Ricebirds put hurt on Hillbillies

Ozark’s Josef Asbeck is brought down by Stuttgart defenders Jon Curtis (1) and Jackson Kennedy. The Ricebirds held the Hillbillies to 119 total yards.
Ozark’s Josef Asbeck is brought down by Stuttgart defenders Jon Curtis (1) and Jackson Kennedy. The Ricebirds held the Hillbillies to 119 total yards.

— Waymon Johnson came up with the big hit early, but Stuttgart’s defense landed the knockout blow Saturday night.

Ozark quarterback Jake Simpson scrambled out of the pocket toward the sideline on the second series of the game, trying to get away from pressure up the middle, but there was no escaping the Stuttgart linebacker.

Johnson drilled Simpson squarely in the chest, snapping the quarterback’s head back and driving him to the ground. Johnson popped up quickly, mobbed by his teammates on the sideline, as the video board showed a slow motion replay that captured just how jarring the hit was.

“I didn’t even think it was that big of hit,” Johnson said. “I was amazed at how big of lick I put on him.”

The blow pretty much summed how the game went for the Ricebirds, whose defense made itself at home in the Hillbillies’ backfield in a 28-7 victory in the Class 4A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium. Stuttgart racked up seven tackles for loss and three sacks while holding Ozark to 119 yards in the game.

Running back Josef Asbeck gained 44 yards on 11carries as the Hillbillies managed 50 - more than 180 below their season average.

“That’s what I expect out of our defense every time we play,” Stuttgart Coach Billy Elmore said. “They rose to the occasion, so we’re going to celebrate for a little while.”

Johnson’s blow to Simpson not only sent Simpson to the sideline, it forced Ozark’s injured starter Jonathan McKenzie, already hobbled by a high-ankle sprain, back into action as doctors checked out Simpson on the sideline for a concussion.

“He couldn’t really plant on it, so it was tough on him,” Ozark Coach Jeremie Burns said of McKenzie. “Jake Simpson comes in and gets hit and he’s out. We were down to a limited quarterback.”

Ozark gained 2 yards on 10 snaps in the first quarter, which included a sack of Simpson for a 10-yard loss and a snap that sailed over his head on fourth-and-1 at the Ozark 40 for an 11-yard loss with 9:16 left.

It didn’t get any better in the second quarter when Stuttgart limited Ozark to 5 offensive yards on 13 snaps. Ozark finished the half with 7 offensive yards.

The Hillbillies’ lone sustained drive came when they switched to the Wishbone on the opening drive of the second half. Ozark went 57 yards in nine plays to pull within 14-7 on Asbeck’s 14-yard scoring run with 8:37 left in the third quarter.

“I told them to come back out and put the pedal to the metal,” Stuttgart defensive coordinator Kevin Youngblood said.

Stuttgart did just that, allowing Ozark only 55 yards on 20 plays for the rest of the game, helping these Ricebirds take their spot among Stuttgart’s storied football tradition by winning the school’s seventh state championship.

“We don’t hang runner up banners,” Elmore said. “They earned their place at the table tonight.”

Sports, Pages 29 on 12/09/2012

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