NIXA — Carthage set the tone on the game's opening play, and it never really changed from there.
    It started with a fumble recovery by the Tigers on their first kickoff of the 2019 campaign. And four plays later, the Carthage offense capitalized off the takeaway as senior running back Tyler Mueller found the end zone on a nine-yard run to cap a quick 25-yard drive.
    Carthage never looked back from there, running away with a 35-0 shutout over Central Ozark Conference foe Nixa on Friday at Eagle Stadium.
    "We went down and recovered that first kick, and you certainly don't expect that," Carthage coach Jon Guidie said. "That certainly got us off on the right foot there."
    The early momentum eventually led to a 21-point first quarter for the Tigers.  Following Mueller's touchdown, the Carthage offense recorded a four-play, 50-yard drive that was capped with another TD. Senior wide receiver Marcus Huntley found the end zone on a nine-yard run off a jet sweep to put the visitors up 14-0 with more than four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
About three minutes later, Carthage put together another quick score, going 71 yards in just two plays and adding another touchdown to its lead on a 61-yard run by Mueller.
    Mueller wound up being the Tigers' most-used weapon on offense and finished with 161 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.
"We have the best offensive line in Missouri," Mueller said. "I mean, I can just thank them because they keep giving me big holes, and I just run through them."
"Oh yea, it's a two-way street," Guidie said of the productiveness in the run game. "I mean, it's those guys up front and it's (Mueller) behind them. That's what we wanted to see tonight. We wanted to see those guys up front dominate and turn Tyler loose. And (quarterback Patrick Carlton), because I thought he had some really good runs, too."
    Carlton, a junior, recorded 68 yards on the ground and threw for 111 yards — including a 56-yard touchdown pass to Huntley that put Carthage up 28-0 early in the third quarter — on 5-for-9 passing accuracy. Carlton's favorite target, senior offensive back Kale Schrader, tallied three catches for 35 yards.
In total, the Carthage offense registered 376 yards.
    "We were just wanting to pound the ball and have a physical mindset coming into tonight," Carthage senior center Avery Sneed said. "Up front, we wanted to dominate the line of scrimmage to get our offense going. You know, we have some new guys on our offensive line this year, but I think we made a statement tonight that we haven't had any dropoff from last year to this year. We showed that tonight and we want to continue showing that each week."
Defensively, the Tigers were just as brilliant. A bend-but-don't-break showing saw the Carthage defense secure the shutout despite Nixa totaling 236 yards of offense.
    "I don't know how our defense was able to do what it did tonight," Guidie said. "We were banged up a little bit and started some young kids, and we weren't sure how they were going to hold up. But I thought they did a really good job of just keeping it together."
    The Nixa offense advanced inside the Carthage 30-yard line three times — twice inside the Tigers' 10 — but ended up turning the ball over on downs on each drive. Huntley, at cornerback, had another takeaway for the Carthage defense with an interception late in the second quarter.
    "Our defense was amazing tonight," Sneed said. "And one of the guys I have to mention is (sophomore defensive back) Caden Kabance. He played both ways tonight and made a couple huge plays on defense. Our defense bowed up tonight and played well. As a team, our defense might be one of the most encouraging takeaways from this game."
    For Nixa, quarterback Reid Potts finished as the team's top rusher with 77 yards on 12 carried. He also passed for 121 yards, going 9-for-24 with one interception. Wide receiver Evann Long caught four passes for 33 yards while running back Jared Spence had two receptions for 34 yards.
Carthage returns to play next Friday in a home opener against Carl Junction at David Haffner Stadium. Kickoff will be 7:00 pm.
 -Jared Porter, Joplin Globe Sports Online

Carthage 35, Nixa 0
Carthage    21    0    14    0 -35
Nixa             0     0     0     0 -  0
First Quarter
C-Tyler Mueller 9 yard run, Marcus Huntley kick
C-Huntley 9 yard run, Huntley kick
C-Mueller 61 yard run, Huntley kick
Third Quarter
C-Huntley 56 yard pass from Patrick Carlton, Huntley kick
C-Mueller 2 yard run, Huntley kick