Mountain Grove football falls late to rival Ava Bears, 20-12

(Editor’s Note: Our SD memory card from Friday night malfunctioned, which is why there are no photos published from the contest.)
With under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, a long Brayden Haughey punt pinned Ava to their own three yard line maintaining Mountain Grove’s momentum over rival Ava.
They were up 12-6, and in spite of several key injuries, the Panthers were in perfect position to pull off a win over the Bears.
Unfortunately for Mountain Grove, the Bears responded with a 12-play, 97-yard drive to tie the game at 12-12.
After forcing a three-and-out, a short punt set up the game-winning drive that ended close to three minutes later as Ava would win the rivalry match-up, 20-12.
Early on in the contest, Ava’s rushing attack was moving the ball right down the field before a fumble was recovered by Jacob Crosco.
Mountain Grove’s offense took advantage by marching 69 yards on 10 plays.
Braydon Curtiss had five carries for 24 hard-earned yards before Aden Estep connected with Kale Gardner for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
A failed extra-point kick kept the score at 6-0.
Ava’s offense responded with a big 30-yard run to take the ball down inside the Panthers’ 15.
They would score five plays late on a three yard touchdown run. A failed two-point conversion tied things at 6-6 with 9:35 left in the first half.
The Panthers’ offense did convert a 4th-and-1 on their next drive. The Bears were having trouble stopping the run when Mountain Grove saw an opportunity to throw the ball in the middle of Ava’s defense. The Bears were able to intercept a pass in the end zone to end Mountain Grove’s threat.
The Bears’ offense took the ball to midfield before the end of the half when the Panthers’ defense stuffed the Bears on fourth down leading to a turnover on downs.
At halftime, Mountain Grove had 23 yards passing and 107 yards rushing for 130 total yards of offense. The Bears had 35 yards passing and 116 on the ground for 151 total yards.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, Curtiss had two runs for five yards and Estep added one of his own. He then finished off the drive with a 26-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion attempt failed, keeping the Panthers in front, 12-6.
Three plays later, Haughey made a tackle for no gain to force an Ava punt from deep in their own territory.
Mountain Grove’s offense started the drive on the Bears’ 41. A bad pitch play though resulted in a 12-yard loss and a quick punt, in which Haughey did pin Ava to their own 3.
The long drive ended with a 44-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 12-12.
Less than five minutes later, Ava’s seven yard touchdown run plus two-point conversion put them in front for good at 20-12.
In the fourth quarter, Mountain Grove’s offense went four-and-out, as the Bears would get the ball on the Panthers’ 29.
Destin Unger’s pass break up on third down led to an Ava punt that went into the end zone.
On one final drive, Estep would connect with Kaden Murphy for a 22-yard passing play.
He then hit Cooper Hoerning for five yards before some confusion regarding a possible first down led to the Panthers not getting a final play off.
As a team, the Panthers had 50 yards passing and 160 yards rushing for 210 total yards of offense. Ava tallied 39 yards passing and 238 on the ground for 267 total yards.
Estep completed three passes for 50 yards and one touchdown. He also had 16 carries for 74 yards and one touchdown.
Curtiss had a big game on both sides of the ball. Offensively though, he had 16 big carries for 73 yards.
Unger added four carries for 19 yards while Kale Gardner had his one catch for 23 yards and one touchdown.
Up next for Mountain Grove is Homecoming against Willow Springs on Friday, Sep. 20 at 7 p.m.
Willow Springs enters the game with a 2-1 record, that includes a 79-32 win over Pleasant Hope with Halfway and a 14-13 victory over Cabool.