Springfield, MO – For the third straight year Bolivar and Hillcrest met in the first-round of district play. And for the third straight year, the Liberators prevailed 55-24.
Bolivar never trailed, moving 65-yards on its opening drive in just over three minutes with Lane Loomer, the new single-season rushing record-holder at the school, going the final three-yards to make it 7-0.
Hillcrest was three-and-out on its first possession, but the Hornet defense put a quick end to Bolivar’s second possession when defensive back Eric Savage, who also plays quarterback, picked off a Connor Sechler pass near midfield and returned it for a touchdown to pull the Hornets within 7-6 after a missed extra-point.
Bolivar answered though with an 82-yard drive culminated at 3:12 of the first quarter when Sechler, desperately avoiding pressure, threw a ball up-for-grabs in the end zone for his 6-foot, 6-inch receiver Brandon Emmert. Emmert, who’s headed for Central Missouri to play basketball, outjumped his defenders for a 25-yard TD catch that made it 14-6.
“I turn around and see Connor just scrambling,” Emmert said of the pass. “So I just ran to the end zone knowing that he’s going to give me a chance. He’s gonna put it where no one else can get it. Savage (his defender) is one of the fastest kids I’ve ever played against. But he put it where I could just reach my hands over and cup it against his helmet and brought it over so it was a pretty nice play.”
A minute into the second quarter it was Bolivar’s turn for a pick-six that proved to be the game-changer. Senior Conley Garrison, the brother of former Lady Bear stand-out Casey Garrison, picked off a pass and returned it 75-yards a touchdown that made it 21-6. Garrison was making his first start at cornerback after playing safety.
“That was huge,” Bolivar head coach Glen Johnson said of Garrison’s pick. “They had all their basketball players on the field and we had to match-up with ’em. Conley said ‘start me and you won’t regret it.’ So we started him and we didn’t regret it.”
“I started at free safety in week two and didn’t do that good of a job,” Garrison said. “So I got moved to corner for this game because they have a bunch of athletes out there. I got to play corner for the first time this season and it turned out pretty well. They ran a lot of deep routes and that was what I was expecting all night. I just undercut it and had great blocking by my teammates.”
Hillcrest pulled within 21-12 on a five-yard quarterback keeper by Savage midway in the second quarter only to have Bolivar increase the lead to 28-12 by the intermission on the second-of-three TD tosses to Emmert, who had 10 catches for 151-yards.
The Liberators lead expanded to 24-12 before Hillcrest made one last push that started with junior 5-ft., 7-inch speedster Josh Powell, one of the most dangerous offensive threats in the Ozarks, returning a kick-off 78-yards for a touchdown after he momentarily juggled the ball at the beginning of his run.
A 14-yard TD reception by Brock Roggow at 4:44 of the third quarter pulled the Hornets within 34-24, but in the final minute of the third frame Loomer, who had 133-yards on 28-carries, scored his second touchdown for a 41-24 Bolivar advantage.
It went to 48-24 on Emmert’s final TD catch that followed an amazing grab right before that in which Emmert juggled the ball, twisted from his front-to-his-back, and pinned the ball up against his helmet to make the catch.
“I should have caught it the first time but I jumped too soon,” Emmert explained. “And I bicycled in the air hoping it would come to me. It hit my hands and it popped up and I had no idea where it was. It just landed in my hands and I cupped it against my helmet.”
A Chase Hampton one-yard touchdown with 2:25 remaining accounted for the final 55-24 Bolivar final, sending the Liberators into next week’s district semifinals against top-seeded Carl Junction, who’s ranked third in the state in Class 4.
“We’ve established a great program and that tradition carries on,” said Johnson, who’s in his first-year as head coach after being the defensive coordinator under previous 14-year head coach Lance Roweton. “We’ve got a lot of young players but I told them to keep believing. We don’t rebuild we reload. That’s the mindset we’ve got to believe in knowing that tradition never graduates and you’ve got to trust that and the next guy steps up. That’s what it’s going to take next week.”
“At Bolivar we really preach fighting through adversity,” Emmert said. “And that’s what we did all season. Starting out 0-3 is not fun. But we kept improving as a team and getting that experience which is what was really lacking. Experience.”
It certainly won’t be easy to beat Carl Junction, but the Bolivar program has over the years always been in tough districts, most notably those that included perennial powerhouse Webb City, who’s the number 2 seed in this district.
“Hey, you win the district, you win the state title,” Johnson said of the tough challenges. “That’s motivating in itself. You win that big one and it’s going to give you the opportunity to go and win the big one. Your win-loss record doesn’t matter right now. It’s who’s playing well right now and I told our kids to keep fighting. We have improved and we haven’t peaked yet. It’s an exciting time and a great opportunity for our kids and the program.
And considering the Liberators have won six of their last seven games after that 0-3 start, they are peaking at the right time of year.
