The Ava Middle School Bears opened the 2010 football season with two victories over the Willow Springs Bears.
Ava defeated Willow Springs 24-0 in the seventh grade contest.
Ava received the opening kickoff and put together a 14-play, 85-yard scoring drive.
The drive consumed the entire first quarter of play and ended on the second play of the second quarter when Nate Bray rushed 7 yards for a touchdown. Bray threw to tight end Caleb McFarlin for the two point conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
The ensuing kickoff hit a Willow Springs player and Dalton Watkins recovered the ball to give possession back to Ava. The Bears controlled the ball for most of the remainder of the first half but were unable to score.
Ava scored again on the opening play of the fourth quarter on a 35 yard run by Paul Porter. Morgan Smith ran for the conversion to give the Bears a 16-0 lead.
The Bears were able to tack on one more score in the quarter when Michael Shea rushed two yards for a touchdown. Smith again ran for the conversion to give Ava their final margin of victory.
The eighth grade Bears posted a 32-0 victory over the visiting Willow Springs squad.
The game was terminated at the end of the first half due to dangerous lightning moving into the area.
Ava scored on its second play from scrimmage when Colton Akers raced 70 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. Brett Waggoner ran for the two point conversion to make the lead 8-0.
Waggoner ran 12 yards for a touchdown and rushed for the conversion midway through the quarter to extend the lead to 16-0.
Kane Thompson rushed 18 yards for Ava’s third touchdown of the quarter and caught a pass from quarterback Cody Huff for the conversion to give Ava a 24-0 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Bears posted their final score of the night when Thompson rushed 15 yards for the touchdown. Waggoner ran for the conversion to give Ava the 32-0 halftime lead.
The next game for the Bears will be on Thursday, September 9, when they travel to Mountain View to face the Liberty Eagles.
The seventh grade game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
