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Ortega to hang up cleats after Ozark’s upcoming playoff run

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One of the more interesting revelations during the player profiles on Ozark’s ‘Senior Night’ last week was Jose Ortega’s declaration that he won’t pursue playing soccer in college.

It rated as a surprise, considering Ortega was the Class 4 District 11 Player of The Year last season and ranks among the leaders on the Tigers’ career points records board.

“I absolutely think if he had a desire to play at the college level, we could make that happen,” Ozark coach Zack Owens said. “He’s got the skills and talent, obviously.

“Jose has such good character within his family,” he added. “No matter what he does, he’s thinking of his family first and how he can help within their family. I see him wanting to go to work. He enjoys it. It’s a good fit for him.”

Ortega’s passion for cars outweighs his love for soccer. His plans after high school are to attend Ozark Technical College and take classes in its automotive technology program.

“I don’t want to waste money just to be able to go play soccer in college,” he said. “I want to stick with something I like and working on cars is one of those things.”

Down the line, Ortega and teammate Renata Granja hope to be working alongside each other in an auto shop.

“I’d like to have a shop with him one day,” Ortega said. “Renata is really into cars, too. I’m still fairly new to it. He’s better at cars than I am. I’ll have to get to his level to be able to work with him. I go over to his house and he’s taught me a lot about cars.

“I’ve had problems with my car,” he added. “I’d like to be able to fix it myself, instead of having to go spend thousands of dollars to fix it.”

Ortega netted a pair of goals on ‘Senior Night,’ as he made a return from what had been a nagging quadriceps injury that eventually sidelined him for two matches.

“I didn’t sit out when I should have,” he said. “I sat out about two weeks later than I should have. Finally, I told coach I need to sit out a week. Now, I feel great.”

Ozark has been awarded the No. 3 seed in Class 4 District 5, to be played at Carthage. Nixa is the No. 2 seed.

Ozark and Carthage will meet at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by Nixa and Springfield Central at 4 p.m. No. 1 seed Kickapoo plays Waynesville at 10 a.m. and No. 4 Joplin faces Republic at noon. The semifinals next week will be played Tuesday and the final Thursday.


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