Glendale completes perfect regular season with win over Camdenton

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By Kary Booher

Springfield, MO – Just before lining up for a team photo to celebrate the Ozark Conference championship, Glendale Falcons senior receiver Alex Montgomery couldn’t help but take a peek over at the opponents walking away.

His eyes, of course, found the purple helmets of the Camdenton Lakers, who had abandoned six decades of tradition by turning to an unorthodox defense – they lined up 11 defenders across, all standing up, and only five yards back – in hopes of throwing an upset.

And nearly did.

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Said Montgomery, “They made us better trying to get that win.”

Glendale certainly earned its OC title Friday night, beating visiting Camdenton 63-35 after pulling away from what was only a one-touchdown advantage as late as the 8-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

This on a night when junior quarterback Alex Huston was 33 of 44 passing for 443 yards as he threw seven touchdown passes and ran for another, all while Glendale benefitted from two other, game-turning/saving plays among many.

Those two being Datryell Nash’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, and punter Alex Locke’s Houdini act, er, pass out of the end zone on fourth down late in the game.

In other words, it was a wild night at Lowe Stadium, where the final score painted an inaccurate picture.

For one thing, Camdenton (6-3) trailed by three touchdowns at halftime, only to rally to within 42-35 with 11 ½ minutes left. That touchdown came six plays after Zach Wise recovered the carom of a pooch kickoff.

Glendale did score on the next series, extending the lead to 14 points, but Camdenton still had one last shot. Like a lot of the night, it wasn’t meant to be.

Facing a fourth-and-15 from its own 28, Glendale converted the first down, but only after Locke retrieved a bad snap in the end zone and threw wildly. He found Nick Austin, who barely got the first down.

“I just kind of wanted to throw it away, I jumped up and saw Nick Austin, and he made the play,” Locke said. “I’m glad he made the run he did. We never practice that.”

That was the final backbreaker against Camdenton, whose no-lineman, 11-defenders-standing-up defense had helped pull close in the second half. In essence, coach Jeff Shore lined up 6-foot-2 Parker Stidham, 5-foot-11 Braxton Shamburg and 6-foot Michael Ledbetter in the middle of the 11, and they began batting down passes and playing quality contain defense.

“You pick your poison with them,” Shore said. “Their quarterback does a good job. We needed that turnover. We needed that snap to go over the punter’s head. … Even that, I’m proud of our games. It was a one-score game in the fourth quarter.”

Glendale prepared for that defense apparently.

“I’ve seen about everything you can imagine. That was something unique,” Glendale coach Mike Mauk said of Camdenton’s defensive alignment. “But it was a very good plan. They did a good job with their schemes, and they gave us something to look at and prepare for years to come. We practice for everything you can imagine.”

The opening quarter had just about everything, too.

But arguably the most important play was Nash’s 99-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. It set off a 35-point blitz for the Falcons before halftime as Glendale found passing lanes in the Lakers’ defense.

Nash’s oskie came as Camdenton tried to convert on fourth-and-goal at the 7, with Nash jumping the route with two receivers in the area. Even better for Glendale, instead of Camdenton taking a 14-7 lead, it was the Falcons who had it.

Camdenton did answer on the next play with a Dyllan Decker-to- Stidham, 65-yard pass play. But Glendale kept answering, including two series later after the Lakers fumbled the kickoff.

In the end, Huston had thrown touchdown passes of 37, 6, 17, 8, 1, 44 and 42 yards and was intercepted once. Montgomery had three TD receptions.

Decker finished 13 of 23 passing for 243 yards for Camdenton, which expects to host a first-round playoff game next Friday.

“It is difficult (to play from behind),” Shore said. “We had to start playing their kind of game. Decker did fantastic. He kept scrambling around and he came up with some nice plays. But we can’t depend on that. It’s kind of like a fast-break basketball team. You want to slow it down, but you want to catch up.”

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