WILLARD — As the rains pounded down upon northern Greene County Friday evening, Nixa coach Rich Rehagen knew the wrench had already been tossed into his Eagles' spokes.

Nixa and Willard squared off in monsoon-like conditions, as the offensive playbook was condensed down to a mere handful of plays for both sides.

In the end, it was the host Tigers who made just enough plays during the waning minutes of the fourth quarter to squeak out a gritty 8-3 win.

"It [weather] narrows it [game plan] down pretty good," said Rehagen, whose Eagles drop to 1-2. "We both were running about three or four plays, trying to execute. Can't really throw too much, and neither could they."

Rehagen liked the gutsy performance he saw from his team, especially given the unusual continual flash flood circumstances that forced the traditional two and a half hour game to stretch to beyond three and a half hours.

"We sat in that locker room longer than I ever remember sitting in one. I thought both teams did fine coming out," said Rehagen. "I am glad we got it in tonight. We talked about coming back out tomorrow. It wasn't something I wanted to do, and I'm not sure anybody did. It didn't work out as a win for us, but it was a pretty good second half out of both of us. A pretty good game, really."

The two Central Ozark Conference teams were scoreless with 8:33 remaining in the first half — the exact moment the first bolt of lightning appeared — forcing the first 30-minute, state-mandated delay.

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Kary Booher, for Ozark Sports Zone

WILLARD, Mo. – The high-fives and the headlines found Ethan Thompson, and deservedly so. Yet if anyone asked about Bryden Troy, a curly-haired junior defensive tackle, the Willard Tigers couldn't help but break into a grin.

And why not?

Troy busted through the line of scrimmage and made a goal-line stop just seconds before halftime, preserving a scoreless game. And, ultimately, it set up Thompson's 19-yard, go-ahead touchdown – on a reverse — that helped Willard rally for an 8-3 victory against the Nixa Eagles on Friday night.

That they completed the game at all was a surprise, given a 90-minute lightning delay in the second quarter – part of a hard-and-steady rainstorm of an evening – led both coaches to consider pushing the match-up to Saturday. In fact, they were 10 minutes away from making that decision.

But …

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