One week earlier, the Mountain Grove Panthers football team found themselves on the wrong end of a 16-point defeat at the hands of rival Ava in their first South Central Association (SCA) game of the season.
With a need to find the win column, the Panthers rebounded this week by traveling to Willow Springs and left town with a dominating 37-7 victory to secure a .500 record in both the regular season (2-2) and in conference (1-1).
It appeared early that Willow Springs might gain some early momentum. They had a 32-yard run on the first play. Unfortunately for the Bears, the run was called back due to holding. They then had a 17-yard completion, but they would not advance much farther.
Starting with the ball on their own 21, the Panthers’ offense put together a 13-play drive that ate up much of the opening frame.
Quarterback Tyson Elliott connected with Jase Dowden for both an 11 yard and a nine yard gain. On the ground, Isiah Hellbusch had three carries for 19 yards. Hollen Glenn had four carries for 22 yards before ending the drive with a six yard touchdown catch on Elliott’s pass. Hoyt Mathews’ extra-point kick gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead.
On the Bears’ next possession, they had minus eight total yards as Bryce Stenzel’s tackle on a passing play led to a seven yard loss.
With the ball near midfield, Elliott found Drew Vaughan for a 13 yard passing play. He then connected with Dowden up the middle on the first play of the second quarter for a 28-yard touchdown. Vaughan, the holder, then took the snap on a two-point conversion attempt and ran into the end zone to give the Panthers a 15-0 edge.
Just a couple of minutes later, a bad snap on a punt attempt for the Bears led to the punter running out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Mountain Grove now led 17-0.
On the following kickoff from their own 20, the Bears’ kicker kicked the ball with a punting style. Vaughan returned the kick to the 35 and a personal foul moved the ball to the Bears’ 20.
On 4th-and-4, the Panthers attempted to convert instead of attempting a field goal in Mathews’ range. The pass went incomplete, giving Willow Springs back the ball.
Six plays later, the Bears’ punter had his kick hit one of his own players’ thighs.
Starting with the ball on Willow Springs’ 34, Glenn scored in one play on a 34-yard touchdown run. Mathews’ kick pushed the lead to 24-0.
Mountain Grove’s Wes Drew picked up a big hit on the Bears’ quarterback to force yet another three-and-out for the Bears on their next possession.
Two plays later, Mountain Grove scored on a 66-yard touchdown pass from Elliott to Dowden. A missed kick kept the score at 30-0.
Gavin Moore got in on the defensive action two plays later as his blindside pursuit of the Bears’ quarterback ended with a collision from behind, forcing the Willow Springs quarterback to leave the game.
Starting on Willow Springs’ 48 with 1:32 left in the first half, the Panthers marched 52 yards on nine plays to score on Elliott’s 30-yard touchdown connection with Glenn.
The successful Mathews’ kick pushed the lead to 37-0.
At halftime, the Panthers had 201 yards passing and 97 on the ground for 298 total yards of offense. Meanwhile, Willow Springs was held to 37 yards passing and four yards rushing for 41 total yards.
With the mercy clock in effect for the third quarter, neither team’s offense did much with the ball and failed to score.
Dakota Volner was credited for a sack resulting in a four yard loss.
Mountain Grove’s JV defense held their own early before allowing the Bears to get passing plays for 21 yards and 28 yards. The Bears would score from one yard out to cut the lead to 37-7.
Brody Shelly did add one late sack for a five yard loss. The Bears’ JV quarterback had one late 40 yard run, but it was not enough in a 37-7 loss.
The Panthers finished the game with 201 yards passing and 137 yards on the ground for 338 total yards.
Elliott finished the game by completing 12-of-17 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Glenn had six carries for 66 yards and one touchdown along with three catches for 37 yards and two scores.
Dowden tallied four catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Hellbusch had seven carries for 42 yards. Trenton Bevan had four hard runs for 18 yards.
The Bears tallied 121 yards in the air and 43 yards on the ground for 164.
Up next is Homecoming for the Panthers as they host Cabool at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sep. 24. The Bulldogs enter the game with a 3-1 record. They opened the year with a 35-8 win over Miller. After falling 36-12 to Ash Grove in week two, they beat Willow Springs, 15-13, and held on to win a rivalry match-up with Houston a week ago, 27-26.
