Neither team had scored for just short of the entirety of four 12-minute quarters.
But on the final play of the game, Liberty scored on a 46-yard run by junior Parker Tune and beat the Houston High School football team 6-0 in a South Central Association conference matchup Friday night in Tiger Stadium.
Tune normally plays wide receiver but lined up at quarterback and kept the ball, starting his long scamper by running straight ahead before finding space on the right side. The decisive play began with less than 10 seconds showing on the clock and time had expired by the time it was over.
The touchdown set off a wild celebration amongst the visiting Eagles’ players and coaches, but rules dictate that an extra-point play had to take place, and the officiating crew cleared the field and the Tigers’ special teams defense stood and watched dejectedly as Liberty senior quarterback Gavin Reese took a knee to officially put a cap on the game’s gut-wrenching ending.
“That’s a tough one,” said HHS head coach Eric Sloan. “It was brutal.”
Both offenses had multiple chances to score during the course of the contest, but as defense ruled, both squads turned the ball over on downs or interceptions on multiple occasions and punted on others. Both teams were also assessed several crucial penalties that contributed to the lengthy scoring drought.
“I thought it was just a great battle all night long,” Sloan said. “We didn’t look at what was written on the front of their jerseys and I was really proud of the way our kids fought. It was like a heavyweight slugfest that kept going back and forth.
“It sure would have been nice to get to overtime and see what happened.”
One of Houston’s best chances to score came on a halfback pass play during the first quarter. Senior tight end Maleki Morgan was wide open in the defensive backfield with nothing but grass between him and 6 points, but the pass was overthrown and fell incomplete about 5 feet beyond his reach.
Another golden opportunity came early in the second quarter when Houston’s offense moved the ball deep into Liberty territory. But on a fourth-down play from the 2-yard line, the Tigers were whistled for an illegal procedure penalty that moved the ball back to the 7. Moments later, the Eagles took over on downs.
Despite finishing with a goose egg on the scoreboard, the Tigers’ offense generated 313 total yards of offense in the game, including 236 on the ground.
Arthur ran for 121 yards on 23 carries and caught 2 passes for another 43 yards. Junior quarterback DJ Riley ran for 51 yards and senior running back Bryson Jordan ran for 50.
“We moved the ball,” Sloan said, “but then something bad would happen at the wrong time that would stall or end a drive.”
The Tigers’ defense did almost everything possible to help the team win. While stifling the Eagles’ high-octane offense, the Big Red D recorded a season-high 11 tackles-for-losses, with 7 different players notching at least 1. Senior lineman Gage Walker had 12 tackles (including 9 solo), while Riley (at defensive back) and junior linebacker Mason Dodson had 10 apiece. Jordan and senior Brayden Richardson each had 3 tackles-for-losses.
“I thought we did a god job of keeping receivers in front of us and rallying to the football,” Sloan said. “We just didn’t allow crazy things to happen. They beat Ava handily and had just blown a lot of people out, so for our kids to stand toe-to-toe with them for 48 minutes was great.”
Sloan and Liberty head coach Jansen Acklin each did an ample amount of coaching as the game’s unlikely circumstances unfolded.
“It was one of those where you’re exhausted at the end of the night,” Sloan said, “because every emotion you could have goes into it.”
The game marked the end of the regular season for the two teams. With the win, the Eagles secured a share of the SCA championship along with Mountain Grove, as the Panthers won 26-7 at Thayer.
The contest took place on Senior Night, and the Tigers’ 14 seniors were recognized prior to kickoff.
“We played well enough to win – we just didn’t,” Sloan said. “I kind of hate it for our seniors; that’s a Senior Night memory those kids will have forever. They played their hearts out, and to walk away stunned like that is really tough.”
Next up for Houston (5-4, 3-4 SCA) is a first-round game in the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 2 District 4 Tournament. The Tigers are seeded sixth in the 8-team bracket and will travel to No. 3 Ava on Friday (Nov. 1).
Top-seeded Fair Grove will host No. 8 Willow Springs, while No. 2 Liberty will host No. 7 Springfield Catholic and No. 4 Thayer will host No. 5 Clever.
When Houston played a regular season game Oct. 4 at Ava, the Bears’ option offense racked up more than 400 total yards, with senior fullback Hunter Adams rushing for 197.
“Playing assignment football has been our Achilles heel,” Sloan said, “so we’ll try to get some things corrected this week and slow them down. They’ve had some guys banged up a bit, so hopefully we’re catching them at the right time.”
