By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
What were some of the biggest stories from Week 9 of the football season? Jordan Burton takes a look back at last night’s action with the things that stood out the most to him.Â
DISTIRCT QUARTERFINAL FOOTBALL ROUND UP – CLICK HERE
DISTRICT FOOTBALL BRACKETS – CLICK HERE
The opening week of districts is a weird place. Typically we’re used to blowouts and chalk, but that wasn’t the case on Friday either locally or state-wide with three overtime games in the Ozarks alone. Here were the upsets…
On paper, the biggest upset of the night went to Reeds Spring upsetting No. 2 Hollister in C3-D6. The Wolves started hot at 3-1 but backed into districts by losing six straight, starting with a 26-20 home loss to rival Hollister. Reeds returned the favor on Friday, avenging its first-ever loss to the Tigers. It was Reeds first district win (not including a forfeit) since 2018…. Maybe the most impressive performance on Friday was Frank Tristan’s Willard Tigers picking up their first win of the season against a Neosho team that beat them two weeks ago. Willard struggled through the regular season but posted a season-high 56 points in a 56-35 win. That’s the most points the program has scored in a game since 2017. Owen Bushnell finished with three scores on the ground and sophomore QB Russell Roweton had a coming out party with three scores himself… Mt. Vernon also had a winless regular season and entered Friday with losses in 15 of their last 16, but the Mountaineers were resilient in knocking off Stockton in a 3-6 matchup. It’s a theme we see every year where teams in physical conferences with a variety classes – OC, Big 8, SCA – get in the postseason and make runs because of the level of competition they’re used to. Great win for Tom Cox and company… Hillcrest topping Carl Junction gave the Ozark Conference an undefeated night against the COC (Rolla def. Branson). The two conferences are atop the football scene in the Ozarks and recently the two leagues have gone back and forth. Last year Lebanon split with Willard and Webb City, while West Plains handled Carl Junction after the Bulldogs beat Hillcrest. In 2019 Carthage hammered Glendale and Webb City beat Camdenton. The Hornets got a huge win on Friday in another 3-6 upset. Hillcrest has now gone back-to-back years upsetting a higher-seeded opponent in districts… It’s tough to call a 4-5 matchup an upset but Sarcoxie going on the road and beating a Diamond team that just beat them by two touchdowns two weeks ago on the exact same field is impressive.
District Semifinal Games to Watch
Nixa (8-2) at Joplin (9-1)
Their first meeting – a 28-25 Joplin win – seems like forever ago at this point. Both teams have changed drastically since then, especially on the offensive side where both have been more balanced and explosive than initially thought. There are two huge keys going into this one. 1) Will Always Wright and several other players be on the field after a suspension for Friday’s district opener. 2) How healthy is Nixa, specifically in the backfield with Green and Ward? They’ve split their last two meetings and the two games were decided by four total points. This should be must-see TV.
Camdenton (7-3) at Lebanon (8-1)
It’s always nice when one of the best rivalries in the Ozarks gets a win-or-go-home rematch. Lebanon beat up and wore down Camdenton the first time around in a 33-14 win. That kept a potentially dynamic Camdenton offense on the sideline. But, here’s the deal, there are two things in play. First, these two teams just played less than a month ago and beating a good team is hard, beating a good team twice in less than 30 days is another level of hard. The other key is Lebanon hasn’t beaten Camdenton in an elimination game in more than a decade. The Lakers won the 2019 playoff meeting 35-7 and the 2012 playoff meeting 42-21. Jeff Shore and Will Christian are two of the best doing it and are especially good in the playoffs. I’m not sure we should expect many points, but this should be an absolute slugfest.
Bolivar (4-6) at Nevada (8-2)
Chris Parker mentioned the uniqueness of the Big 8/Ozark Conference matchup in the playoffs. The only time we’ve really seen it is when Carl Junction and Hillcrest used to meet prior to CJ’s move to the COC. The Libs are sub .500 but have to feel really good about this matchup. Keep in mind Bolivar has already seen Lebanon, Camdenton and West Plains who all play a physical brand of football. Nevada hasn’t seen as much of that high-level competition week-to-week. What Nevada does have going is confidence. The Tigers have been nearly untouchable aside from about 6 total quarters this season. It’s been more than a decade since Nevada has won a district championship. This is a huge game for the program, it’ll be interesting to see how both sides respond.
Reeds Spring (4-6) at Mountain Grove (7-2)
Reeds Spring could ultimately decide just how good of a postseason the Big 8 will have. This is yet another cross-conference elimination game but unlike the OC-Big 8 matchup, conference loyalists would expect a more favorable advantage in a Big 8-SCA meeting. Grove is the only Big 8 team in the SCA. Reeds saw three Class 4 teams and two Class 3s and Lamar. That in no way means they’re more talented than Grove, it just means physically they won’t be overwhelmed by what they see because they’ve seen it before. Grove is talented and next year they’ll be one of the favorites in Class 3. Tyson Elliot is a monster. Hollen Glenn and Drew Vaughan are too. But Grove hasn’t seen anything like Caden Wiest.
Seneca (6-4) at Aurora (7-2)
Aurora is still one of the most intriguing stories of this football season and the Dawgs are the Big 8 East champions, also boasting the league’s defensive POY in Aaron Fisher and an incredible line and set of backs. Their only losses were to Class 4s McDonald County and Nevada, both of which were on the road. This has been the best team in C3-D6 all year. But this matchup is tricky. Seneca also saw McDonald County and Nevada, but the Indians also played Class 4 Monett, as well as Lamar. And if you take away the Lamar game, Seneca has won three straight, outscoring their opponents 93-37. They’re truly settling into what Cody Hilburn is preaching and the law firm of Jackson (Marrs) and Jaxson (Graham) is really truly that physical and dynamic. Aurora hasn’t won a district title since 2015 and Seneca hasn’t had one since 2013.
