By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Ava fans have waited 31 years for an outright SCA championship, and their wish was delivered Friday night in grand fashion. The Bears put the finishing touches on a perfect regular season in a 56-0 victory over Willow Springs and finally took home the outright SCA conference championship title.
“It means a lot,” said Ava head coach Dan Swofford. “For the boys it’s history-making. They’ll always be in the books; they’ll always be remembered for what they did through a regular season of being undefeated. It’s hard to do and I’m really proud of what they did.”
Ava got off to a strong start over Willow Springs as Quincey McDonald picked up a good chunk of his 134 rushing yards on the opening drive, culminating in a 39-yard touchdown run. McDonald once again marched the ball down the field, tossing aside would-be tacklers as he went, to gain touchdown number two. Quarterback Caleb Johnson returned a punt for 42 yards and a touchdown, and completed a 19-yard pass to Michael Lane on Ava’s next possession. After one quarter, Ava led 27-0, and they continued to command the script from then on.
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Stephen Copeland picked up 108 yards on 6 carries and Kayden Myers added 56 yards in 7 carries for Ava.
Willow Springs struggled to gain momentum as they suffered turnovers, picking up 94 total yards on the night with running back Trey Talbert and quarterback Tryton Henley.
Each team will face their first district challengers next week, and as Swofford said, thus begins “do or die” time.
“We’ve finished this job, and now we start a new job,” he told his team. “Every week is important, and every week that we win, we will play a better team all the time. We’ll just have to play football the way we have been playing.”
Ava 56, Willow Springs 0
Ava 27–14–6–7
Willow Springs 0-0-0-0
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
Ava – Quincey McDonald 39 yard run (two point conversion)
Ava – Quincey McDonald 4 yard run (failed two point conversion)
Ava – Caleb Johnson 42 yard punt return (failed kick)
Ava – Michael Lane 19 yard pass from Caleb Johnson (Caleb Johnson kick good)
Second Quarter
Ava – Stephen Copeland 1 yard run (Caleb Johnson kick good)
Ava – Quincey McDonald 15 yard run (Caleb Johnson kick good)
Third Quarter
Stephen Copeland 61 yard run (failed kick)
Fourth Quarter
Kayden Myers 2 yard run (Caleb Johnson kick good)
