The varsity football team closed its season in the first round of the Division II-AAA playoffs with a 44-14 loss at Montgomery Bell Academy. The Big Red built a sizable first-half lead, capitalizing on short fields and efficient early scoring drives while the Owls struggled to build offensive momentum despite creating two first-quarter turnovers. The loss ends the Owls' season at 6-5.
The Big Red opened the game with a 32-yard field goal with 9:02 left in the first quarter to cap an opening 8-play drive to take the early 3-0 lead. And then on the Owls' opening possession, they fumbled, giving the hosts the ball on the MUS 39-yard line. But
Sam Galler ended that threat with an interception and 23-yard return as the Owls took over at the MBA 48-yard line. But the offense went backwards and had to punt, ending the threat. But on the next play,
Reid McKnett recovered a mishandled snap on a speed sweep, and the Owls again had a short field at the MBA 30-yard line.
But unfortunately, the team could not get points as they suffered a sack on 3
rd down, and
Joshua Wittber's 50-yard field goal had the distance but was wide left, keeping the score at 3-0 with 4:50 left in the first quarter.
But from there, MBA started to take over, and they added four second-quarter scores—a 1-yard run, a 19-yard touchdown pass, a 17-yard run, and a 26-yard field goal—to take a 27–0 advantage into halftime.
The Owls responded with their strongest stretch of the night coming out of the break. The visitors controlled the football for more than 9 minutes in the third quarter and put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown run from sophomore
Tommie Reed at the 4:46 mark. MBA added a 28-yard field goal late in the period to make it 30-7 entering the fourth quarter. The Big Red extended their lead with a pair of rushing touchdowns, a 17-yard score with 9:41 left and a 5-yard run at the 5:14 mark, but MUS closed the night with a sharp 80-yard drive. With 1:26 remaining,
Dhilan Madasu found
John Painter on a 14-yard touchdown pass to bring the final score to 44–14. Painter hauled in 5 passes on the drive.
Despite the result, MUS generated productive stretches on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Owls finished with 153 passing yards and no interceptions as Madasu completed 16 of 23 attempts. Painter led all receivers with 6 catches for 73 yards and the fourth-quarter touchdown, and
Palmer Albertine added 3 receptions for 42 yards. Reed paced the ground game with 23 rushing yards and the team's first touchdown. MUS also held the ball for 27:50, over 7 minutes more than MBA, and converted both of its red-zone chances.
Defensively, the Owls forced two turnovers and recorded several disruptive plays. In his final game, DE
Devin Wells recorded MUS's lone sack of the game. LB
Austin Spence led the defense with seven tackles, and both
Tanner Sherman and
Cannon Sherman added six and five stops, respectively.
MBA's win narrows the series to 15–12 in favor of the Owls as the team now looks ahead to the offseason.
#GoOwlsÂ
Â
Â