A look at Friday’s matchup as the Houston Tigers (4-1) travel to Ava (4-1):
TOUGHEST CHALLENGE YET: Houston is off to the program’s best start since the 2004 season. Tonight’s game will likely be the most difficult yet.
The Tigers square off with defending conference champions Ava, the 11th-ranked team in the state with a four-game winning streak.
Ava earned its second shutout of the season last week by blanking Salem 39-0. The Bears shut out Hallsville 31-0 in Week 2 and also have wins against Mountain Grove (28-12) and Liberty (24-14).
HHS has a two-game winning streak after beating Thayer last week – its first victory in the matchup since 2005. The Tigers’ lone loss was a 7-0 overtime defeat in Week 3 at Salem.
That 2005 Houston team – led by Wes Beachler – was 5-1 after a 28-10 victory against Springfield Central. HHS finished 10-3 that season and made the first of back-to-back state semifinal appearances.
FIRST PLACE ON THE LINE: The top of the South Central Association is on the line Friday night. HHS is 2-1 in the conference while the Bears are 3-0 as the lone unbeaten team in SCA play.
A win by the Tigers would pull them even with Ava with matchups against Willow Springs, Mountain Grove and Liberty remaining. A win by the Bears would be a big step toward repeating with games against Thayer, Cabool and Willow Springs left on the schedule.
Two other teams – Thayer and Mountain Grove – are 2-1 in the SCA. The Bobcats host Cabool on Friday while the Panthers travel to Liberty.
AVA’S OFFENSIVE WEAPONS: The Bears’ offense is led by four-year starting quarterback Caleb Johnson, who has thrown for 400 yards and rushed for 243 yards and six touchdowns. …Junior Kayden Meyers is the team’s top rusher with 96 carries for 439 yards. …Three other players – Johnson (41-243), Stephen Copeland (37-286) and Nate Swofford (28-211) – have more than 200 yards.
TIGER TIDBITS: Houston’s defense is giving up just 2.3 yards per carry. The Tigers will be challenged by an Ava offense that averages 5.9 yards per rush. …HHS has scored 61 points off 17 turnovers this season. The Tigers have turned it over nine times but have not allowed a point following those turnovers. …Senior CJ Lee, the team’s punter and place kicker, is averaging 37.6 yards per punt this season compared to 29.9 by his counterparts. …Ava has won nine straight meetings with Houston dating back to the Tigers’ 26-23 victory in 2008 as part of a 3-0 start.
HONORING CONNOR: HHS coach Eric Sloan said his team will honor former Tiger Connor Clifton in several ways during Friday night’s game. Clifton was killed in a single-vehicle accident late Wednesday night on U.S. 63 south of Houston.
Sloan said Clifton, an all-conference and all-district linebacker in 2016, was in town to attend the game at Ava. He was 19 years old.
The district has canceled Monday’s JV football game at Ava for Clifton’s visitation.
WATCH ONLINE: The matchup will be streamed live in HD at www.houstonherald.com/live. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with the pregame show featuring an interview from Sloan as well as keys to the game from announcers Ryan Munson and Jim McNiell. At halftime, there will be a special tribute to Clifton.
HHS STAT LEADERS: A look at the Tigers’ statistical leaders through four weeks of play:
RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD LG
Hutcheson 56 473 8.4 7 59
Dixon 65 256 3.9 1 22
Sawyer 40 202 5.1 4 23
Hurst 16 108 6.8 2 60
PASSING COMP ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Burchett 18 49 252 14.0 3 2
RECEIVING NO YDS TD AVG LG
Wilson 6 110 2 18.3 49
CLee 4 59 0 14.8 19
Sawyer 5 55 0 11.0 20
SCORING TD 2PT FG PAT TOT
Hutcheson 7 0 0 0 42
Sawyer 4 0 0 0 24
Dixon 3 2 0 0 22
Wilson 2 1 0 0 14
DEFENSE T TFL S FF FR INT
CLee 43 3 0 1 1 0
Wallander 39 0 0 2 0 0
Dixon 38 1 0 0 1 1
Hutcheson 26 1 1 0 0 0
Cichon 24 7 2 4 1 0
CMitchell 22 3 0 1 1 2
Sawyer 19 6 0 1 1 0
Burchett 15 1 0 0 1 4
AROUND THE SCA: A look at last week’s conference scores and this week’s games:
Week 5 scores
Houston 7, Thayer 6
Mountain Grove 28, Cabool 6
Liberty 28, Willow Springs 12
Ava 39, Salem 0
Week 6 games
Houston at Ava
Salem at Willow Springs
Cabool at Thayer
Mountain Grove at Liberty
DISTRICT STANDINGS: Houston sits in fourth place in Class 2 District 3 after five weeks of play.
SEED TEAM RECORD PTS OPPONENT
1. Strafford 5-0 47.74 Fair Grove (5-0)
2. Fair Grove 5-0 47.0 Strafford (5-0)
3. Ava 4-1 45.5 Houston (4-1)
4. Houston 4-1 43.1 Ava (4-1)
5. Liberty 2-3 33.1 Mtn. Grove (2-3)
6. Mtn. Grove 2-3 28.9 Liberty (2-3)
7. Willow Springs 1-4 22.35 Salem (2-3)
8. Forsyth 0-5 15.43 Stockton (0-5)