Webb City holds off Holt to win Missouri Class 5 title

When the Missouri Class 5 championship game ended on Friday night, the winning team was guaranteed to make history. Either undefeated Holt would win the first state title in school history or Webb City would win its 16th state title, the most in Missouri High School Activities Association history. In the end, it was the Webb City Cardinals, one of the best stories of the postseason, who held off a furious late comeback attempt by Holt to emerge with a 26-21 victory and the record 16th state championship. Webb City (11-3) leaned on its formidable rushing attack, which gained 277 yards at an average of 4.7 per attempt, and an opportunistic defense that corralled three Holt (13-1) turnovers. <strong>PLAYERS OF THE GAME</strong> <strong>WEBB CITY (11-3)</strong> <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="232303" first="Cade" last="Wilson"] 2022</strong> The Cardinals leading rusher on the season, Wilson ran 31 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns, his 26th and 27th of the season. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry. <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="242721" first="DuPree" last="Jackson"] 2022</strong> Jackson had another strong game. He rushed 21 times for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 5.0 yards per carry. On defense, he recorded three tackles and had the game-clinching <span style="font-size: 1rem;">interception near the goal line on Holt’s final play.</span> <strong>OL [player_tooltip player_id="245007" first="Braeden" last="Jackson"] 2022</strong> A 6-foot-3, 270-pounder, Jackson anchors the Webb City offensive line that drives the Cardinals up front. In addition to gaining 277 yards rushing and averaging 4.7 yards per carry, Webb City’s offense had the ball for more than twice as long as Holt in time of possession (32:19 to 15:41), converted 60 percent of third-down attempts (9-15) and 75 percent of fourth-down attempts (3-4). Jackson has offers from Evangel, Benedictine and MidAmerica Nazarene. <strong>HOLT (13-1)</strong> <strong>RB [player_tooltip player_id="37579" first="Kyle" last="Wuebbeling"] 2022</strong> Wuebbeling had another big game, rushing 12 times for 120 yards and a touchdown that gave Holt an early lead. In his final five games of the season, Wuebbeling racked up 793 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He finished with 1,751 rushing yards and 24 total touchdowns. <strong>QB [player_tooltip player_id="37715" first="Owen" last="Merrell"] 2023</strong> Making his first varsity start in the state championship game because of standout [player_tooltip player_id="37580" first="Cooper" last="Brown"]’s injury, Merrell showed he’s a gamer. He wasn’t perfect, but he gave Holt a chance to win with the team’s late fourth-quarter rally. Merrell completed 13 of 23 passes for 173 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, ran 14 times for 19 yards and recorded a 13-yard reception. <strong>LB-WR [player_tooltip player_id="37607" first="Isaiah" last="Slaughter"] 2022</strong> Slaughter made an impact on both sides of the ball. He had three receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown and also recorded 13 tackles. Slaughter’s 31-yards touchdown reception with 1 minute 46 seconds remaining cut the deficit to five points. <strong>LB [player_tooltip player_id="96295" first="Zakhi" last="Johnson"] 2022</strong> The tackling machine had another big game with a game-high 17 tackles, giving him 155 for the season. <em><strong>You can follow Nate Latsch on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/natelatsch">@natelatsch</a>.</strong></em> &nbsp;