by Whitney Dampier

Last Friday the Willow Springs Bears lost to the Mtn. Grove Panthers after going into overtime with a 41-41 tie. In overtime, the Bears scored a touchdown and went for a two point conversion. They had the game won, but the two point conversion was called back because it was past the line of scrimmage. The final game score was 47-48 after the Mtn. Grove Panthers scored a touchdown and then earned a field goal.

Head Coach Matt Perkins said, “If we could take two plays from the season and change them, we would be two plays from being 5-2 in the season. Hopefully we will learn how important each play is and learn to play for a full game.”

Senior Quarterback Cole Johnson’s passing was 13-19, for 244 yards passing.

Clint Harper successfully received three passes, scoring a 96 yard touchdown. “It was a game we should have won, but we didn’t. We need to put it behind us and focus on districts,” Harper said.

Chris Miller completed two successful passes scoring one touchdown, Phil Collins completed one pass for a 46 yard touchdown, Bradley Conder completed one pass for a 50 yard touchdown, and Allen Braiser completed one pass for a 52 yard touchdown.

Brandon Pitts scored one touchdown for 96 yards. He also had 16 carries rushing.

Coach Perkins said, “The game switched out of our favor when we didn’t score with our first possession after halftime. They were the more physical team that night.”