With a 36-0 blanking of Willow Springs, the Ava Bears won the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 2 District 3 championship game on their home field last Friday night.
Ava (12-0) entered postseason play as the district’s top-seeded squad and beat No. 10 Mountain Grove 60-20 and No. 6 East Newton 34-6 before the title game victory.
Ava advances to play at Lamar at 1 p.m. this Saturday, with the winner taking on the winner of a contest between Clark County and Hallsville in a class 2 semifinal game on Saturday, Nov. 30.
Houston lost at home to East Newton, 21-20, in the first round of the district tournament. The Tigers fell to Ava, 46-8, Oct. 4 in Houston, and finished the season with a record of 4-6.