Maumelle-
The Ozark Hillbillies marched down I-40 Friday night and took care of business, opening the season with a convincing 36-14 victory over the Maumelle Hornets. Ozark controlled the game with a physical rushing attack that piled up 401 yards on the ground, while also controlling the clock and keeping the Maumelle offense off the field. The Hillbillies possessed the football for 29:10 of the game, using long, methodical drives and explosive runs to keep the Hornets defense on its heels throughout the night.
Ozark received the opening kickoff and wasted little time setting the tone. The Hillbillies went right to work with their running game, and on just the third play from scrimmage, John Skolarski found a hole on the right side of the offensive line. A key block from Easton Fox helped spring Skolarski into the open field, and once he got into the secondary, there was nobody going to catch him. Skolarski raced 45 yards for the game’s opening touchdown, giving Ozark an early 6-0 advantage.
The Hillbillies decided to be aggressive following the touchdown, and Cade Capp found Cooper Perrin in a tight window for the two-point conversion. The successful conversion pushed the Ozark lead to 8-0 and immediately put Maumelle in a position where it would have to answer.
The Hornets did just that on their opening possession.
Maumelle moved the ball down the field and took advantage of a Hillbilly facemask penalty on third down to keep the drive alive. That penalty proved costly as the Hornets eventually found the end zone when Levi Warrior connected with his brother, Isaac Warrior, over two Hillbilly defenders in the back of the end zone. The 27-yard touchdown reception cut the Ozark lead to 8-6, and the successful PAT made it 8-7.
Rather than allowing Maumelle’s touchdown to change the momentum, Ozark answered with one of its most impressive drives of the night.
The Hillbillies leaned heavily on their physical running attack, showing off their Dead T formation with Fox, Skolarski and junior Easton Sampley helping lead the way. Ozark put together an 18-play, 73-yard drive that steadily wore down the Maumelle defense. The Hillbillies converted key plays, kept the chains moving and continued to grind away at the Hornets.
The long drive was capped by Easton Fox, who powered his way into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown run. The score gave Ozark a 14-7 lead and was another example of the Hillbillies’ ability to control the game with their ground attack.
After the Ozark defense forced a Maumelle punt, the Hillbillies needed only one play to find the end zone again.
Skolarski took the handoff from Capp, made a quick side step to make a Hornet defender miss and then found nothing but open field in front of him. He took off down the left hashmark and raced 72 yards untouched for his second long touchdown of the night. The explosive play pushed the Hillbilly advantage to 20-7 and gave Ozark all the momentum heading into halftime.
Maumelle received the ball to begin the second half and came out determined to get its passing game going. The Hornets picked up several big gains through the air and moved the football deep into Ozark territory and into the red zone. The Hillbilly defense eventually tightened up, but Maumelle managed to finish the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Winchell Wiggins.
The touchdown cut the Ozark lead to 20-14 and briefly gave the Hornets new life.
That momentum, however, lasted only one play.
On the very next snap, Skolarski once again took the handoff. The Maumelle defender appeared to have a chance to make the play, but Skolarski used a shifty move to cut back inside, found another opening and accelerated through the defense. He broke into the open field and raced 65 yards for his third touchdown of the night.
The score extended Ozark’s lead back to two touchdowns at 28-14 and once again shifted the momentum firmly in favor of the Hillbillies.
From there, the Ozark defense took over.
The Hillbilly defense allowed just 162 yards of total offense for the game and made sure Maumelle would not find the end zone again. As the fourth quarter began, Ozark continued to play physical football on both sides of the ball. The defense came up with another important stop, giving the offense the ball with 11:32 remaining in the game.
Ozark then put together another clock-killing drive that showed just how effective its ground game was.
The Hillbillies kept the football for nearly ten minutes, repeatedly moving the chains and forcing Maumelle to watch valuable time disappear from the clock. The long drive eventually ended with quarterback Cade Capp punching the ball into the end zone from 2 yards out.
Following a successful two-point conversion by Easton Sampley, the Hillbillies had put the game away with a 36-14 advantage. Sampley finished the night with 30 yards rushing on four carries and also made an impact as part of Ozark’s physical offensive attack.
Skolarski was the offensive star of the night for Ozark, finishing with an incredible 279 rushing yards on 20 carries while scoring three touchdowns. His explosive runs of 45, 72 and 65 yards were a major difference in the game and accounted for a large portion of the Hillbillies’ 401 rushing yards.
Fox also played an important role in the victory, finishing with 78 yards on 18 carries. Capp completed 2 of 3 passes for 33 yards while adding 15 rushing yards on six carries. The numbers reflected an Ozark offense that was able to move the ball consistently while relying on its ground game to control the tempo.
Defensively, the Hillbillies held Maumelle to only 162 total yards and shut the Hornets out over the final two-plus quarters. After allowing 14 points, Ozark’s defense settled in and prevented Maumelle from finding the end zone again.
With the victory, Ozark moves to 1-0 on the season and gets the opportunity to play in front of its home crowd next week. The Hillbillies will host Huntsville, which enters the matchup looking to rebound after suffering a 27-0 home loss to Lamar.
Maumelle falls to 0-1 and will look to bounce back on the road against Sylvan Hills. The Bears opened their season with a 53-34 victory over Little Rock Central.
