Webb City (8-1) hosts Ozark (6-4) on Friday night in a semifinal contest of the Class 5 District 6 football tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 at Cardinal Stadium.
The Central Ozark Conference rivals just met three weeks ago, as Webb City handled Ozark 48-13 on Oct. 16.
“Ozark’s a team that’s really physical on offense,” Webb City coach John Roderique said. “They play a physical style similar to what we do. They get off the ball. They can move the ball on everybody because they’re physical. They did a good job of running the ball against us last time. It’s a challenge to try to slow them down.”
The Cardinals, ranked second in Class 5 by the Missouri Media and winners of eight straight, had last week off as one of the district’s top two seeds.
A bye week was something new for Webb City.
“The weather was so poor last week and that made it challenging,” Roderique said. “But it was good to have a little time off from the pressure of a Friday night game. That’s the first time I can remember we’ve had a bye week. We had an open date one year early in the season.”
Ozark advanced to the district semifinals with last Friday’s 40-7 win over sixth-seeded Neosho.
The Tigers scored four times in the first half to build a 26-0 lead by intermission.
Tylr Bolin led Ozark with 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, while Cannon Cox carried the ball 12 times for 121 yards with two touchdowns and two fumbles.
Ethan Pritchard, Thomas Rushing and Jacob Kronebusch also had rushing touchdowns for the Tigers.
Ozark utilizes a flexbone triple option offense. The Tigers are averaging 28 points per game and allowing 27 per game.
In the first meeting with Ozark, the Cardinals led 21-7 at the break and then outscored the Tigers 27-6 in the second half.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CARDINALS
Webb City is scoring 41 points per game and allowing just 12.5 points per night.
Webb City has outscored its opponents 366-113 this season. The Cardinals are averaging 344 rushing yards and 62 passing yards per game.
Senior running back Devrin Weathers leads Webb City’s ground and pound attack with 1,227 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns. Junior Dupree Jackson has recorded 582 rushing yards and six scores.
Senior quarterback Cole Gayman has passed for 515 yards on 29 completions and rushed for 481 yards with seven touchdowns.
Leading receivers for the Cardinals are Gary Clinton (197 yards) and Cohl Vaden (124 yards).
Defensive leaders for the Cardinals are Treghan Parker (66 tackles, 3 INT), Matt McDaniel (55 tackles, 4 sacks) and Brayden Hollingsworth (48 tackles, 3 sacks).
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Friday’s Webb City-Ozark winner advances to play either No. 1 Carthage or No. 5 Branson on Nov. 13 in the district title game.
“It’s that time of year where everybody’s playing for a chance to get another game,” Roderique said. “That’s what we’ve stressed to them this week. You’ve got to win on Friday to get another game. The reality is only one team in each class will finish the season on a positive note in terms of wins and losses.”
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