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Middle School Bears Take Two Games from Houston

The Ava Middle School football teams hosted the Houston Tigers on Monday, Sept. 23. The games were rescheduled due to inclement weather the previous Thursday evening.
The Bears were winners in the seventh grade game, defeating the Tigers 46-0.
Stephen Copeland started the scoring for the Bears by returning the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown. Copeland also ran for the conversion to give the Bears the 8-0 lead.
The Bears forced Houston to punt on their first possession and Copeland returned that punt 65 yards for a touchdown. Caleb Johnson passed to Kobi Gasek for the 2-point conversion.
A 27-yard punt return by Johnson gave the Bears the ball on the Houston 11-yard line. Johnson scored two plays later; he then passed to Waylin Moon for the conversion to extend Ava’s lead to 24-0 with 1:36 remaining in the first quarter.
Drake King ran six yards for a touchdown with 3:20 remaining in the first half. Johnson again passed to Moon for the conversion.
Ava’s final score of the half occurred with 1:23 remaining, a 34-yard run by Johnson. Moon ran for the conversion to give the Bears a 40-0 lead.
The Bears’ final score of the night came in the fourth quarter when Johnson scored from eight yards out to finish a 9-play, 50-yard drive.
The Bears were also victorious in the eighth grade game, posting a 42-12 win.
The Bears forced the Tigers to turn the ball over on downs to start the game, then Ava’s Brittain Tetrick ran 55 yards for a touchdown on the following play to give the Bears a 6-0 lead.
The Bears scored again later in the period on a 15-yard run by Kaid Sizemore. Aaron Everett passed to Joey Swofford for the conversion to extend the lead to 14-0.
Takoma Dobbs scored the next touchdown for the Bears early in the second quarter on a 45-yard run. Sizemore scored again later in the half on a 30-yard run, giving the Bears a 26-0 halftime lead.
The Bears needed five plays to score on their first possession of the second half. The drive was capped by a 6-yard Swofford run. Everett passed to Quincey McDonald for the 2-point conversion.
Ava’s final score came in the fourth quarter when Swofford popped a fullback dive 45-yards for a touchdown. Seth Fowler ran for the conversion to close out the scoring for the evening.
The leading tackler for the Bears was Tetrick with seven tackles. Joe Ballasone also recovered a fumble to stop a Houston drive.
The next action for the Bears will be on Oct. 3 when they travel to Willow Springs. The 7th grade game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.