The Ava Middle School football squads traveled to Mountain View to play the Liberty Eagles on Saturday, September 11.
The games had been originally scheduled for Thursday, September 9, but due to inclement weather the games were postponed.
The Eagles of Liberty defeated the Bears 8-0 in the seventh grade contest.
The Eagles scored on their first play from scrimmage, a long run around the left side of the offense, and added the two point conversion play to complete the scoring for the contest.
The Bears were able to shut down the Liberty running attack during the remainder of the game but were unable to convert on offense.
Ava’s best drive of the game moved the ball inside the Liberty 30 yard line before turning the ball over on downs.
The Bears fared better in the eighth grade contest, posting a 34-0 win.
The Bears took advantage of an early miscue by the Eagles to take the lead.
After Tristan Haltom recovered a Liberty fumble, Ava’s Brett Waggoner ran 33 yards for a touchdown.
Colton Akers ran for the conversion to put the Bears in front 8-0. The teams next proceeded to exchange turnovers.
Ava stopped an Eagle scoring drive when Shannon Porter intercepted a pass by the Liberty quarterback.
Ava’s next score occurred midway through the second quarter when Akers ran 7 yards for a touchdown. The score capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive.
The Bears scored in the final minute of the first half when Waggoner broke loose for a 49 yard touchdown run. Waggoner also ran for the conversion to give Ava a 22-0 halftime lead.
The Bears scored again on their opening drive of the second half. Waggoner ran 52 yards for the score to extend the lead to 28-0.
Ava’s final touchdown came in the fourth quarter when Kane Thompson ran 39 yards for a touchdown.
The next action for Ava’s seventh and eighth grade teams will be at home on Thursday, September 16, when the Bears play the Cabool Bulldogs.
The seventh grade game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
On Monday, September 20, the eighth grade Bears will play the Thayer Bobcats at home.
The game was added to the schedule to take the place of an eighth grade game with Houston which was cancelled due to Houston’s lack of eighth grade players.
Game time is set for 5 p.m. on Monday.
