Mountain Grove beats Thayer for SCA title

The Mountain Grove Panthers’ football team won the outright South Central Association (SCA) Conference championship last Friday night when they won the state-ranked battle with Thayer last Friday night, 42-34.
The SCA crown is the Panthers’ second in two seasons under head coach Dan Swofford as his squad earned a share of the title last year.
“It was awesome,” said Coach Swofford after the big win. “Conference championships are hard to come by. You are always grateful for any time you can get one. The kids played so well and solid. Thayer is a very good team that did some things really well. They’re really well coached.”
Mountain Grove’s defense set the tone on the first drive by forcing the Bobcats to go three-and-out.
On the Panthers’ first offensive drive, quarterback Aden Estep had a big 18-yard gain and he connected with Kale Gardner on a 23-yard passing play.
Mountain Grove would march 64 yards on 11 plays before scoring on Estep’s one-yard touchdown run.
A low snap on the extra-point kick attempt forced Estep, who was the holder, to grab the ball and run it into the end zone for a two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Thayer responded by converting a third down at midfield where an apparent holding call was missed on a 14-yard run.
The Bobcats would eventually score with under a minute into the second quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run.
A snap directly to the holder led to him running the ball in for two points to tie the game at 8-8.
Mountain Grove’s offense responded as their next drive started with Estep’s 23-yard run.
Braydon Curtiss would add a 22-yard scamper to get the ball into the red zone.
Four plays later, Estep scored on a one-yard touchdown run.
Dameon Martin’s bloop extra-point kick was good, pushing the lead to 15-8.
The Bobcats, who entered the game as the No. 1 team in Class 1, responded with a 23-yard carry.
Five plays later, they scored on a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Surprisingly, the Bobcats went for a two-point conversion and failed, keeping the Panthers in front, 15-14.
Thayer’s defense stepped up and forced Mountain Grove to go three-and-out.
One play later, they scored on a 76-yard touchdown run to take the lead.
A failed extra-point kick kept Thayer in front, 20-15.
With 2:25 left in the first half and knowing they would start the second half with the ball, the Panthers’ offense was hoping to score some points though they had to start the drive from their own 9.
Eli Golden came up with the big run for 52 yards to take the ball to the Bobcats’ 32.
Three plays later, Estep hit Kaden Murphy for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Martin’s kick gave the Panthers a 27-20 lead with 31 seconds left before halftime.
At the break, Mountain Grove had 44 yards passing and 171 on the ground for 215 total yards of offense. Thayer had 42 yards passing and 178 on the ground for 220 total yards.
Mountain Grove’s offense struggled coming out of halftime as they were soon forced to punt after a sack for a six-yard loss.
After a solid punt return took the ball into the Panthers’ territory, the Bobcats would march the ball down to the 5. Then, a holding call and a seven-yard loss from Golden’s tackle pushed the Bobcats back to the 22. This gave them a 4th-and-goal where Estep knocked down a pass in the end zone to end the Bobcats’ threat.
“It was massive,” Coach Swofford said of the defensive stand.. “…Our defense really stepped up in that second half.”
Mountain Grove’s offense moved the ball to midfield when Estep took a fake punt on fourth down and ran three yards for a first down.
The Panthers’ offense would control the game on the ground with several Curtiss’ runs.
Mountain Grove took all 6:06 left off the clock from the third as they marched 78 yards on 18 plays. Estep ended the drive with his 10-yard touchdown pass to Kale Gardner in the end zone, who made an acrobatic catch for the score. Martin’s kick pushed the lead to 29-20 with 9:21 left in the game.
Thayer quickly responded with around a 60-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. A failed two-point conversion kept the score at 29-26.
Golden responded with a big return of his own, taking the ball to the Bobcats’ 35. Estep would get a 27-yard run to set up his five-yard touchdown run. A dropped snap led to a failed two-point conversion and a 35-26 edge. Estep would be body slammed on that play right in front of the lead official, but a Bobcats’ defender was somehow not flagged. Mountain Grove’s coaches received a flag for their response to the missed penalty.
One play later, Mountain Grove defender Ethan Haacke responded by punching the ball out of the hands of a Thayer ball carrier and his team recovered it near midfield.
Seven plays later, Curtiss scored on a nine-yard touchdown run. Martin’s kick was good for a 42-26 lead.
The Bobcats’ offense did get a 42-yard passing play on the second play of their next drive.
Four plays later, they scored on a one-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion made the score 42-34 with 53 seconds left in the game.
Mountain Grove recovered the onside kick attempt and went into victory formation for the eight point win.
As a team, the Panthers had 54 yards passing and 327 on the ground for 381 total yards of offense. Thayer had 103 yards passing and 213 yard rushing for 316 total yards.
Estep had a big game completing 2-of-4 passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 14 carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
Curtiss tallied 162 yards rushing on 34 carries with one touchdown.
Golden added nine carries for 96 yards.
Gardner had his pair of catches for 33 yards and one touchdown while Murphy had one catch for 21 yards and one touchdown.
The Panthers are the No. 1 seed in the Class 3, District 5 Tournament so they will get a bye and have no game this Friday, Oct. 31.
They will face the winner of Salem and Buffalo at home on Friday, Nov. 7. A win gives them a shot at a district title against either Clever (No. 2), St. James (No. 3), Strafford (No. 6) or Pleasant Hope/Halfway/Marion C. Early (No. 7).