The Ava Middle School Bears played their final home games of the season on Thursday, Oct. 6, against the West Plains Zizzers. Ava won the 7th grade contest 20-0.
The Bears scored on their first possession of the game, a six-play drive covering 65 yards. The drive was capped by a 55-yard touchdown pass from Nick Sterling to Peyton Ingram.
The Bears scored again on their next possession when Brandon Johnson broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run. Sterling ran for the 2-point conversion to give Ava a 14-0 first quarter lead.
The score remained 14-0 until the Bears scored with 4:23 remaining in the game. Kelly McDonald ran two yards for the touchdown to finish an 11-play, 57-yard drive.
The defense did an excellent job to hold the Zizzers scoreless; Sterling had a fumble recovery and an interception. Taylor Haltom led the Bears in tackling with four. Special teams also played a key role as McDonald recovered two of Haltom’s onside kickoffs to keep Ava’s offense on the field and West Plains’ offense on the sideline.
The 8th grade Bears were handed a 42-8 loss by a very strong West Plains squad. The visiting Zizzers scored on all four of their first half possessions to take a 30-0 halftime lead.
Ava’s scoring came in the 4th quarter of the game when Michael Shea ran the wide receiver reverse 35 yards for the touchdown. Caleb McFarlin passed to Paul Porter for the 2-point conversion. The leading tackler for the Bears was Jack Forrest with seven.
