Football Game Preview: Willow Springs Bears vs. Ava Bears

Willow Springs is 0-10 against Ava since October of 2016 but things could change on Friday. Willow Springs will host Ava at 7:00 p.m. Willow Springs has given up an average of 32.4 points per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Willow Springs' offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Thayer on Friday. They took a blow against the Bobcats, falling 69-0. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Missouri football rankings (they are ranked 230th, while the Bobcats are ranked 81st).

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Ava). They breezed past Cabool to the tune of 56-7 on Friday. The victory continues a trend for the Bears in their matchups with the Bulldogs: they've now won five in a row.

Willow Springs' loss dropped their record down to 3-5. As for Ava, the win got them back to even at 4-4.

Willow Springs took a serious blow against Ava in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, falling 54-8. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Ava's Aiden Lane, who rushed for 147 yards and two TDs on only eight carries, and also threw for 77 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75% of his passes. Now that Willow Springs knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.