When Odessa played Missouri River Valley Conference West rival Oak Grove on Sept. 20, veteran head coach Mark Thomas said his team didn’t play well.
It was the Bulldogs first look at a Panthers’ team coached for the first time by Ryan Schartz, a former activities director and coach at Fort Osage. Odessa managed to win that contest 21-18 despite not playing its best.
Fast forward almost two months later, the two rivals met in the Class 3 District 7 championship Friday at Odessa High School. The Bulldogs looked like a completely different team this time around as they fired on all cylinders in a 48-0 rout of Oak Grove.
“We’re a way better team then we were in Week 4 and it shows,” junior wide receiver Amaury Powell said.
Odessa (7-4) now will take on Maryville in the Class 3 quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Nov. 23 at home. The Spoofhounds defeated Cameron 49-42 to advance.
The Bulldogs’ defense completely shut down the run game of Oak Grove and held the Panthers to just 124 total yards, with only 33 coming on the ground. They dominated the line of scrimmage and the linebackers and safeties helped get in the box to make tackles to stuff the Panthers’ running game.
“We have the best run D in the state,” Odessa quarterback Michael Scott said.
Added Thomas: “We defend the run with out entire defense and our safeties do a good job with that. We feel like we have a scheme that fits the talent of this team.”
Meanwhile, the Odessa offense was humming as Scott had five touchdowns – four through the air and one on the ground. He had 16 carries for 59 yards and completed 12 of his 24 passes for 221 yards.
“The O line was blocking amazing today,” Scott said. “Everything was just falling into place. It was great.”
Thomas praised Scott for his toughness.
“He was a state place wrestler as a freshman, you have to be tough to be able to do that,” Thomas said of Scott. “He handles things really well. He doesn’t get high, and he doesn’t get low. He’s just an even keeled guy.”
Two of his touchdowns went to Powell on scores. Scott connected with Powell on a 5-yard out and the junior spun around two Oak Grove defenders and raced down the left sideline for a 44-yard catch and run at the 9:03 mark in the first.
Their second scoring connection came Scott hit Powell on a fly route for a 46-yard passing score with 2:08 left in the third quarter, which started the mercy clock and gave Odessa a 41-0 lead.
“Michael and I grew from the first game,” said Powell, who had three catches for 123 yards. “We have just been the lab ever since summer started. We’re getting better every week and are striving for greatness.
Scott also connected with senior tight end Jeremiah Carter for two touchdowns on wide-open catches off play action. Carter scored on a 5-yard pass with 1:51 left in the first half and he had the team’s final TD on a 9-yard catch on a pass from Scott early in the fourth quarter.
Scott also scored on a 1-yard run on a QB sneak at the 4:46 mark in the second period.
Sophomore running back Cole Westerhold also had a strong performance as he carried the ball 10 times for 80 yards and a score. His lone touchdown came in the first quarter when he scored on a left sweep from 32 yards out on second-and-25.
Odessa place kicker Dalton Cates made two field goals of 28 yards to help the Bulldogs achieve a blowout.
