MHS SOCCER: Goals are no longer scarce for Mexico High School soccer boys, thanks to Tuesday night’s 8-0 blowout of NCMC rival Boonville on their home turf.
“This was fun to watch. We finally put everything together and went on a scoring spree,” Mexico High School coach Bryan Keim said after his squad snapped a long scoreless streak and improved its record to 4-9 overall/1-4 conference. “The boys were excited, I was excited, coach (Aaron) Henderson was excited; it was an all-around great night for Mexico soccer.”
The varsity contest followed on the heels of a 7-0 Bulldog win in the JV game with Casey Bedford making 2 saves in the former and Logan Ray making 2 in the latter. Ross DeLong (V) and Agustin Perez (JV) both pulled off hat tricks.
“We’ve been struggling to put the ball in the net the past few games and this time we made up for it. We were unselfish, we played together and we looked fantastic,” the MHS coach said of the main event. “Now we have a little momentum going into another conference game Thursday against Fulton. They will really test our new scheme and it will be a test of how good our offense is.”
Kelvin Brown added 2 goals, Alex Finck 1 goal/1 assist, Daniel Rivera 1 goal, Jesus Rivera 1 goal, Drew Potucek 2 assists, Desmond Hall 1 assist and Matt Wilson 1 assist for the Bulldogs. Varsity halftime score was 4-0 and Hall was the No. 9 player of the game.
In the preliminary game, Mexico’s other goals came from Aaron Lightfoot, Jesus Rivera, Kelvin Brown and Ethan Spurling with No. 9 honors going to Perez. JV halftime score was 3-0.

MHS SOFTBALL: Playing the second of four consecutive dates this week, the last 3 at Gallop Field, the Lady Bulldogs saw Rock Bridge break out for 10 runs in the fifth inning Tuesday and score an 11-1 short-game varsity win.
Mexico scored a run in the first and Rock Bridge a run in the second. Mexico’s came on a Callie Bracht line drive up the middle, a Delaney McNeil single, a Liz Crews single and Danielle Ingrum’s RBI single to left.
Courtney Fischer was the starting pitcher for the 3-15 Lady Bulldogs. Dana Lichtenberger threw until the fifth when Heather Elder came in.
“We stuck with it. The score, in my opinion, does not reflect how we played,” MHS coach Christina Gerber said. “Dana came in and pitched a great game; Heather was put in a tough position, but never once did I see us give up.”
Miranda Wells rounded out the Mexico hit total with a single.
Rock Bridge claimed the JV game 11-0, riding a 6-run third inning. Kelsey Creed was the Mexico pitcher and joined Lexie Abbott in hitting a single.
“This was not our best showing. We did not play to our best capacity,” the MHS coach said. “This type of game is the kind you learn from and move on.”

MHS GOLF: In Monday’s Kirksville Invitational, the Lady Bulldogs came in fourth among 6 full teams.
“We went with the goal of improving our team score and we met that goal,” MHS coach Lindsey Yancey said. “I continue to be impressed by my team; they continue to be consistent.”
Team scores read Kirksville 383, Trenton 387, Marceline 390, Mexico 427, Putnam County 441 and Canton 446. Marceline’s Taylor Frandson was the individual leader with 89 for 18 holes, while Mexico’s Shea Colley medaled at 46-45/91 for fourth.
Other entries for the Lady Bulldogs were Ashten Travis 51-49/100, Ashley Bridgford 56-49/115, Kelsay Spurling 57-64/121 and Sydney Beauchamp 67-70/137.
Tuesday at Arthur Hills, Mexico (4-5) totaled 221 in a 9-hole match against a Centralia squad that didn’t field a full team. Colley was medalist with her 40, while Bridgford shot 56, Travis 61, Spurling 64 and Beauchamp 69.
“As our season is winding down, we’re trying to focus on staying consistent but having fun,” the MHS coach said. “We always have fun with Centralia; we’re anticipating district, which is only a week away, but we’re trying not to get too uptight about it.”
Katie Martin was low for Centralia with 58, followed by Hannah Gudde 65 and Jenna Wheeler 71.

MHS VOLLEYBALL: Monday at home against California, the Lady Bulldogs dropped a 3-game varsity match, winning Game 2 25-17 but bowing 11-25 and 9-25 before and after.
“Once again, we beat ourselves. We need to play more consistently,” MHS coach Rachel Leu said as her squad’s record slipped to 4-9 overall.
Mexico played a pair of close JV games, coming up short 22-25, 27-29.
Tuesday at NCMC rival Boonville, the Lady Bulldogs slipped to 0-3 in league play after a 10-25, 13-25 varsity setback.
“Our varsity held their own. We faced some of the most powerful hitters we’ve seen all year,” the MHS coach said. “I was proud of the girls for not getting down on themselves and having the attitude of really wanting to play with such a skilled team.”
For Mexico on offense, Amanda Nickoley had 3 kills, while Loren Littrell and Khala Fowler each posted 1 ace. Littrell and Erika Miller led the Mexico defense with 6 digs apiece.
The Lady Bulldogs bowed 11-25, 13-25 in the JV match.

MMS G8 FOOTBALL: A trio of touchdowns, all in the first half, plus a solid defensive effort led the Bulldogs to a 22-0 win Tuesday over Kirksville at Hawthorne Heights.
“We played a pretty solid game and limited our mistakes,” Mexico Middle School coach Dave Okenfuss said. “I was particularly proud because we had several backups who actually started. Our guys all played hard and I was glad to see our defense clamp down on them.”
Jaeon Nunnelly opened the scoring for the 2-1 Bulldogs with a 60-yard dash, followed by Alex Hall’s 2 extra points. Hall then scored on a 10-yard dive with Nunnelly running for the conversion and Jake Vitale later intercepted a pass, returning it 40 yards into the end zone.

MMS G7 FOOTBALL: All the scoring in Tuesday’s game at Hawthorne Heights took place in the first half with Kirksville going home on top 14-6.
The only points for the 0-2-1 Bulldogs came on a 55-yard punt return by Kalil Brown. Thorne Cheney and Matt Beauchamp played well at offensive guard, according to MMS coach Dave Bogdon, and Ben Graves had some nice runs from the fullback position.

MMS G7/G8 VOLLEYBALL: The Lady Bulldogs were unable to reach that magical number of 25 in any of their 4 games Tuesday at Fulton, bowing in both matches to fall to 2-3.
Grade 7 scores were Mexico 11-25, 18-25 and Grade 8 scores read Mexico 12-25, Mexico 18-25.
“We faced tough teams and came out on the losing end,” MMS coach Beth Lower said. “Errors in serve receive and defense were difficult to overcome, but we did have good serving and constant effort and hustle.”

CENTRALIA SOFTBALL: Tuesday at home against Hallsville, the Lady Panthers took an 8-1 lead in the third inning and held on for a 9-6 victory.
Jordyn Tolliver got the win with Amber Duncan taking over in the fifth. Jordan Meyers went 3-for-3 for Centralia, including a solo homer in the first; Mallory Henry tripled in the second and Tolliver doubled in the each of the first 3 innings.

NORCAL JV FOOTBALL: Ahead 6-0 at halftime, North Callaway remained undefeated after 4 games with an 18-6 decision Monday night at Kingdom City over Southern Boone.
Scoring for the Thunderbirds were Zach Key on a 20-yard run in the second quarter, Zach Lavy on a 73-yard kickoff return in the third period and Tylar Walker on a 5-yard run in the fourth.