By Matt Turer — @MattTurer
OZARK, Mo. — Anthony Sandoval tallied 108 of Ozark’s 254 rushing yards as the Tigers used two long drives and three key red zone stops to beat Republic 14-7 on Friday.
Ozark improved to 3-2 with the win—the first for the red and black Tigers against Republic since 2013.
“We’re Ozark, so we always have a target on our back,” senior quarterback Danny Carr said. “So we just came into this week saying it’s just another game.”
Carr led Ozark on a 17-play, 93-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that seemed to put the game out of reach as the clock ticked down from 11:52 on the drive’s first play to 3:47 on its last—a seven-yard Preston Carson touchdown.
Carson’s score put Ozark up 14-0 and capped a drive that included five first downs, four third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion, as well as nearly a third of Ozark’s 300 yards of offense.
“That’s just how we train in practice,” senior lineman Jordan Lawson said. “Every day it’s grind it out in practice so we know how to do that in the game.”
Ozark carried the ball 64 times Friday and finished with 18 first downs—most coming on third-and-short situations. Carr ran for 87 yards on 26 carries.
“Every time we run a play, we just need four yards,” senior lineman Jacob Sanders said. “If we get four yards every time it just gives you more confidence that you’ll get the ball rolling and eventually get a touchdown.”
The Ozark defense held Republic scoreless for over 45 minutes of gametime before Riley Watkins found Blake Hulland for a seven-yard touchdown.
“This is a Republic team that can go get you,” Ozark coach Chad Depee said. “They’ve shown they can drive down the field quick and put points on the board. Our defense held tight all night long. To hold them to seven was a big deal for us.”
Republic was 1-for-3 in the redzone, missing a field goal early in the second quarter and throwing an interception—caught by Easton Hanks—later in the second.
“The field tightens up, obviously, but I can’t tell you what the problem was without looking at the film,” Republic coach Dustin Baldwin said. “We certainly gameplan for that kind of stuff. Whether it’s my fault, we’ll figure it out. We need to get better in the redzone, no doubt.”
Riley Watkins finished 13-for-27 for 162 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Ozark limited Republic to 73 yards rushing on 23 carries. Watkins led the orange and black Tigers with 40 yards on 11 carries.
Jake Jones lost a fumble at the Ozark 43 on the opening drive of the third.
“You give up 14 points, you should win the football game,” Baldwin said. “Plenty of chances. I felt like we should’ve scored 14 in the first half. The only things that stopped our drives were penalties and turnovers. We have to quit hurting ourselves.”
Ozark led 7-0 early after Carr powered across the goalline from one-yard out at 7:25 of the first to end a 13-play, 66-yard drive.
Ozark had four drives of at least 10 plays.
“We talked about growing and learning from a week ago,” Depee said, referencing Ozark’s 17-14 Week 4 loss to Branson. “That was one thing we didn’t do a week ago, was finish a drive and make a stop. To see them do that gives you hope and gives them hope.”
UP NEXT: Ozark travels to Willard (2-3). Republic hosts Neosho (0-5).
SCORING
Republic 0-0-0-7 — 7
Ozark 7-0-0-7 — 14
FIRST QUARTER
OZARK TD — 7:25 — Danny Carr 1 Yd Run (Kick Good) — Ozark 7, Republic 0
13 plays, 66 yards, 4:28
SECOND QUARTER
No Scoring
THIRD QUARTER
No Scoring
FOURTH QUARTER
OZARK TD — 3:47 — Preston Carson 7 Yd Run (Kick Good) — Ozark 14, Republic 0
17 plays, 97 yards, 8:15
—– —– —–
REPUBLIC TD — 2:25 — Blake Hulland 7 Yd pass from Riley Watkins (Kick Good) — Ozark 14, Republic 7
