Ozark goes 97 yards on late touchdown drive, beats Willard

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There was calmness in the huddle, believe it or not. Despite being backed up at their own 3-yard line. Despite needing to march a mile down field, in the fourth quarter no less, and trailing by a field goal.

As Ozark junior offensive guard Jayce Gorn put it, “We were saying, ‘This is it. This is what the game comes down to — all our hard work and all the things we’ve worked on this week.’”

PHOTOS: OZARK VS. WILLARD

Gorn and Ozark’s O-line made sure it didn’t go to waste.

Ozark rallied to beat visiting Willard 28-24 on Friday night, doing so with an old-school, go-ahead touchdown drive that won’t be forgotten anytime soon: It covered 97 yards over 19 plays and chewed up 8 minutes, 3 seconds off the clock.

Oh, and it ended with quarterback Jack Hulse’s 2-yard touchdown run, his eighth run of the series and 15th of the second half.

“Every drive is the same for us: We’re going to run it down their throats and we’re going to get a push off the ball,” Hulse said, almost with a shrug of the shoulders. “We knew what our goal was and we went out there and finished it.”

What a drama-filled night it was for Ozark, which fell behind 16-0 only 42 seconds into the game and trailed 24-14 at halftime, only to pitch a second-half defensive shutout – one that ended on Curt Gracey’s interception in the end zone.

Said Ozark coach Chad Depee, “That last drive on offense, our skills guys did a great job, but it boiled down to our big guys staying the course. They were gassed just like Willard was gassed. But we needed them desperately. So when it got down to crunch time, we said we didn’t want to kick a field goal. It was, ‘Let’s just win this thing.’”

Indeed, Ozark’s O-line proved to be a huge factor, particularly guards such as Gorn, Cody Lanning and Wyatt Long.

Their work enabled the double wing, triple-option offense to find a rhythm midway through the first half — when Ozark scored a pair of key TD drives – and was vital on the final scoring drive, as Hulse continually ran off the guards’ back pockets. In fact, that go-ahead drive found life when Hulse nearly got swamped on a blitz on 3rd-and-10. But, he picked up the first down, freed by just enough of two blocks by O-linemen.

That play took Ozark from its 29 to 39 and seemed to fuel the rest of the series. Hulse picked up nine yards twice within a matter of four plays, and eight yards on another to push into the red zone.

“We got a push off the ball, and they were taking Curt (Gracey) and Devin (Mayes), our pitch backs, so I knew I had to get up in the holes fast,” said Hulse, who finished with 118 yards on 21 carries. “Even when we were down 16-0, no one was feeling down. We just had to come out and do our stuff.”

It was another night of what might have been for Willard, now 1-5 overall and 0-5 in the Central Ozark Conference. For instance:

  • Willard led 16-0 only 49 seconds into the game, thanks to Nate Swadley’s 78-yard run on the second play from scrimmage, and Quinton Batson’s 69-yard TD pass to Kenny Chambers — on the first play of its next series.
  • Swadley finished with 173 yards on 20 carries, including 155 yards before halftime and soldiered on despite an apparent ankle issue in the second half.
  • Batson also connected with Chambers on a 15-yard TD pass into the far back corner of the end zone just before halftime, pushing the advantage to 10 points.
  • Willard also rallied late, reaching the Ozark 25 in the final minute.

But it wasn’t enough. Willard was its own worst enemy much of the night, as holding or other penalties by its offense forced numerous second- or third-and-long situations.

A pair of fumble recoveries just shy of midfield – and in the second half — also went nowhere and, despite the final drive that threatened to re-take the lead, it wasn’t meant to be. Gracey cut in front of Chambers for an interception.

“We’re close. We’ve just got to get over the hump,” said Willard coach Brock Roweton, whose team has lost four games by an average of six points. “We have been in every game with a chance to win.

“I continue to be proud of our guys’ effort. We’ve just got to become consistent for four quarters.” 

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