PLEASANT HILL – At halftime, the Oct. 22 meeting between Excelsior Springs and Pleasant Hill was a blowout.

At the end, however, it was a nailbiter.

Excelsior Springs led 33-13 at halftime, but the Tigers needed a late stop to secure a 41-40 Missouri River Valley Conference West Division road victory.

The Roosters opened the scoring with Dylan Kauffman’s 1-yard TD run and an extra-point kick with 1 minute, 42 seconds left in the first quarter. The Tigers answered with senior Dacey Hall’s 30-yard TD run and sophomore Kylor Meek’s extra-point kick 50 seconds into the second quarter.

Using a combination of big plays on defense and special teams plays, the Tigers ripped off 26 more second-quarter points. The offense scored after the defense recovered a fumble, courtesy of Hall’s 3-yard TD run and Meek’s point after. A 22-yard field goal attempt that was blocked by senior Lukas Shelton and recovered and returned to the Pleasant Hill 30-yard line by senior Amani Robinson, plus a 15-yard unnecess…