88 regular season wins in a row turned into 89, as the Webb City Cardinals topped Ozark 28-7 on Friday night. The win not only keeps the Cardinals impressive streak alive, but also gives them the COC Large Conference championship.
It was a matchup of unbeaten teams when Ozark and Webb City squared off. Both teams came in with 7-0 records, but the Cardinals had the historical advantage having gone 12-0 against the Tigers all-time. Webb City took control from the get go, scoring on their first possession as Cooper Smith took an inside handoff to paydirt. The Cardinals would add another score in the 2nd quarter on a touchdown run from quarterback John Roderique. Webb City's grinding run game not only wore down the Ozark defense, but also kept the explosive Tigers offense on the sidelines. "Ozark hadn't been down all season," said quarterback John Roderique. "It was good to let them experience that early."
Ozark's best chance to score in the first half came in the closing minutes. The ground attack led by Cody Lindsay and David Salazar got the Tigers down to the Webb City 7 yard line, but on 4th and goal Salazar would be stopped at the goal line. That defensive stand from the Cardinals would turn out to be the biggest play of the night. "It would have been nice to have that score going into the half, but it is what it is," said a disappointed Ozark head coach Mark Bliss.
A third quarter touchdown pass from Roderique to Kohl Slaughter made it 21-0 and with the way the Cardinal defense was playing, all but sealed the win for Webb City as they went on to take it 28-7. The victory also means the Cardinals are the 2012 COC Large champs.
"This was a humbling experience," said Bliss. "I hope it opens our eyes to realize how much better we need to get."
The win gave the Cardinals an amazing 89th regular season win in a row. "The longer the streak goes, the tougher it gets," Roderique said. They'll look to make it 90 in a row as they conclude the regular season at Branson next week.
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