Nixa and Ozark will indeed play each other on back to back Friday nights, with the teams due to follow up their most recent Backyard Brawl with a Class 6 District 3 first-round matchup this coming week.
But Eagles safety Spencer Ward was already experiencing a flashback Friday that seemed eerily familiar.
Ward recorded an interception, a fumble recovery, a tackle for a safety and a 21-yard touchdown run as part of his starring role in Nixa’s 51-7 Backyard Brawl victory.
It was Ward’s first interception on the season. But he couldn’t help but feel like it was the second time in as many nights he had picked off a pass.
“When I caught it, it seemed like deja vu,” Ward said of his second-half interception. “After I got over the hype and was on the sideline and sat down, I was like, ‘Wait a minute?’ It seemed a little familiar.
“I actually had a dream I had an interception,” he added. “It was last night and it was literally the exact same play where I tracked the ball down and caught it.”
Obviously, he was glad no one was waking him up from a dream.
“That’s my first interception on the season and I’ve been wanting one,” Ward said. “It’s about time.”
Ward entered the night having one of about everything else in Nixa’s statistical castegories. Through eight weeks, the utility man had four touchdowns, 97 yards rushing, four receptions for 45 yards, a team-leading 69 solo stops, three tackles for a loss, a quarterback sack and he had returned eight kickoffs and one punt.
In addition to all he contributed on offense and defense Friday, he chipped in on special teams by running for a first down on a fake punt.
Nixa (8-1) hasn’t had a two-way starter on its way to a share of the COC championship. But Ward obviously has had his number called on both sides of the ball.
“Me and coach (John Perry) have this trust together. He trusts me that I’ll alway give 100-percent effort,” Ward said. “Whatever coach asks me to do, I’m right there. I’ll do anything to win.”
“He’s a bad boy,” Perry said. “He is a great football player and we are blessed to have him living in Nixa.”
Perry suspects Ward projects as a safety at the college level, but adds he will offer college coaches the same options he gives Nixa.
“(Safety) is his natural position and he runs so fast, runs downhill and tackles so well,” Perry said. “But he could probably play corner, slot or running back. He could probably play a lot of things.”
Of course, last season Ward was Nixa’s feature back once Ramone Green went down with an injury. With Green back this season, Ward went back to starting on defense and has been happy to do so.
“The best thing about him is he is a great teammate,” Perry said. “He wants to win. He wants his teammates to do well and wants to help them. He is obviously talented, but he works very hard, too. When your best players like him and Ramone and (offensive lineman) Garrett Davidson are also your hardest workers, you have a chance to be very good. When your dudes are workers, you’re going to win a lot of games and our dudes are workers.”
This was Nixa’s third straight Backyard Brawl win and fourth straight victory against Ozark. The Eagles put up 51 straight points en route to their most dominant night in the teams’ series since Nixa posted 38-0 and 41-0 shutouts against the Tigers in 2014.
However, Ozark (2-7), opened Friday with a scoring drive that took more than eight minutes to lead 7-0.
The Tigers operated with Gage Depee subbing for injured Brady Dodd at quarterback. A foot injury had made Dodd’s availability a game time decision. He was declared out during warmups.
Depee had been at running back all season, but was a quarterback leading up to his varsity debut as a sophomore last year. He capped Ozark’s opening series by scoring on a quarterback sneak.
“I was trying to get prepared,” Depee said of practices this week. “I’ve always run backup at quarterback to Brady this season in practices, thank goodness. Running QB in our triple-option, it’s easy for me, like all quarterbacks who have been in our system so long. We do a good job with it.”
“We came out exactly like we wanted to and methodically drove down the field to score,” Ozark coach Chad Depee said. “We were trying to shorten the game and limit possessions. We felt like if we would execute well and continue to be physical all game that we could eat the clock up. We felt like we were in that spot.”
Nixa followed up with a pair of touchdown runs by Green, including a 69-yard sprint. The Eagles’ second score was set up by recovering an on-side kick.
“There are different ways teams try to swing momentum. It was a good call on their part,” Chad Depee said of the on-side kick. “It’s easier to call it than to execute it. (Kicker Kaleb James) executed a great on-side kick. They got an extra possession.”
The rout wasn’t on until after Ozark again moved the ball well on its second offensive series. The Tigers drove all the way to the Eagles’ one-yard line, before they were called for a chop block, of all things, on first-and-goal.
A sideline referee related to Chad Depee that the back judge who made the call ruled that two offensive linemen made a chop block. With scrums at the line of scrimmage routinely featuring linemen on both sides trying to get lower than each other, it’s an extremity unusual penalty to be called in such a situation.
“We were coming back and having an opportunity, even after our special-teams turnover, and we were going to answer,” Chad Depee said. “But (the ball) is brought back. That’s part of it.”
After the 15-yard penalty, Ozark fumbled inside the 10-yard line, with Ward making the recovery.
Now, the rout was on.
“You get behind Nixa and they’re hard to beat,” Chad Depee said. “They did a good job at what they do. They have the ability to throw the ball vertically. They can spread you out and obviously they can run the football. They’re tough to defend.”
Nixa’s defense against the run got stronger as the game went along.
“It took us a little bit and (Ozark) does a good job running (the triple option),” Perry said. “We can’t simulate that in practice, so it took us a little while to get adjusted to it. We weren’t getting off blocks quick enough.”
Quarterback Connor Knatcal helped Nixa pull away by firing three touchdown passes. He hooked up with Rylan Michel, Noah Engelman and Gaven Krans.
Engelman, a first-year football player as a senior, was overwhelmed by all the hoopla surrounding the Backyard Brawl.
“This is nothing like basketball,” Engelman said while comparing the Nixa-Ozark rivalry in football and basketball. “There was a lot more adrenaline coming into this. A lot more comes with it. It’s a bigger event than basketball. It was a lot of fun.”
Engelman is adding to Nixa’s recent tradition of established athletes in other sports giving football a try and enjoying success.
“I never imagined me playing football,” Engelman said. “I saw Smith (Wheeler), Kael (Combs) and Jordyn (Turner) and what they did. With Kael and Jordyn coming from basketball, I knew I could come out and play, too.
“I loved over the summer putting a lot of work into it,” he added. “I knew coming into this I was going to have to learn a lot and put a lot of work into it. I’ve tried to go head-first into it.”
Nixa 51, Ozark 7
Nixa 14 14 7 16 - 51
Ozark 7 0 0 0 - 7
Scoring
O - Depee 1 run (Clark kick)
N - Green 69 run (James kick)
N - Green 1 run (James kick)
N - Michel 38 pass from Knatcal (James kick)
N - Ward 31 run (James kick)
N - Rebura 4 run (James kick)
N - Safety
N - Engelman 40 pass from Knatcal (James kick)
N - Krans 18 pass from Knatcal (James kick)
