Sporting a pair of former area gridiron stars, the Joplin Crusaders, a semi-pro football team, played a preseason game at Chanute High School against the Missouri Spartans on Saturday night. The Crusaders won the game, 52-0.
The Crusaders, who play in the Central Midwest Football League, feature Braxton Reed, a Chanute grad, and Daquan Johnson, a Parsons grad, on their roster.
“We just wanted to continue to progress and get better,” Crusaders head coach Sam Sturgis said of Saturday’s performance. “We played a few guys at quarterback. We wanted to see what we had. And it was nice to have some guys like Braxton playing at home or close to home.”
Reed, the hometown favorite, was one of the game’s stars. Reed registered a sack on the Spartans’ first possession. Late in the game, Joplin gave Reed the ball on a 2-point conversion, where he reached across the goal line to convert.
“It was really cool and really fun,” Reed said. “I never thought I’d get to play a game on this field again. It was kind of cool how it worked out.”
Reed is entering his fifth season with the Crusaders.
“I was a couple of years out of high school and coming back from a knee injury,” Reed said. “I heard about Joplin and I thought that was my ticket. It’s really been great.”
Sturgis praised Reed for his dedication to the team and continued commitment to the sport.
“He’s one of the guys you truly enjoy coaching,” Sturgis said. “He’s more than just a player on the team. He’s like a little brother to me. I’ve enjoyed him over the years. He’s one of the guys that has the willingness to do what you ask of him. Sometimes, we need guys to play out of position. He’s always willing to do that.”
As for Johnson, who had a decorated three-sport career at Parsons, he lined up at wide receiver.
“It felt good playing here,” Johnson said. “Especially getting to play here with Braxton, it was a lot of fun. I remember those guys chasing me around this field in high school.”
Johnson is in his fourth season with the Joplin club.
“When you love the game, you can’t just quit it,” Johnson said. “If it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. You still want to keep going. Somebody has to tell me I have to stop.”
Sturgis’ reflections on Johnson mirror nearly every coach’s from Johnson’s playing days at Parsons.
“He’s a different cat,” Sturgis said. “He’s just a different dude. There’s times he doesn’t even try and he’s still so much better than the guy he’s playing across. It’s almost irritating from a coaching standpoint. If he gets a pick-six, they won’t throw at him the rest of the day. So he’s always baiting guys. He can do everything. He can play every position. There’s not anywhere on the field you can’t pencil him in.”
Joplin has been competing for 26 seasons, with Saturday marking the first game of its 27th campaign.
“We’ve been around for almost 30 years and coming off back-to-back CMFL championships,” Sturgis said. “We’re growing and expanding. We play teams in St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, Little Rock. We’re the smallest market team in our league, but we spread out and go after a ton of players.”
The Crusaders’ first game of the regular season is on April 26 against the Grove Hawks at Missouri Southern State University.
“They have a lot of Tulsa players with a lot of talent,” Sturgis said. “For us to be successful, we’ve got to continue to grind and recruit. If there’s guys that think they have the juice, they can reach out to us on Facebook or reach out to our guys. We’d love to have them.”
