Football Zizzers fall to Jays in state playoff opener

Published 1:30 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2026

By John Deatherage/For the Quill

A costly special teams mistake and a pair of bad snaps proved difficult to overcome as the West Plains Zizzers saw their season end Friday with a 43-20 loss to Jefferson City in the opening round of the Class 5 state tournament at Zizzer Stadium.

“Our biggest obstacle this year was inexperience,” West Plains Head Coach Brock Kenaga said.

That inexperience was tested Friday at some critical moments. Kenaga cited special teams miscues as particularly costly, noting the Zizzers surrendered a punt return for a touchdown and had two snaps sail over the punter’s head.

“The biggest problems we had in this game were mistakes,” Kenaga said.

Despite the setbacks, Kenaga didn’t question his players’ effort, as the Zizzers continued to compete even as the game swayed away from them.

“Our kids played hard but just had a lot go wrong at crucial times,” he said.

The coach pointed out that Ruker Freeman played through a sprained ankle to finish with nine tackles, while Aiden Judd provided a spark through the air with 102 receiving yards.

Judd opened the scoring for West Plains with 8:00 left in the first quarter. David Bevel’s extra-point kick was good, giving the Zizzers an early 7-0 lead.

The Jays answered at the 3:14 mark with an 11-yard touchdown pass and an extra point to tie the game. Seconds later, with 3:01 left in the quarter, Bryston Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. Bevel’s kick was good, putting West Plains back in front 14-7.

Jefferson City scored three unanswered times in the second quarter. Down 23-14 at halftime, the Zizzers found themselves needing to regroup and change the direction of the contest.

“At halftime we talked about keeping composure and sticking to the plan,” Kenaga said.

Jefferson City extended its lead to 36-14 with a 46-yard punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter and a 20-yard touchdown pass with 8:30 remaining in the fourth.

Gavin Marshall took the ball for a 1-yard touchdown run at the 7:36 mark of the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 36-20. Jefferson City then added the game’s final touchdown with 2:36 left to play to seal the victory.

When asked what he would remember most about this team, Kenaga didn’t point to a particular victory, statistic or individual performance.

“The thing that I will remember the most about this group was their willingness to keep fighting through adversity,” he said.

The seniors bore witness to quite a turnaround over the course of their time on the team.

“This senior group was the first group I had when I came to West Plains,” Kenaga said. “At that time, they had never won a game. They leave West Plains winning two of four district titles in their stint. Pretty impressive.”