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By Jeff Kessinger (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Everything lined up perfectly for Jose Ortega. Ball on the right side of the field, on his right foot, with the defender moving the same way.
In a flash, the Ozark junior cut back to his left and broke Kickapoo’s heart with the game-winning goal. Ortega’s winner came with less than six minutes to play and gave the Tigers a 2-1 win in the Class 4 District 11 championship game at Harrison Stadium.
“I dribbled down the line and saw that defender right on me, so I knew I had to cut back and take a quick shot,” Ortega said. “I had enough time to put the ball in the back of the net. I definitely saw that coming, to be honest.”
Wait. He saw it coming?
“I’ve been doing that move a lot. I always cut back,” the junior said, smiling. “That’s my main move.”
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Ozark’s Dillon Holesapple assisted Ortega, though not in a way that showed up on the scoresheet. Instead the senior captain was there to pick up Ortega and encourage him before, and during, the game.
“I told him before the game that we were going to need him,” Holesapple said. “Never in a million years would I have imagined that scenario. He’s an insane player and he’s been doing it all season. He’s made for the big stage and he showed it tonight.”
And he did it on a night when he wasn’t really feeling himself at first.
“I had a rough warmup and was being hard on myself,” Ortega said. “Dillon was there to keep my head up and tell me that they needed me. And there I was, the last couple of minutes, scoring the game winner.”
Holesapple scored the game’s opening goal, just 30 seconds into the match. Ozark switched the ball from left to right and John Goins played in a perfect cross. Holesapple was there to meet it, diving and heading it past the helpless keeper.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better dream start,” Ozark coach Zack Owens said. ”We pinged it around, we played it wide like we wanted to and one of our senior captains stepped up with the diving header. It was phenomenal.”
That lead lasted for more than 50 minutes. Kickapoo finally equalized late in the second half on a corner kick. Grayson McClure provided the service and Noah Marsh elevated above the crowd to head the ball on frame. The shot made its way through traffic and into the net.
“They had a lot of aerial balls we had to fight through,” Holesapple said. “Props to him. He earned that goal. He went over me. I wasn’t good enough. But at the end of the day me and all my teammates did enough. We won enough aerial balls and kept them out. That’s all that matters.”
That sent up a frantic final 16 minutes, with both sides pushing for the game-winner. Ozark came close on two occasions, including skimming the crossbar, before Ortega’s left foot gave the Tigers their third straight district title.
“People said we couldn’t make it this far because we lost 14 seniors (last year). That really got in my head,” Ortega said. “It means a lot this year because we proved them wrong.”
Ozark faces a familiar foe in the Class 4 Sectionals: Nixa. The Eagles defeated Republic 2-1 in the District 12 finals. Ozark enters the match with some confidence, thanks in part to a 1-0 win in the Christian County Derby Sept. 15, but they are prepared for another epic showdown.
“Last time they were missing their goalkeeper, Nick Reid, and I think we’re all looking forward to playing him” Holesapple said. “As good as we know we are, we want to play the best at this time of the year and prove ourselves. Nick’s right there with the best.”
