Hillbillies “Lock In” to defeat Gentry in Benefit Game

Ozark-

The Ozark Hillbillies welcomed in the Gentry Pioneers on Tuesday for their AAA Benefit game and shook off a rusty start to defeat the Pioneers 26-7 in the scheduled two quarter scrimmage.

There is a lot of hype coming into year two of the Josh Watson era, coming off a 7-4 season and a trip to the 4A State Playoffs last year. Returning their whole backfield, which includes All-State performers Easton Fox, and John Skolarski, as well as the All-Conference captain Cade Capp. Ozark took a while to get the high powered offense rolling that averaged just over 40 points per game.

From the opening drive you could tell that Watson’s game plan was to establish the inside run with Skolarski and Fox and try to wear the defense down and hit them with explosive plays and it took a couple of drives for the Hillbillies to lock in. Ozark struck first with 2:00 left in the first quarter when John Skolarski took the hand off from Capp and raced down the right sideline from 68 yards and followed by a PAT that was good making the score 7-0. This was a pleasant surprise from last year as the Hillbillies were lacking in the kicking game and relied on onside kicks and two point conversions a majority of the year.

After forcing a Gentry punt, Ozark scored again after a fake hand off to Skolarski and Capp threw a perfect ball over two defenders to find Fox downfield and muscled his was in for the score from 23 yards out to extend the Hillbilly lead to 14. Gentry struck back on the ensuing drive. Junior quarterback Semmie Guenther hit senior Atreyu Banks on a pass across the middle of the field taking the Pioneers into Hillbilly territory which set up a 42 yard touchdown pass when Guenther found Ethan Meyers open in the middle of the field, breaking a tackle and taking it in for the score making it a 14-7 Ozark lead.

On Gentry’s next possession, the Pioneers were driving down the field, when Guenther threw a touchdown strike that was called back by a penalty, which Ozark took advantage of the flag and forced Gentry to punt. Skolarski took a handoff up the middle and raced down the field untouched from 46 yards out to make it a 20-7 ballgame. The Hillbillies continued to show their explosiveness on offense when Easton Fox capped off the scoring on a 65 yard touchdown run to make the final score 26-7 after two quarters of play. Both teams traded offensive possessions the remainder of the scrimmage.

The Hillbillies proved they will be a force in the 4A this year, showing off their talent and speed from their triple threat on offense. Something else they showed on Tuesday was their toughness and tenacity on defense causing multiple deflections and hard hits during the contest. Deacon Gage, Trea Duggar, and Kanyon Connely led the stout Hillbilly defense all night and Cooper Satterfield proved that he will be a huge factor for Ozark this year.

After the game Coach Watson praised his teams effort once they were able to lock in. Watson also was pleased that they were able to limit penalties which will be important in big games. “Offensively we were able to put up 4 touchdowns in a half and had two turnovers. Clean up the turnovers, a few assignments, and the offense has potential to be very good. Coming into this season the players have a much better understanding of his system and what he expects out his defense. “Still got a lot of work to on but proud of 11 guys flying to the ball with bad intentions!”

Ozark will begin their regular season next Friday when they travel down I-40 as they take on the Maumelle Hornets out of the 5A Central. This will be a big test to open the year up for the Hillbillies.