Hounds overcome lineup changes in post-season win over Hornets

Recent alterations to Maryville football’s lineup didn’t look to change things too much for the Spoofhounds who dominated Chillicothe for the second time this season in their 38-7 win on November 2. The district semifinal win puts Maryville in the Class 3 District 8 championship where they will host Savannah on November 9 at 7 pm at the Hound Pound.

“Tonight was about the next man up, and that’s the good determination of a team, and not individuals,” Maryville Head Coach Matt Webb said about the lineup changes. “There’s some teams that we’ll play in the coming weeks that have a lot of good players, but we have is a good team bond right now and it’s the next man up mentality in order to accomplish our goals as a Spoofhound.”

One of the major shifts in the lineup was at the quarterback spot, which was a shared position against Chillicothe by Tate Oglesby and Tyler Haer. Both stepped up into the role in a big way, and were crucial in Marvyville’s offense running without any flaws. The same was said for defense as the Hounds produced another big win over a conference rival in the do-or-die portion of the season.

Sticking to the game plan of getting the quick lead, the Hounds received the opening kickoff and a few plays later scored on a 41-yard run by Korbin Koch.

An interception by Oglesby was brought back to midfield, where Maryville’s offense again worked its magic and Tyler Houchin trucked his way 53-yards for another touchdown to make it a 12-0 lead just five minutes into the game. That lead carried into the second quarter, but it didn’t take long before Maryville scored again on a 25-yard touchdown connection from Oglesby to Deon Metezier for a 19-0 lead.

Oglesby continued his all-purpose performance throughout the game with rushing, defense and even special teams through punt returns.

“We have a lot of offensive cogs that make us hard to defend,” Webb said, referring to a number of the offensive threats in Maryville’s arsenal on the ground and through their passing game. “Being multiple is what we want to be, and these guys know what it takes to be a winning football team.”

Continuing to stop Chillicothe’s offense, Maryville forced a punt only to get the ball back for a long drive which resulted in another touchdown for Houchin, this time a one-yard rush up the gut as the Hounds led 25-0. Maryville scored once more before half, a nine-yard touchdown pass from Haer to Oglesby for a 31-0 lead into halftime.

Houchin scored his hat-trick of the evening to open the scoring in the second half, a 31-yard run with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter. The 38-0 lead would carry into the fourth quarter, with a running clock speeding up the game.

With second and third string players taking over various parts of Maryville’s play, Chillicothe’s possessions were longer and a late-game drive resulted in a touchdown for the Hornets to avoid their second shutout loss at the hands of the Spoofhounds. With 32 seconds in the game, Chillicothe made it a 38-7 game and the clock ticked down shortly after the next kickoff for Maryville’s victory.

Their new lineup will be put to the test again on November 9 against Savannah, another MEC rival hungry for a post-season win. The Spoofhounds defeated the Savages 41-7 on October 12.