OZARK, Mo. — With a No. 1 district seed on the line Friday night, Carthage's offensive duo of quarterback Patrick Carlton and running back Tyler Mueller took over.
The two playmakers accounted for 444 yards and six touchdowns as Carthage rolled to a 42-27 victory over Ozark at Ozark High School. The win locked up the top seed in Class 5 District 6 for Carthage, which will have a first-round bye next week before opening the playoffs in the district semifinals on Nov. 8 at David Haffner Stadium.
"I'm very proud of the kids," Carthage coach Jon Guidie said. "It didn't always go as planned tonight. There was a lot going on and we certainly didn't play our best, but the bottom line is we got a win. We needed to get this No. 1 seed and get that bye and be able to host district. It's obviously a lot better than going on the road and having to play at other places."
With just a seven-point lead coming out of halftime, Carthage (7-2) scored three straight touchdowns in the third quarter to take its largest lead, 35-7, into the final period. Carlton accounted for two of the touchdowns on runs of 21 and 16 yards, and Mueller accounted for the other on a one-yard run.
Carthage's 28-point cushion to start the fourth quarter was enough to hold off Ozark (4-5) as it closed the game on a 20-7 run.
Mueller, who finished with 198 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, capped the scoring for Carthage on a 38-yard run to make it 42-14 with 10:30 remaining.
"I think (Mueller) is back and as close to being 100 percent as he can get," Guidie said. "We still need to get healthy up front on the offensive line, but this bye week is going to be good for that."
Carlton ended with 189 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries, and he also went 4-of-7 passing for 57 yards.
"That game felt awesome," Carlton said. "The past two weeks I struggled with some soreness and some nagging injuries, but tonight I felt 100 percent again. And I have to give a ton of credit to our offensive line because they did most of the work. That's the best line in the state, if you ask me."
"We needed Pat to have a good game," Guidie said. "We didn't run him last week, and again, he wasn't 100 percent. I think he had six carries total. But we wanted to use him tonight and were able to use him. He makes things happen for us. Just to have that other threat back there with Tyler, that's huge.
Carthage broke a 7-7 tie late in the first half when Carlton faked a pitch on an option play and scampered 39 yards down the visitor's sideline for a touchdown. It marked Carlton's second score of the night and gave his team a 14-7 advantage at intermission.
Carlton's first touchdown came at the end of Carthage's first drive that went 57 yards in 11 plays. He found the end zone on a five-yard run to put CHS up 7-0 with 6:22 remaining in the first quarter.
Two other drives for Carthage in the middle stages of the first half started deep in Ozark territory. But CHS was unable to extend its lead, turning the ball over on downs on both occasions. Ozark followed Carthage's missed scoring opportunities with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Chance Strickler to Ethan Pritchard to tie the game at 7 with 4:57 left in the second quarter.
Strickler went 6-of-9 passing for 164 yards and three touchdowns. Ozark running back Tylr Bolin was the team's leading rusher and finished with 136 yards. Bolin scored the final touchdown of the night on an 82-yard run that cut the Carthage lead to 15 points with 4:32 remaining in the game.
"We weren't very disciplined (on defense) assignment-wise tonight," Guidie said. "We certainly have to go back and watch film and fix those things. We want our kids to be on the right page for the playoffs, certainly."
-Jared Porter, Joplin Globe Sports Online

Carthage Tigers 42, Ozark Tigers 27
Carthage    7    7    21     7 - 42
Ozark         0    7     0    20 - 27

Scoring
First Quarter
C-Patrick Carlton 5 yard run, Marcus Huntley kick
Second Quarter
O-Ethan Pritchard 57 yard pass from Chance Strickler, Thomas Rushing kick
C-Carlton 39 yard run, Huntley kick
Third Quarter
C-Carlton 21 yard run, Huntley kick
C-Tyler Mueller 1 yard run, Huntley kick
C-Carlton 16 yard run, Huntley kick
Fourth Quarter
O-Skout Lave 12 yard pass from Strickler, Rushing kick
C-Mueller 38 yard run, Huntley kick
O-Jake Skaggs 29 pass from Strickler, kick fail
O-Tylr Bolin 82 yard run, Rushing kick