The mob was easily 10 deep. Elementary school students, from the looks of it, and they barely came up to Alex Allen's shoulders. It made the hero of the night look like a true giant.

Allen doesn't need much help with that. He's 6-foot-6, after all, and he used every inch of that frame to block a field goal on the final play and secure the Eagles' 21-19 win over Branson Aug. 25.

"I'm just really excited," Allen said, as the mob tugged at his jersey sleeves. "We started off really slow, but our team picked it up in the second half. We started playing as a team. Our offense started going, our defense woke up and then we just pushed through and won the game."

Nixa (2-0 all, 2-0 Central Ozark Conference) needed all three phases of the game to eke out the win. The offense came through with a pair of second-half touchdowns, starting with a 14-yard scamper by Zach Rehagen early in the third quarter. That gave the Eagles their first lead of the game, at 14-13

For the full story, visit: http://ccheadliner.com/football_frenzy/allen-stands-tall-to-help-nixa-swat-branson/article_0931fb5c-8a13-11e7-9acc-33700e5c5eaa.html