The Ava Middle School seventh and eighth grade football Bears hosted the Cabool Bulldogs on Thursday, Sept. 16.
The Bears won the seventh grade contest by a score of 8-0.
Ava was the first team to threaten the end zone, but the drive was stopped by a Cabool interception inside the 10 yard line late in the first half.
The game remained scoreless until late in the game when Morgan Smith broke loose for a 20 yard run and quarterback Nate Bray completed a pass to wide receiver Austin Potts, covering 25 yards to put the ball inside the Cabool 10 yard line.
Smith scored two plays later to give Ava the lead with two minutes remaining in the game.
Bray connected with tight end Caleb McFarlin for the two point conversion to increase the lead to 8-0. The Ava defense held the Cabool offense in the final series to seal the win.
Ava defeated Cabool 44-8 in the eighth grade game.
Cabool was the first to score in the contest; a long return of the opening kickoff put the ball on the Ava one yard line and the Bulldogs scored two plays later. They added the conversion to take an 8-0 lead.
Ava’s Kane Thompson answered with a 25-yard scoring run and ran for the conversion to tie the score at 8-8.
Thompson scored again from 20 yards out and Cody Huff completed the pass on the conversion attempt to Chase Rowland to extend the lead to 16-8.
Ava scored again in the opening quarter when Cole Coombs broke loose on a fullback dive and rambled 35 yards for the score. Coombs also ran for the conversion to give Ava a 24-8 lead at the end of the quarter.
Coombs scored his second touchdown of the game in the second quarter on a 15-yard run, advancing the Ava margin to 30-8.
Ava’s final touchdown of the first half occurred when Darien Burnett ran 45 yards for the score. Cody Huff ran for the conversion to boost the Ava lead to 38-8.
Huff scored Ava’s only touchdown of the second half on a one yard run, giving the Bears their final margin of victory.
