OZARK -- Charleston held onto throws better than Ozark.
Quarterback Brayden Caudle threw for four touchdowns and the Tigers intercepted four passes to defeat the Hillbillies (2-1) 42-28 Friday at Hillbilly Stadium.
Mason Keener intercepted the first two passes by Ozark and returned one for a touchdown to give Charleston (3-0) a 14-0 lead.
Ozark closed to within a touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 19-yard run by Kayne Satterfield with 8:40 to play.
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But that was as close as Ozark got to Charleston, which went ahead 42-28 on a 2-yard run by Mason Wisdom with 5:46 to play.
Wisdom and Sean Michael Flanagan each caught two touchdown passes from Caudle. Wisdom caught touchdown passes of 57 and 6 yards, while Flanagan scored from 30 and 43 yards out.
"[Caudle] grew up tonight," Charleston Coach Greg Kendrick said. "They did a great job of stuffing the box and limited our run game early. They dared him to beat them throwing it, and I thought he did a great job handling pressure and sitting in the pocket."
Both of Keener's interceptions off Ozark quarterback Dawson Dietz were tipped. Keener's first interception set up a touchdown catch by Flanagan. Flanagan took a short pass from Caudle and broke tackles down the sideline for a 30-yard score.
On the next series, Keener returned the interception 28 yards to put Charleston ahead 14-0.
"Keener is an example of a kid being in the right spot and doing what he's supposed to be doing," Kendrick said.
The Hillbillies got their running game going and tied the score 14-14 on touchdown runs of 3 and 25 yards by Daniel Woolsey. Ozark appeared to have the momentum but Charleston broke the tie when Caudle scrambled and found Flanagan on a 43-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left before halftime.
Sports on 09/16/2017