OTIS — The Otis-Bison High School football team blanked Fowler on Tuesday, finishing the Goldbugs 46-0 with two seconds left in the third quarter.
The Cougars advance to the second round of the Eight-Man Division-II state playoffs.
“We talked about adversity all week long and in the first quarter, we obviously didn’t have any,” Cougars head coach Travis Starr said. “We did some good things offensively and defensively, we played well all night.”
The Cougars defense held Fowler to 81 yards of total offense while getting three turnovers.
Otis-Bison’s offense wasted no time picking up where they left off in the regular season. Patrick Piper found the end zone after a two minute, 21 second drive to start the game. Michael Hlavaty slipped through a hole to convert for two points, putting the Cougars up 8-0.
The next Goldbugs drive ended after two plays when a bad snap was fumbled and Matthew Crotinger fell on the ball to give Otis-Bison possession 14 yards from the goal line.
Three plays later on fourth-and-three, Keller found Dominic Trapp for a 7-yard completion to put the Cougars up 16-0 at the 7:38 mark in the first quarter.
Hlavaty finished the first quarter for the Cougars with a 7-yard sprint for six points. The Cougars finished the first quarter up 24-0.
Early in the second quarter, the Cougars went three-and-out and were forced to punt from the 37-yardline. Hlavaty’s punt pinned the Goldbugs at their own one.
“Kicking, when you put them on the 15-yard line every play, that’s awesome,” Starr said of Hlavaty. “Then you don’t have to worry about any run backs or anything crazy happening and you can settle in and play defense.”
After three failed attempts to move the ball from their own goal line, Fowler attempted a punt from four yards deep in its end zone.
The snap was fumbled and went out of the back of the end zone to give the Cougars a safety, the only points scored in the second quarter.
The Cougars led at halftime, 26-0.
Fowler received the ball to start the second half. The Cougars defense was able to put six points on the score board when Dominic Trapp put pressure on Goldbugs quarterback Jeremy Milford, forcing him to throw the ball short to Piper, who made a one-handed interception and returned it 15 yards to score.
After the Cougars fell short of moving the chains on a fourth-and-one, the Goldbugs took the ball at their own 25-yardline. Fowler moved the ball to their 39 thanks to a pass interference called on the Cougars.
After three incomplete passes, the Goldbugs were forced to punt. Joshua Krom blocked the punt, giving the Cougars the ball 32 yards from the goal line.
Two plays later, Keller hit Crotinger for Keller’s second passing touchdown of the game, this one for a 26-yard score.
The game ended on the Cougars next drive, which went 53 yards and ended with a 4-yard dive by Hlavaty to put the Cougars up 46-0.
The Cougars entered the game undefeated with an 8-0 record while Fowler finished the regular season at 7-2.
Otis-Bison advances in the state playoffs to face Cheylin, which crushed Victoria 56-6 in its first round game.