A glance at the Week 8 matchup between Mountain Grove (6-1) and Houston (4-3):
ABOUT THIS WEEK’S OPPONENT: Ranked fifth in Class 3, Mountain Grove improved to 6-1 last week with a 20-14 victory against Salem. The Panthers’ lone loss was a 28-12 defeat to Mountain View-Liberty. They have beaten Logan-Rogersville (51-0), Cassville (15-6), Ava (46-14), Willow Springs (40-6), Cabool (41-7) and Salem. …Mountain Grove has amassed 2,226 rushing yards –– an average of 318 per game. Trystan Short leads the way with 80 carries for 935 yards and 11 touchdowns. Quarterback Carter Otwell has 760 yards on the ground and seven scores. …The Panthers have run the ball on 263 of their 310 plays this season (84.8 percent). Otwell has completed 29 of his 37 pass attempts for 330 yards and three touchdowns.
TIGER TIDBITS: Several players had expanded roles in Friday’s victory as HHS dealt with injuries. Dawson Koch and Travis Schock played on the offensive line for Keegan Spurlin and Michael Clayton started for him at linebacker. Paydon Dixon played special teams for Ethan Kelley and linebacker while Austin Schock was banged up. Freshman Ty McCloud saw time at receiver. “It was good to see those young kids thrown in the fire,” HHS coach Eric Sloan said. “They did some really good things.”
BIG PLAYS: Can the Tigers stop big plays? The last six touchdowns the HHS defense has allowed were scored from 55, 89, 71, 62, 51 and 58 yards away. Four of those were runs – three by Ava and one by Willow Springs.
DISTRICT STANDINGS: Houston remained in fourth place in the district standings following last week’s win. The Tigers (34.68) are slightly ahead of Ash Grove (32.43), who plays No. 2 Fair Grove (40.23) this week. The top four teams in the district will host a first-round game. The complete district standings are:
1. Liberty (7-0) • 52.77 pts
2. Fair Grove (5-2) • 40.23 pts
3. Diamond (5-2) • 39.55 pts
4. Houston (4-3) • 34.68 pts
5. Ash Grove (4-3) • 32.43 pts
6. Strafford (2-5) • 28.29 pts
7. Willow Springs (1-6) • 24.08 pts
8. Pleasant Hope (0-7) • 14.05 pts
Week 8 games
Mountain Grove at Houston
Cabool at Ava
Willow Springs at Thayer
Salem at Liberty
The game will be broadcast online at www.houstonherald.com/live beginning with senior recognition at 6:30 p.m. and the pregame show at 6:45 p.m.