OTIS — The future holds only one thing for certain for the Otis-Bison High School football team: a trip to the Eight-Man Division-II state championship.
The Cougars trampled Ashland, 26-14, on Friday night to earn the 114-mile trip to Newton. The Cougars will square off against B&B Baileyville on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“I don’t care what time the game is, where it’s at, we’ll make it there,” Cougars head coach Travis Starr said. “At this point, I don’t know (who we’ll be playing), but I can guarantee whoever we line up against is going to be one solid team.
“Hanover or Baileyville, they are both great programs.”
The Cougars took an early lead against the Blue Jays, scoring six early points on a 1-yard run by quarterback Trevor Keller.
In spite of a quick lead, the two teams seemed evenly matched. Both defenses forced the other team to punt the ball.
“It was a real defensive struggle,” Starr said. “Those guys, the defense that lined up across from us, they’ve got a lot of talent over on that side and it is hard to block them.”
Michael Hlavaty’s punting for the Cougars kept the Blue Jays pinned deep in their own territory.
“We can rely on our defense,” Starr said about pinning the Blue Jays back in their own territory. “Our defense has been playing strong all year. We can rely on them. If we give them a lot of field to travel, it is going to be hard for them to get there.”
Towards the end of the first quarter, the Blue Jays fumbled the ball, giving the Cougars good field position.
Otis-Bison fumbled on the next play, but the ball was recovered by the Cougars offense. Patrick Piper scored on the first play of the second quarter and the Cougars took a 14-0 lead.
“That was a big, made opportunity,” Starr said of the two fumbles. “That’s nothing we like to practice but it worked out for us in the end.”
After Hlavaty’s kick went into the end zone, the Blue Jays took the ball on their own 15-yard line. Ervin Swonger took the ball 65 yards down the right sideline to put Ashland on the scoreboard.
The Cougars responded with a 72-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard romp between the tackles by Patrick Piper.
Otis-Bison led 20-8 at half time.
Ashland looked to pass early in the second half, completing 3-, 16- and 2-yard passes on its first drive in the third quarter.
The Blue Jays finished their drive with a 40-yard bomb from quarterback Austin Stebens to Swonger, who made a one-handed grab running down the right sideline.
The final touchdown scored in the game was a 1-yard touchdown by sophomore running back Dylan Wissman, who filled in for Hlavaty when he injured his ankle. Hlavaty continued to play defense where Starr said he was needed more.
“Mike Hlavaty got hurt,” Starr said, “and we had to have him on defense. He is a playmaker on defense. Wissman’s just a smart runner. He’s just a cut-back runner. He sees the lanes well.”
The Cougars took a 26-14 lead into the fourth quarter.
Throughout the fourth quarter, Ashland and Otis-Bison jockeyed for field position, but couldn’t get another drive started.
At the 7:56 mark, the Blue Jays began to march down the field using their effective passing game.
“Any time they get set to throw it around, you get worried about everything,” Starr said. “Something bad always happens or can happen when the ball is in the air.
“We weren’t relaxed until the final seconds ticked down, but it was one heck of a ball game.
The march was stopped short when Stebens threw up a deep pass down the center of the field into the hands of Wissman.
Stebens entered the game with only one interception thrown all season. He threw two Friday night.
Wissman ended the game by catching a second interception, stopping the Blue Jays final drive and allowing Keller to take a knee and run the clock down.
“That was big,” Starr said of Wissman’s pick. “You are just hoping it’s just a like a punt. You are just hoping he can field that one. He made some great plays along with the rest of the team.”