Dylan Rebura hasn’t forgotten anything about his grueling foray into boxing the summer before last. Representing Grappling Concepts in Nixa, he stepped into the ring at a card in Jefferson City and as a 160-pounder lost by decision.
His career-high 35-carry afternoon Saturday didn’t do anything to change his opinion on what is the toughest sport he’s experienced.
"I'd say fighting," the Nixa running back said. “I couldn’t breathe during my fight. Boxing is a bad atmosphere.”
Rebura may be 0-1 boxing, but is now No. 1 on Nixa’s career rushing ladder.
Rebura’s career-high 316 rushing yards and six touchdowns powered Nixa to a 56-46 Class 6 semifinal shootout triumph against Kirkwood. The Eagles reached 13 wins for the first time in their program’s history and earned themselves a chance to play for a state championship for the first time in 10 years.
Along the way, Rebura passed Ramone Green as Nixa’s record-holder for career rushing yards with 4,415. Green had 4,331. Rebura upped his single-season Eagles rushing record to an even 2,600.
Rebura may have the utmost regard for boxers, but don’t underestimate his esteem for running backs everywhere.
“It's hard to be a running back,” he said. “People don't understand the beating you take and the mentality it takes to be a good running back.”
Kirkwood presented a further challenge to Rebura and Nixa’s running game Saturday by loading up its defensive line with an extra player or two. The Pioneers often had their safety become a makeshift tackle, guard or end.
Nixa’s response was to go ‘Wildcat.’ Rebura repeatedly received the center-snap and quarterback Adam McKnight became a fullback, often serving as a lead blocker for Rebura.
“Me and Adam took the game away,” Rebura said. “They couldn't stop it. We weren't going to fix it if it ain't broke.”
“There were a plethora of them,” Nixa coach John Perry said of Eagles’ ‘Wildcat’ calls. “They were going to crowd the box. They were going to stick everybody in the box. They knew they couldn't stop us with a safety. So, Adam turned into a runner/blocker to make it 11-on-11 football. We added Adam to the equation as a runner and a blocker. It was fantastic.”
Compounding the impact of Rebura’s 316 rushing yards was McKnight running for 112 yards on 13 carries.
“I chipped in and helped a little bit,” McKnight said. “They couldn't stop our running game.”
“Our game plan was we were going to run the crap out of the ball and that's what we did,” tight end Lane Meltabarger said.
“They've got some big guys up front,” Kirkwood coach Jeremy Maclin said of the Eagles. “They’ve been running the ball, that's what they do. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the stops we needed.”
Nixa’s offense was so dominant that Kirkwood scored in every quarter, but fell behind by as much as 18 points, 35-17.
The Eagles’ offensive line was flawless. Nixa had nary a penalty assessed on its offense in the first half. The only flag the Eagles drew in the first half was for off-sides on their defense.
“No foolish penalties is on our objective board,” left tackle Jackson Cantwell said. “We win a lot of games whenever we don't commit penalties. We did a really good job in the first half as an offensive line trying to keep our hands inside, knowing the snap-count and being able to execute.”
“We played really clean,” Perry said. “The stuff that kills you are the (penalties) we call foolish. Foolish penalties are before the ball is snapped and after the ball is snapped. Last week, we had four (foolish penalties) on our offense for lining up wrong or moving. Today, we were really good.”
“We're disciplined. We're going to be more disciplined than (opponents),” Rebura said.
McKnight passed for one touchdown, throwing a 38-yard scoring strike to a Meltabarger on the first play of the second quarter.
"They were not respecting Lane,” McKnight said of Kirkwood’s defense. “They were crashing down on the running game. So, we did a little Tim Tebow jump-pass deal and he was wide open."
“They were in man (defense) and I ran off and no one guarded me,” Meltabarger said of a pass play in the first quarter. “I made sure to tell the coaches that. (Offensive coordinator Dustin) Baldwin had a great play designed and no one was on me.”
All afternoon, Nixa’s offense failed to reach the end zone on just one possession.
Kirkwood never cut Nixa’s lead to single digits, even with quarterback Owen Nesslage completing 37-of-55 passes for 455 yards and five touchdowns.
“On the offensive side, we were just trying to control what we could control,” Nesslage said. “We were focused on ourselves and trying to get a win. We were executing at a high level. We just came up a little short.”
The Pioneers led 7-0 and 14-7, before putting up only three points over their final three offensive series of the first half.
After Eagles cornerback Randy Flint turned in a pick-six with :27 remaining in the first half, suddenly Nixa led 35-17.
All things considered, it was hard to imagine at intermission any way the Eagles would be prone to a Kirkwood comeback.
“As long as they couldn't stop us, we were going to win that ball game,” Perry said.
“Our mindset is if we get one or two stops, we win the game,” Nixa safety Parker Mann on behalf of the defense. “I knew it was going to be an offensive game. I didn't think it would be this (high scoring). We have a few things to tweak on defense. But I'm very proud and thankful for our offense.”
