Spencer Ward was a mere 14 years old when he made his Nixa varsity debut a little more than a year ago. Coming off the bench, he turned in a dazzling run showcasing his potential late in the Eagles’ season-opening blowout at Branson.
“That was one of the best moments in my whole life,” Ward said. “As a freshman to even be considered for varsity, that was an accomplishment for me.”
Fast forward to this past Friday and Ward’s list of accomplishments is seemingly growing by the day. Now a sophomore, he notched his first 100-yard rushing game to trigger Nixa’s 21-10 Week Four triumph against Republic.
Ward needed just six carries to total 154 yards rushing. He turned the Eagles’ first play from scrimmage in the second half into a 72-yard highlight-reel touchdown run that saw him out-juke and out-sprint Republic defenders.
“I saw the outside ‘backer crash down on the play, so I went outside and then I saw the safety coming up, so I gave him a little okey-dokey and went outside and scored,” Ward said. “I’m known for being fast and I had to prove it.”
This rapidly rising star turned 16 years old on Sept. 1. Getting his driver’s license soon after his birthday has served as a parallel to his growing role for the Eagles.
“Getting my driver’s license felt like another step in my life. I have more privileges now,” Ward said. “After football season, I’ll start working and saving my money for a car. Once my brother (Steven) gets a new car, I’ll get to drive his car. It’s a 2006 Lincoln Zephyr. It gets me places, that’s all I need.”
Ward helped get Nixa to 3-1. His touchdown led to 21 straight points for the Eagles, turning around a game that for a half had upset written all over it.
Nixa mustered just 25 yards of total offense while falling behind 10-0 entering halftime. Coach John Perry’s adjustments included calling upon Ward to come over from his cornerback post and give the offense a boost.
“At halftime, we decided we we going to let him go to running back because he has that big-play potential,” Perry said. “He’s special. Spencer walked by me and as politely as he can he said, ‘I gotcha Coach.’ (72) yards later, he had us.”
Ward appears well on his way to being Nixa’s first two-way starter since Sean Sample starred in the secondary and at running back three years ago. Ward may have all the makings of being the next ‘Mr. Nixa.’
“He’s a sophomore so he’s only going to get better,” wide receiver Kael Combs said. “He’s gifted. He can play wherever you want him. He’s a team player. I love having him on our team.”
“That man is a stud,” defensive lineman John Gholson said. “He’s a dog, I’ll tell you that.”
It’s safe to say statewide there wasn’t a better third-string running back as recently as two weeks ago.
“I knew I was going to play a role as a corner this season and I was happy with that,” Ward said. “Now I’m playing both offense and defense and I’m even more happy.”
Nixa’s other breakout stars also further established themselves. Quarterback Connor Knatcal threw a pair of touchdown passes, with one scoring strike going to Combs. Knatcal has thrown for eight touchdowns on the season, with Combs catching five of them.
Knatcal and Combs combined for a 33-yard touchdown in the third quarter at Republic to give Nixa its first lead, 14-10. Combs appeared to touch a knee on the turf shortly after making the catch, but officials did not blow their whistle.
Combs confirmed he was down.
“Yeah, it definitely did,” he said when asked about his knee touching the turf. “As soon as it touched the turf, I thought, ‘The ref might not have seen it, he’s human and might make a mistake, so I’m going to get up and keep running like I didn’t touch.’”
“He was probably down, but we’ll go with what they say,” Knatcal said of the refs.
Knatcal followed up by hitting a wide open Rylan Michel on a screen pass that ended up being an 85-yard touchdown catch and run in the fourth quarter.
“I knew that he was going to be open because we had run the screen play multiple times,” Knatcal said. “Every time we would run that tunnel screen, their corner would sit there and wouldn’t follow. We knew if Rylan faked the block, he would be wide open.”
“We ran that a bunch where I would block that corner, so he kept biting and biting,” Michel said. “I stopped for a second, acted like I was going to block him and then took off. He couldn’t keep up.”
Knatcal proved plenty on the night.
He handled adversity admirably well by bouncing back with a perfect second half. He started the night completing only 2-of-9 passes for 15 yards with an interception in the first half. He finished 6-for-13 for 154 yards.
Also, he showed he can take a wallop. A Republic defender was in Knatcal’s grill as he threw his touchdown pass to Michel.
“I got smoked right as I threw it,” Kantcal said. “I wasn’t thinking about getting hit as I threw the ball, it was more just about trying to get the ball to (Michel). A dude was standing over me after I got hit, so I couldn’t see what was going on. I was laying on the ground and waiting to hear which crowd was cheering.
“It was definitely worth it,” he added. “I might feel it tomorrow, but in the moment you don’t feel anything.”
“I just watched the replay and he took a shot,” Michel said. “He’s all-in and a team player. He’s not playing for himself. He’s willing to put his body on the line.”
Nixa’s defense shut out Republic in the second half. The Tigers new-look triple-option attack enjoyed some success in the first half and overall produced 249 yards rushing.
“The hardest thing with the triple-option is since they hit (the line) so quickly, you can’t really pick up where the ball is going,” Gholson said. “You just have to hit your guy. You hope your guy has the ball, but most of the time they wouldn’t. With a dive, it doesn’t matter if your guy has the ball or not, we hit him and take him to the ground. Our ‘backers, they see dive and work quarterback to pitch and our corners get the pitch.
“Where we were at on the field (after two interceptions) hurt us sometimes,” he added. “Besides that, we just kept punching them in the face.”
“Our jayvee stepped up and ran a great scout team for us during the week,” Ward said. “It was a good week (of preparation) for us, even it didn’t show for us in the first half.”
“They did a great job with what they do,” Perry said of the Tigers. “It gives them a chance to win and kept this game close for a long time.”
