58-point final margin ranks as Maryville's second most lopsided win behind their 63-0 victory over Cameron.

Now with seven wins of 30 points or greater, Maryville is prepared to host Kansas City Northeast in the district semifinals Wednesday at 7 p.m.

"I am happy with the win," said Maryville head football coach Matt Webb. "I'm happy that we executed well early. This is tough conditions and that's a classy team that they brought up here. They're a bunch of hard-working guys and I'm happy with the outcome."

Four of Maryville's eight first half touchdowns came from sophomore running back/return man Brody McMahon.

He returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown and later had a punt return for a touchdown along with two touchdown receptions.

"He's a good athlete and when you get him in space like that he can make people miss," said Webb. "He also does a good job of getting blocks. There were some good blocks on both of those returns. He does a good job of reading blocks."

Maryville's other two starting backs—seniors Derek Stiens and Peyton Mizera—each had a first half touchdown run and combined for 129 yards on 14 carries. Stiens was Maryville's leading rusher with 69 yards on 10 rushes.

Freshman Dakota Beemer and sophomore Payden Dawson broke off scoring runs as well after the starters took a seat.

As a team, the Hounds rushed for 242 yards on 37 carries and four touchdowns and totaled 320 yards.

Quarterback Jonathan Baker completed all five of his passes for 78 yards and three touchdowns. The first two went to McMahon on plays of 12 and 34 yards. The last one was a 2-yard strike to Ridge Yount.

Lincoln's Prep's offense produced -27 yards in the first half and 68 for the game with six first downs.

The Tigers also lost four first half fumbles that caused the game to really get out of hand.

Maryville defensive ends Tyler Tripp and Adam Thompson each had 1.5 tackles for loss. Thompson added a sack.

Lincoln Prep freshman back-up quarterback Zarin Jerrells his team's only touchdown on a 4-yard run with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter. Darius Griffin ran in the two-point conversion.

Starting quarterback Seth Fisher was 3-10 passing in the first half for -5 yards. Sophomore Jabari Hopson ran well in the second half to finish with 50 yards on 15 carries.

Maryville scored its first 16 points in the first four minutes and finished the first quarter up 26-0.

The first quarter scoring plays consisted of McMahon's opening kickoff return, a safety caused by a bad snap over Fisher's head, a 12-yard touchdown pass from Baker to McMahon, a 25-yard field goal by Boston Schneider and a 17-yard touchdown run by Stiens.

The scoring run from Stiens came one play after four Hounds smothered a Lincoln Prep punt that was recovered at the 17.

Two plays into the second quarter, Baker hit McMahon on a wheel route out of the backfield for a 34-yard touchdown, making it 33-0.

Lincoln Prep fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting up Baker's 2-yard scoring toss to Yount that made it 40-0.

Maryville turned another Lincoln Prep fumble into a 4-yard touchdown by Mizera with 7:38 left in the second.

The point after was blocked, keeping the score 46-0. A 37-yard punt return by McMahon brought it to 53-0. Beemer took a sweep to the left side 18 yards for a 60-0 lead.

Maryville threatened to score once more before the half, but running back Tyler Coleman had the ball yanked away by Hopson while a pile was moving toward the goal line.

Hopson took off the other way and was dragged down by Hagen Snow in Hound territory with 1:07 left in the half. Nothing came of it, leaving the halftime score at 60-0.

A 38-yard touchdown burst by Dawson accounted for the only third quarter points, and the 4-yard keeper by Jarrells finished the scoring altogether.

"We've won all different kind of games this year," said Webb. "We came from behind last week against Lafayette. We've played with the lead and we've maintained a lead against Savannah. I'm confident we'll be able to handle anything that comes in the future."

Maryville's upcoming opponent Kansas City Northeast won its opening round game over Central Academy 27-26.