Cale Connors, the Blue Springs South backup quarterback, helped coach Greg Oder and the rest of the Jaguars scratch a seven-year itch Friday night at Peve Stadium.

    His performance late in the fourth quarter helped down crosstown rival Blue Springs 27-24 in a Suburban Big Six battle that was played in front of an appreciative packed house at Blue Springs High School.

    The win helped the Jaguars improve to 3-0 and end a seven-game losing streak to the Wildcats. Blue Springs fell to 0-3 – with losses to state powers Staley, Fort Osage and South, but more on that later from coach Kelly Donohoe.

    When Jaguars starter Noah Nigro tweaked a shoulder injury on a jarring tackle at the line of scrimmage with 3:36 left in the game, Connors came off the bench and threw a first-down pass to Briley Moore-McKinney on a big third-down play and then hit wide receiver Rickey Nichols in stride on a 53-yard strike down the left sideline that gave the Jaguars the ball on the Wildcat 10-yard line.

    When the drive stalled, Jake Roark came in to kick his second field goal of the night to give the Jaguars a 27-16 lead.

    “Coach (Kelly) Groom (the South offensive coordinator) makes sure that Noah and I get plenty of reps in practice during the week,” said Connors, a junior who played quarterback last season until he broke his wrist at the midway point. “I came in and had the line block for me and Briley and Rickey made some great catches. It's just so exciting for Noah and the rest of the seniors to finally beat Blue Springs. We have so much respect for them. You could tell by the way they came back tonight they are a great team with great coaches – and we think we can be a great team and we have great coaches, too.

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