After winning the first seven games of the season, the Houston High School football team suffered its first defeat in 2022, falling 28-8 in a South Central Association Conference contest Friday afternoon at Wilson Field in Mountain Grove.
Houston’s normally prolific offense was held to a season-low points total, while the host Panthers found ways to score more points against the Tigers’ defense than any other opponent so far in 2022.
Senior quarterback Tyson Elliott led Mountain Grove’s offense by tossing 3 touchdown passes, as well as running for 5-yard score with 4:14 left in the first half. Senior running back Hollen Glenn had numerous catches from out of the backfield, including 2 for touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Drew Vaughn also caught a 40-yard pass for 6 points that opened the scoring with 4:21 to go in the first quarter.
Senior Ty Gardner successfully kicked extra points after all 4 of the Panthers’ touchdowns.
The Tigers’ only touchdown came with 9:30 left in the second period when junior quarterback Wyatt Hughes tossed a short pass to wide-open senior receiver Zac Williams, who ran alone down the left sideline for a 75-yard scoring play. Senior Dakota James ran for a 2-point conversion to make it a 14-8 game at the time.
The contest unusually kicked off at 1 p.m., and the crowd included the entire Mountain Grove School District student body and two busloads of kids from Houston.
Next up for the Tigers (7-1, 5-1 SCA) is a home game next Friday night against undefeated Liberty that will decide the SCA championship. If the visiting Eagles win, they’ll be outright conference champs. If Houston wins, the two teams will share the crown.
The game will also include Senior Night activities.
