All it took was the first play from scrimmage to set the tone for the Hillbillies (2-0) as they would go on to win this one 60-0 inside Hillbilly Stadium on Friday night.
After being shut out last week 27-0 by Lamar, Huntsville (0-2) knew they had an uphill battle tonight against the Hillbillies, who a week prior, racked up over 400 yards rushing in a 36-14 win over 5A Maumelle. Junior sensation John Skolarski took the handoff from Cade Capp, gave a little sidestep and off to the races he went and before fans could get settled in their seats it was 8-0 Ozark. Skolarski would field a punt after a Huntsville 3 and out and return it 46 yards deep inside Eagle territory and Easton Fox would scamper in from 16 yards out giving Ozark the quick 16-0 after a Deacon Gage successful two-point conversion.
Xander Johnson had an explosive first quarter as he ran a touchdown in form 18 yards out then followed that up with a punt return for a touchdown and the rout was on giving Ozark a 30-0 lead after one quarter of play. The second quarter was much like the first as the Hillbillies were not letting up, continuing to pour in on defensively with huge stops by Kanyon Connelly and JaKsen Ross. Special Teams was a huge bright spot of the game in the punt return game as well as successful onside kick attempts from kicker Easton Sampley. Sampley also proved to be an efficient runner adding depth to the already potent backfield.
Cade Capp was the star of the second quarter with 3 touchdowns (2 pass, 1 rush) when he found Skolarski on a 48-yard touchdown pass followed by connecting with Cooper Perrin making it a 54-0 halftime lead. Capp ended up a perfect 10-10 passing for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns on the night and the 16-yard rushing touchdown.
The second half started off with the starters getting one series on offense and defense. Easton Fox scored the lone touchdown of the second half on an 18-yard scamper to the endzone making it a 60-0 final score. The starters were pulled after that as the AAA Sportsmanship rule was invoked at halftime. The reserves allowed a couple first downs on defense but stood strong and were determined to keep the shutout intact. Sophomores Levi Bowen, Cooper Whitlock, and Dylan Flores were key parts of keeping the shutout going.
The Hillbilly defense was on fire all night only allowing 63 total yards on the night with a majority of those being on their final offensive drive of the night against the reserves. The offense showed more of a balanced attack with 244 yards on the ground and 191 through the air, much improved from last week’s 32 yards against Maumelle in week 0. With the win, Ozark improves to 2-0 on the season and will be looking ahead to next week as they travel to South Franklin County for the Franklin County Feud at Charleston. They are looking to avenge last year’s 52-20 loss to the Tigers in a game that what could go wrong went wrong. Charleston fell to 4-4A member Pottsville 48-7 dropping them to 0-2 on the season.
The loss drops the Eagles to 0-2 on the year. They will face off against the Mayflower Eagles next week at home who are 2-0 on the season following a 21-0 win over Hope.
