Lions take down Ozark

Gravette gaines a 20-13 victory over Hillbillies

Gravette's Jordan Lundholm reaches to make the tackle against Ozark's Asher Ree in play in Gravette on Friday. Tyler Greenhaw moves into position to assist. Kelton McDougal is in the background to the right.
Gravette's Jordan Lundholm reaches to make the tackle against Ozark's Asher Ree in play in Gravette on Friday. Tyler Greenhaw moves into position to assist. Kelton McDougal is in the background to the right.

— Darrick Strzelecki took a handoff in the first half and powered his way through Gravette’s offensive line.

The experienced running back ran for 16 yards on the play and gave the Lions a much-needed first down. He made a habit of that Friday night.

Strzelecki rushed for 138 yards and three touchdowns to give the Lions a 20-13 victory over Ozark in Lion Stadium. With the important victory, Gravette moved to 6-0 this season and 3-0 in the 4A-1 Conference.

The victory was bittersweet for the Lions, who were concerned for defensive coordinator Duke Mobley following the game. Mobley had to be helped from the sideline because of chest pains late in the fourth quarter and was evaluated by nearby paramedics.

Mobley was never taken to the hospital and appeared to be fine 30 minutes after the game. He has a history of heart problems and suffered a heart attack before last season.

“The main thing that made it so big was that our kids battled back,” Gravette coach Bill Harrellson said. “We had so many big plays in thegame and they all came at the right moments.”

Gravette quarterback Clayton Alexander, who completed 18 of 30 passes for 189 yards, guided the Lions offense with patience in the pocket. His longest pass came in the second quarter when he completed a 53-yard pass to Adam Roberts, which led to Gravette’s second touchdown of the game.

Alexander completed his passes to seven different receivers, who combined for 106 yards in the second half.

Ozark (5-1, 2-1) scored its first touchdown in thethird quarter when Jonathan McKenzie completed a 26-yard pass to Toby Richard. Both players connected for another touchdown with 4 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third on a 51-yard pass to tie the game 13-13.

McKenzie only completed one pass in the first half, but finished with nine completions for 153 yards. The Hillbillies leading rusher was Asher Ree with 13 carries for 34 yards.

“We made some big plays, but we couldn’t sustain anything in our passing game,” Ozark coach Jeremie Burns said. “ That’smy fault that I didn’t get us more prepared than that. Give Gravette credit, they’ve got a great defense.”

Gravette’s defense held the Hillbillies offense in check, especially in the first half when they only combined for 55 yards. Ozark was forced to punt eight times while McKenzie also threw two interceptions.

“Strzelecki is a great player and he really made us pay a few times,” Burns said. “We couldn’t get our offense going and we couldn’t stop him from making big plays. It just wasn’t in our favor.”

Community News, Pages 9 on 10/12/2011