DEFENSE KEYS ANOTHER WIN OVER OZARK

With 5:11 to play in the first half at Bearcat Stadium Friday night Ozark was at the Bearcat 10-yard line with a first down and the Bearcats holding a lead of 17-14.

Hunter Warren and Seth Wilson made a stop after a 3-yard gain on first down, Wilson teamed with Dylan Todd for a second down stop and a third down pass went incomplete.

On fourth down it was Wilson again taking down the second of four Ozark quarterbacks two yards short of the end zone.

That would be Ozark’s last real chance for a lead in a 31-14 win for the Bearcats (2-0).

On his way to duplicating his 16 tackle performance in the opener, Wilson's fourth down stop, one of his 11 solo tackles, was another in a first half full of defensive highlights.

Todd had disrupted the first Ozark drive with a sack and forced fumble that Warren (shown) picked up and ran back to the Bearcat 48.

Fifteen-yard runs by Todd and Rhett Nietert and one of 11 by Warren helped the Bearcats reach the Ozark 3 after the turnover, but three plays and a penalty later it was fourth-and-goal at the 8 so Oliver Loaeza came on for his first career field goal attempt.

The junior split the uprights from 25 yards out and it was 3-0 with 5:42 remaining in the first quarter.

Todd was not finished being disruptive on defense. Just 19 seconds after the field goal the senior was celebrating a touchdown after having stripped the ball from a Hillbilly running back and bolting 30 yards for a touchdown. Loaeza’s was good on the PAT try and it was 10-0.

There would be three more scores through the 11:39 mark of the second quarter, two by Ozark that got it to the 17-14 score of the goal-line stand.

First it was a 3-yard run to complete a seven-play drive and it was 10-7.

The Bearcats took just two Conner Lentz plays to make it 17-7. Lentz ran for 16 yards one the play after the kickoff return, which included a possession saving fumble recovery by Conner Droemer.

A play later Lentz was wide open for a pass from Jace Washburn and Loaeza kicked it to 17-7.

Lentz ran 11 times for 128 yards on the night to go with the touchdown catch.

Twenty-one seconds into the second quarter Ozark drew within 17-14 on a 4-yard scoring run. That capped a drive that saw their starting quarterback sidelined after a 30-yard gain that gave him 108 on the night.

Lentz had a 20-yard chunk play on the next possession but the Bearcats would end up turning the ball over on downs when Washburn was sacked and had to be helped up himself.

Eleven plays later Wilson made the stop at the 2 with 4:01 left in the half.

Washburn came back after the stop and finished the half, but made only brief second half appearances.

Out of the intermission, with Nietert under center, the Bearcats needed just four plays to score. Lentz got 26, Todd 27, Warren 4, and Damari Poole got the touchdown for a 23-14 lead with 10:24 to go in the third quarter.

Poole’s second touchdown of 2024 completed a hat-trick of scores on defense, by air, and on the ground.

The score remained 23-14 into the final quarter as both offenses would struggle, giving way to punting units the next five possessions.

Nietert retuned the third Hillbilly punt in the sequence 10 yards to Ozark 38 with 11:42 to go.

He then led an eight-play drive that was capped with Poole going untouched for six yards and his second touchdown to make it 29-14.

First Loaeza and the kicking unit came on, but after a time out, the offense came back and Lentz added a two-point conversion to make it a three score game at 31-14 with 7:54 to play.

A combined three more fruitless possessions would end a fifth straight win by the Bearcats over Ozark, a streak that started in head coach Doc Crowley’s first season.

Crowley also reached a milestone himself with the win, as it is his 50th as the Bearcat head coach. He is the sixth Bearcat coach to lead the program to 50 wins.

The win over Ozark moves the series record to 56-27-4 in favor of the Bearcats.