MOUNTAIN GROVE – In the fourth quarter of a tied game, Houston quarterback Dakota Burchett dropped back for a pass. As he cocked his arm, he was hit in the left side by a Mountain Grove defender. Burchett released the ball, and it hit teammate Daniel Hutcheson in the facemask before bouncing backward.

The side judge signaled incomplete pass.

The Tigers’ coaching staff screamed incomplete pass.

Burchett made a throwing motion with his hand to signal it was an incomplete pass.

But the person whose opinion mattered most – the head official who was standing behind the play – ruled it was a fumble.

Mountain Grove recovered the ball and eight plays later converted the turnover into a touchdown. The score with 4 minutes, 30 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding points as the Panthers edged Houston 13-6 Friday night.

HHS coach Eric Sloan was certain the play should have been ruled an incomplete pass. After watching a replay, he was confident the call was wrong.

“I didn’t think there was any doubt the arm was coming forward,” Sloan said. “I don’t think the ball comes out that clean if it’s a fumble.”

Sloan said the officials told him they had two different opinions of the play. The one that mattered ultimately went against the Tigers.

“Since he wears the white hat, he trumps the other guy,” Sloan said. “He said, ‘If I look at it on film and see that I made the wrong call, I’ll call and apologize.’ I hope the phone is ringing.”

Even after the call went against them, the Tigers had a chance to keep Mountain Grove out of the end zone. An inadvertent whistle during the fumble return gave the Panthers the ball on the Houston 20-yard-line.

But in a drive that was symbolic of the entire game, Mountain Grove methodically inched toward the end zone with eight straight running plays that averaged 2.5 yards. The Panthers twice converted fourth-and-1 plays, including the go-ahead touchdown as Rhett Wakefield muscled into the end zone on a quarterback sneak.

Mountain Grove (4-4, 4-2 South Central Association) was 7-for-9 on fourth down. Both of its touchdowns – the first a three-yard run by Trevor Thompson with 10:44 left in the game – were on fourth down.

{{tncms-inline alignment=”right” content=”<p class="p1">Mountain Grove 13, Houston 6</p> <p class="p1">Thayer 40, Willow Springs 0</p> <p class="p1">Liberty 54, Salem 7</p> <p class="p1">Ava 58, Cabool 12</p> <p class="p1"><strong>Week 9 games</strong></p> <p class="p1">Liberty at Houston</p> <p class="p1">Mountain Grove at Thayer</p> <p class="p1">Cabool at Salem</p> <p class="p1">Willow Springs at Ava</p>” id=”5e86d907-3c0d-4d70-9abd-3a6008afcc9a” style-type=”bio” title=”SCA SCOREBOARD” type=”relcontent” width=”half”}}

“They kept hitting us in the mouth with 3, 4, 5 yards at a time,” Sloan said. “They kept gashing us and at the end of the night, we didn’t have an answer for it.”

Even after a touch loss, the Tigers (5-3, 3-3 SCA) have plenty to play for.

Their Week 9 matchup with Liberty appears to have a district home game on the line. The teams are 4-5 in the Class 2 District 3 standings and look like they could square off in the opening round of the postseason.

“We need to have a short memory,” Sloan said. “There’s a lot to play for next week.”

Hutcheson, a sophomore, had 13 carries for a game-high 75 yards in a hard-hitting SCA defensive showdown that was scoreless at the half. Burchett was 5-of-11 passing for 61 yards, including a 14-yard third-quarter touchdown to tight end CJ Lee that put the Tigers ahead 6-0.

The teams were nearly even statistically. Houston had 165 yards and 12 first downs compared to 153 yards and nine first downs by the Panthers.

On the Tigers’ second drive of the third quarter, Connor Wilson out-jumped a defender and snagged a 21-yard pass from Burchett to move the ball to the red zone. Two plays later, Burchett floated a pass to Lee in the flat for his fourth passing score of the season.

Mountain Grove returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards, then slowly moved the ball down the field. The Panthers covered 53 yards in 11 plays and twice converted fourth downs. Thompson, who had 24 carries for 73 yards, ended the drive by powering into the end zone from three yards out to make it 6-6.

Five plays later, Burchett lost control of the ball. It was ruled a fumble and set up the go-ahead points.

“It’s a terrible, tough break,” Sloan said. “We always say as coaches you don’t leave it to the officials.”

BOX SCORE

Houston 0 0 6 0 – 6

Mtn. Grove 0 0 0 13 – 13

Third Quarter

HOU – Lee 14 pass from Burchett (kick failed), 4:45.

Fourth Quarter

MG – Thompson 3 run (kick failed), 10:44.

MG – Wakefield 1 run (Thompson kick), 4:30.

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HOU MG

First downs 12 9

Total yards 165 153

Rushes-yards 37-104 54-137

Passing 61 16

Punt returns 0 -1

Kickoff returns 42 62

Comp-att-int 5-11-1 1-4-0

Sacked-yards lost 2-20 0-0

Punts 2-41.0 3-27.0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0

Penalties-yards 2-10 4-45

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Houston, Hutcheson 13-75, Sawyer 10-27, Dixon 7-20, Burchett 7-(minus 18). Mountain Grove, Thompson 24-73, Wakefield 14-37, Deantrey Hovey 14-20, Trenton Bevan 2-7.

PASSING – Houston, Burchett 5-11-1 61. Mountain Grove, Wakefield 1-4-0 16.

RECEIVING – Houston, Wilson 3-38, Lee 1-14, Sawyer 1-9. Mountain Grove, Kuster 1-16.

Mountain Grove 13, Houston 6

Thayer 40, Willow Springs 0

Liberty 54, Salem 7

Ava 58, Cabool 12

Week 9 games

Liberty at Houston

Mountain Grove at Thayer

Cabool at Salem

Willow Springs at Ava