In an old-fashioned defensive struggle, the MUS Owls defeated the MBA Big Red for the second time this year, 10-7, in a fourth-quarter thriller last Friday night at Hull-Dobbs to give the Owls a berth in the Clinic Bowl, the “Super 7” state-title game, to be held November 23 at Vanderbilt Stadium.
MUS (10-1, 4-1) looked to get on the scoreboard first after they and MBA (9-3, 4-2) had been forced to punt on their initial drives. Taking over at their own 31, the Owls were led by Rob Park as he completed all four of his passes on the drive. However, the possession stalled at the MBA 10, so Ben Tacker stepped out and connected on a 27-yard field goal to give the Owls the early 3-0 lead with 1:41 remaining in the first quarter.
After the early score, the defenses dominated for much of the first half
However, the Owls finally found some offensive momentum midway throught the second quarter.
Following an MBA punt, MUS took over at their own 23 and began one of their most exciting drives of the year. On the first play, Park connected with Max Prokell for a 39-yard gain to the MBA 38. Then, on the very next play, wide receiver John David Lawhorn connected with J.P. Zdancewicz on a 38-yard trick play for the touchdown to send the home faithful into an uproar and give the Owls the 10-0 lead following the Tacker PAT midway through the second quarter.
MUS had several opportunities to extend their lead, but they could not capitalize. In fact, on the next six series, the ball changed hands four times on interceptions as neither team could take advantage of the turnovers as the score remained 10-0 at halftime.
Heading into the second half, MUS looked to hold on to their lead by limiting errors and continuing to give a strong defensive performance, which had held MBA to only one first down in the half.
Both defenses forced punts on the first two drives of the second half, but Rob Park’s short punt put the Big Red in a much better situation as they took over at the Owl 33.
MBA only took one play to score as David Howe hit Chambliss Shillinglaw for a 33-yard score to make the score 10-7.
MUS looked to counter the Big-Red score on the their next drive as they drove to the MBA 18. However, after the drive had stalled, Tacker’s 35-yard field goal was blocked by Tom Nagle, and the Big Red took over at their own 20 with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter.
Following the field-goal block and momentum shift, MBA drove into Owl territory. However, the MUS defense stepped up, forcing a fourth-down Big Red incompletion to give the offense back the ball.
Yet the Owls could not put the game away as the MBA defense clamped the MUS offense throughout the second half. To win, the defense would have to continue to hold the defending state champion to secure the victory.
And the defenders did their part even though they had to defend short fields throughout much of the fourth quarter.
Following a muffed punt at the MUS 21 with 5:01 left in the game, MBA looked to tie or take the lead. The Big Red drove all the way to the Owl 2 where they faced a third-and-goal. Senior Joey Friend forced the Big Red into a tough decision as he took down Howe for a two-yard loss to force a fourth down from the MUS 4.
The Owls needed to come up big to hold on to the lead, and Donnie Malmo answered as he came around the end to block the Bryant Hahnfeldt field goal, sending the crowd into a frenzy with only 1:51 left in the game.
Unfortunately, the blocked kick did not reach the endzone, so MUS took over at their own 2-yard line, and they could not garner a first down. After the punt, MBA took over at the MUS 47-yard line for one final attempt, but the MUS defense forced an incomplete pass on fourth down with only 1:08 left in the game to secure the win.
Despite giving up over 200 yards of offense, with many of those yards surrendered in the second half, the Owl defense stepped up when it needed to, shutting down the Big Red on key third and fourth-down plays to secure the victory. Malmo was one of the many underclassmen heroes with his field-goal block late in the fourth quarter.
The Owls take on Brentwood Academy in the Clinic Bowl on November 23. MUS returns to the title game for the first time since 1990 and looks to win its first state championship since 1985. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Vanderbilt Stadium.