Well, the second game of a brutal three-game gauntlet was taken care of last Friday night as the Lebanon Yellowjackets (6-0 overall) defeated the West Plains Zizzers (5-1 overall) at ‘Jacket Stadium, 44-34, and took complete control of the Ozark Conference title race.
Now, the team will move forward with their biggest rivalry game of the year as they host the Camdenton Lakers (5-1 overall) on Friday night for the infamous Highway 5 trophy. This game also has district playoff implications, with both teams competing for the top spot in Missouri Class 5 District 5.
Before we get started with key matchups, let’s take a look at the results from the past five meetings:
2020: Lebanon 52, Camdenton 38 (Bob Shore Stadium)
2019: Lebanon 7, Camdenton 35 District Championship (Bob Shore Stadium)
2019: Lebanon 0, Camdenton 28 (‘Jacket Stadium)
2018: Lebanon 28, Camdenton 35
2017: Lebanon 20, Camdenton 28
So, as you can tell, the Lakers have won four of the five past matches with LHS, but when these two rivals meet, records can always be thrown out the windows in every sport.
Looking back at Friday’s game against the Zizzers, I think the ‘Jackets played nearly a perfect game. The defense forced a turnover on downs to start, the offense drove down the field on their first drive to make a statement, and LHS had their least penalized game of the 2021 season.
Of course, people who look at the score will think it was somewhat of a close game, but that was a game that Lebanon allowed West Plains to crawl back in with prevent defense and a costly turnover. Credit the Zizzers, too, for not rolling over, but the score did not indicate how dominant Lebanon was on both sides of the football.
For the complete story, see Wednesday's edition of the Laclede County Record.
