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OZARK, Mo. — Jack Hulse had never played an overtime game in his career. He didn’t know how they worked.
When finally faced with one, he punched in the final Ozark touchdown of the night, which he called the most stressful of his life.
The Tigers had pushed through early mistakes to tie Nixa at 14-14 by the end of regulation, but allowed the Eagles to respond with a touchdown in the second overtime period. Nixa elected to go for two points and the win, but Ozark batted down Andrew Rivera’s pass to seal a 28-27 victory.
It marks the Tigers’ first win in the Backyard Brawl since 2012 and closes out the COC-Large portion of their schedule with their sixth win.
“This is special. It was about time for these guys to want the trophy back,” head coach Chad Depee said. “To rebound off a big win last week, I’m very proud of these guys.”
That win last week came over Webb City, the first in program history. Ozark (6-2) did not want to come down from that high with Nixa in town, but mental blunders showed themselves early.
The first Nixa punt kicked off an Ozark player, allowing the Eagles (5-3) to recover in Tiger territory. Nicos Oropeza took advantage with a two-yard touchdown run to put Nixa up 7-0 with 4:32 left in the first quarter.
Ozark would not find the scoreboard until the final two minutes of the half when a 28-yard pass from Jack Hulse to Forrest Barnes allowed the quarterback to get in position for his own two-yard score.
Depee was happy to at least see 7-7 on the scoreboard heading to the locker room.
“In the grand scheme, we were fortunate to get the game tied up and have a chance to get the win at the end of regulation.”
That chance game on a 27-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide to finish the fourth quarter. Both sides cheered, thinking the flight path was in their favor.
The Tigers did not blink with more work still ahead.
“It was all you could imagine,” Hulse said. “We knew we wanted to go on defense in overtime and set the tone. Then going on offense, it’s only 25 yards. At four yards a pop, that’s easy for us. It took one more overtime than what we wanted, but we got it done.”
Oropeza got his second touchdown midway through the third quarter to put Nixa up 14-7, forcing Ozark to get creative. The Tigers first turned a fake punt into a first down as they plunged into Nixa territory. Nathaniel Brulage followed that with the longest play of the night: a 33-yard scamper to lock the game back up at 14-14.
“We’ve been waiting for that all season. He’s capable of doing that because when he gets running, he’s hard to stop. ”
The teams spent the fourth quarter trading possessions but stayed off the scoreboard until Rivera bulled his way to a one-yard score to start overtime.
Hulse then responded with a 22-yard pass to Cameron Robertson before his go-ahead score on the next drive.
There was little shock at Nixa’s decision to go for two after Aiden Farthing punched in their final score.
“They had some good offensive possesions and it was the time to go for it all if they were going to do it,” Depee said. “I’m so pleased with our defense to make a big stand. These guys have a lot of weapons and big receivers to throw out there and our kids battled to get that incompletion.”
The emotion that came with hoisting the Backyard Brawl trophy after the game was a culmination of nearly two years of work, including a one-win campaign in Ozark’s first year under Depee.
“All the work we put in this offseason and the adversity we faced last year, this is amazing and I’m so happy to be a part of it,” Hulse said.
Ozark will host Bolivar next week while Nixa will try to avoid capping the regular season with four straight defeats as they welcome Carl Junction.
Ozark 28, Nixa 27 (2OT)
Nixa 7 0 7 0 13 — 27
Ozark 7 0 7 0 14 — 28
First quarter
Nixa – Oropeza 2-yard run
Second quarter
Ozark – Hulse 2-yard run
Third quarter
Nixa – Oropeza 5-yard run
Ozark – Burlage 33-yard run
First Overtime
Nixa – Rivera 1-yard run
Ozark – Hulse 22-yard pass to Robertson
Second Overtime
Ozark – Hulse 1-yard run
Nixa – Rivera 14-yard pass to Farthing
