Scott City defeats East Prairie in OT

SCOTT CITY -- The excitement that has surrounded the East Prairie Eagles football team has been centered on their new, younger players.

That inexperience reared it's ugly head Friday night in Scott City.

Costly penalties and late turnovers led to 20 unanswered second-half points from the Rams and an eventual 33-27 win in overtime for Scott City.

"We found ourselves in some tough spots and I've said it all along, youth is going to show itself," East Prairie head coach Chad Jamerson said. "Unfortunately it did at an inopportune time for us."

Sophomore quarterback Brett Ellis threw two fourth-down interceptions late in the game. The first was during a potential game-winning drive in the fourth quarter and the second was in overtime.

"[Scott City] made adjustments and we didn't handle those very well," said Jamerson, whose team broke a 19-game losing streak against Grandview last week. "Unfortunately it cost us the ball game in the second half."

It was exactly the opposite for the Rams and their young quarterback.

Freshman Braden Cox instrumented two game-changing plays that gave Scott City (1-2) its first win of the season.

Down 27-19 and with 9:07 left in the fourth quarter, Cox put together a 19-play, six minute and 27 second drive that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Gordy Bradley. On the heels of Bradley's run, Cox converted the 2-point conversion run on a bootleg, diving into the end zone for the tie.

The spry quarterback pulled off nearly the same "naked bootleg" play for the game-winning touchdown in overtime.

"Well, I didn't want to fumble," Cox said about his two running plays. "I just wanted to get through it and was thinking what I should do and what I shouldn't do."

Cox finished with 82 passing yards and 22 rushing yards. He also had a rushing and passing touchdown.

"The thing about it was we're hollering 'bootleg' all night as a coaching staff and, unfortunately, our corners -- that youth and inexperienced showed itself again -- and they just didn't stay home," Jamerson said. "They bit hard on the hitch, and they didn't come up and make a play on the bootleg."

The two plays that allowed Cox to score were set up by the dominant play of Scott City's offensive line.

Scott City quarterback Braden Cox scores the game-winning touchdown in overtime against East Prairie Friday at Scott City High School. Scott City won the game 33-27.

The Rams' front five hammered East Prairie (1-2) up the middle on nearly every play. Led by 6-5, 287-pound offensive lineman Austin Miller, Bradley capitalized on the massive push and rushed for 123 yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns.

"Our offensive line just took to the task," said Scott City coach Jim May, whose squad won its SEMO Southern Conference opener. "They've been maligned here lately, and they stepped up. I couldn't be more prouder of all of them. They wanted it."

Scott City ran for 209 yards as a team.

"Our line played spectacular tonight," Cox said. "We ran the ball great. That's what we've been working on for the last two weeks. They just did a perfect job."

Knowing his line was giving them the push up the middle, May knew just the right time to call the "naked bootleg" for Cox.

"The lineman don't know it's coming, and that's why it works so much better," May said. "They're blocking like crazy, like they should, and everybody thinks you're going inside. We told [Cox] to keep it. Whenever you have the ball going up the middle you have to crash to stop it. Every once in a while, you have to pull it out of there and try to keep them honest. It's a risky call. I'm glad it worked."

Both teams scored a touchdown in the first quarter. Ellis put the Eagles on top quickly after a 10-play drive set up a 3-yard scoring run. Scott City answered when Bradley broke free for a 16-yard run with 2:09 left in the first quarter.

The two exchanged touchdowns again to start the second quarter. Ellis scored his second rushing touchdown of the night after getting caught behind his own blocker but somehow escaped to the outside for the easy score for a 13-7 East Prairie advantage.

Ellis finished 9 of 16 passing with 116 passing yards and two interceptions. He also rushed for 25 yards and two touchdowns.

"Brett played a great first half," said Jamerson about his young quarterback.

Cox answered by putting together an 11-play drive that ended with him finding Isiah Berry in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown strike that tied the game at 13-13.

It took just two plays on East Prairie's third drive of the night for them to regain their advantage. A 36-yard run by Blayn Goodding set up a 32-yard scoring run by the shifty Adrian Soto, who finished with 70 rushing yards.

A fumble recovery by East Prairie's Alex Cowgill on Scott City's 27-yard line led to a 19-yard run by Goodding that gave the Eagles a commanding 27-13 lead at the half.

"Everything was clicking," Jamerson said about the second quarter. "We were getting good holes [to run through] and we were making good calls. Things were just going the way they needed to go."

The wheels fell off for the Eagles in the second half. In their three second half drives, the Eagles punted, were sacked on fourth down and threw an interception. They also committed eight penalties for 64 yards.

"Unfortunately, we shot ourselves in the foot sometimes," Jamerson said. "We just didn't execute well enough in the second half to finish off the victory."

Scott City made the adjustments as well. After giving up 145 rushing yards and 68 passing yards in the first half, the Rams kept Ellis from hitting receivers that were open in the first two quarters. They also contained the Eagles' rushing attack from getting to the outside.

"They were killing us up the middle of the field," May said. "Our defense made the adjustments to help stop that."

East Prairie 7 20 0 0 0 -- 27

Scott City 7 6 6 8 6 -- 33

First Quarter

EP -- Brett Ellis 3 run (Chad Houseman kick), 7:06

SC -- Gordy Bradley 16 run (Layne Spies kick), 2:09

Second Quarter

EP -- Ellis 10 run (kick failed), 8:49

SC -- Isiah Berry 21 pass from Braden Cox (run failed), 3:58

EP -- Adrian Soto 32 run (Housman kick), 3:11

EP -- Blayn Gooding 19 run (Housman kick), 1:21

Third Quarter

SC -- Zach Carlyle 3 run (kick blocked), 2:04

Fourth Quarter

SC -- Bradley 1 run (Cox run), 2:41

OT

SC -- Cox 13 run

EP SC

First downs 13 15

Rushes-yards 33-194 46-209

Passing yards 116 82

Passes 9-16-2 7-11-0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-1

Penalties-Yards 9-69 8-65

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- East Prairie, Goodding 9-93, Soto 13-70, Ellis 9-25, Matthew Howell 1-6, Brad Beck 1-0. Scott City, Bradley 31-123, Cox 8-22, Jake Elders 1-8, Skyler Bewley 1-6, Carlyle 2-37, Caleb Sykes 3-13.

PASSING -- East Prairie, Ellis 9-16-2-116. Scott City, Cox 7-11-0-82.

RECEIVING -- East Prairie, Damion Tipler 4-60, Boyd Thompson 3-34, Beck 2-22. Scott City, Bewley 2-14, Carlyle 2-28, Dominic Hooper 2-19, Berry 1-21.