Pat Dailey, for Headliner Sports

Nixa coach Rich Rehagen put his players in position to win Friday and in turn, when he actually found himself out of position, the Eagles bailed out their 'ol coach.

Rehagen's presence along the Nixa sideline over 23 seasons was perhaps never more evident than in the Eagles' somewhat improbable 18-14 Week Seven triumph at Branson in the Ozark Chevrolet Game Of The Week.

Buoyed by imaginative and bold play-calling, Nixa rallied from a 14-3, third-quarter deficit. The 15 unanswered points were more than the Eagles' offense had totaled the past two weeks in losses to Neosho and Carl Junction.

"Down 14-3, it didn't look that good," Rehagen said. 

Nixa (3-4) responded with ingenious play-calling and near-flawless execution.

After enjoying varied success that included a 100-yard rusher out of the 'Wildcat' formation, rotating quarterbacks, a touchdown on a flea-flicker, a recovery on a pooched kick, a two-point conversion pass and a 3rd-and-10 pass that resulted in a clinching first down, the Eagles gave rave reviews of Rehagen's resume for his night's work.

"Coach Rehagen is a gutsy man," said Logan Ayers, who made the two biggest catches of his short-lived career as a tight end. "He's got tricks up his sleeve. Coach made great calls tonight and we executed."

"We needed to win and knew we needed to pull everything out of the hat," quarterback Hunter Crabtree said. "We knew that coach always has those (plays) in his back pocket."

"Coach gave us chances to win — I love it," running back Sean Sample added.

"The whole coaching staff was on fire tonight," linebacker Trent McFall summed up. "They were making all the right calls."

As McFall inferred and Rehagen was also quick to point out, Nixa's play-calling was a team effort, with an assist even to a former Eagles coach.

At the 8:17 mark of the fourth quarter, a flea-flicker from Crabtree to Reid Potts to a wide open Lukas Roemen resulted in what proved to be a game-winning 58-yard touchdown pass.

For the full story, click here.

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Scott Vanscoy, for Ozark Sports Zone

For game highlights, video and recap, click here.