Houston football coach Chris Edwards remembers glancing at the scoreboard in the second quarter Friday night. It read: Ava 19, Houston 7.
“You look up and you’re down 12 points and you wonder how your kids are going to respond,” Edwards said.
He didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
Houston scored three unanswered touchdowns to take the lead, then stuffed Ava on a late two-point conversion attempt as the Tigers held on for a 27-25 come-from-behind victory.
“It was good to see the kids respond and not get down,” Edwards said. “That was probably the best part of the game.”
The Tigers had been prone to falling behind early and never recovered the previous two seasons. But those times are long gone.
Houston is 3-0 for the first time since 2004 with victories against Cabool and Southern Boone before rallying past Ava. The Tigers’ stiffest challenge yet is Friday when Mountain Grove comes to town for Houston’s home opener.
“They’re Mountain Grove. They’re good. The challenge is ahead of us,” Edwards said. “Fortunately, our kids are playing with confidence. The kids will give it all they’ve got.”
Weybright continued to excel on the ground, rushing for his team-leading sixth and seventh touchdowns of the season.
But he also got going through the air. Weybright connected on 18 of his 31 pass attempts for a season-high 290 yards to go with 51 yards on 15 carries.
After being held in check for two weeks, senior wideout Ty Scheets had a breakout game against the Bears with season highs of 10 catches and 170 yards and a score.
“Ty had a great game. He converted a lot of plays to get us first downs and put us in good positions,” Edwards said. “Then he turns around and plays the MIKE linebacker and leads the team in tackles.”
Junior Brad Pounds had 108 combined yards – 68 rushing yards on 11 carries and a pair of catches totaling 40 yards. Crawford had five receptions for 84 yards.
Weybright’s rushing score gave Houston an early 7-0 advantage, but Ava running back Josh Wendler scored three straight times to put the Bears ahead 19-7.
Edwards said it took awhile for his team to get over the disappointment of allowing its first points of the season.
“The kids were upset and I just looked at them and said, ‘Guys, you weren’t going to hold everyone scoreless,'” he said. “Then they were able to settle down and play.”
Weybright swung momentum back in the Tigers’ favor with another touchdown run that left Houston trailing by six at the half.
The deficit was erased when Weybright hooked up with Scheets for a third-quarter score. He later found Crawford on a 71-yard touchdown reception that gave the Tigers an eight-point lead.
Weybright, who has four more rushing than passing touchdowns, leads Houston with 218 rushing yards and a 6.1 average.
“Sometimes you’re hesitant to run your quarterback. But at the same time, you’ve got to do what’s best for the program and let the chips fall where they may,” Edwards said. “He’s a good athlete, and we’ve got to use him both running and throwing to be successful.”
Ava (1-2, 1-1 SCA) had a chance to tie the game early in the fourth quarter when Tyler Williams hit Taylor Wallace with a touchdown that made it 27-25. But Williams’ two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, and the Tigers chewed up nearly 8 minutes off the clock with a long drive that secured their third straight victory.
“We took a little break in the second quarter where we gave up too many plays,” Edwards said. “After that, I thought we played pretty well.”
