Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #50 "Ozark Football - Victory Over Booneville - 2026-10-27"

Transcript

Episode #50 "Ozark Football - Victory Over Booneville - 2026-10-27" · The Kevin Stone Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Some podcasts have experts. This is not one of those podcasts.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: This is one guy, a microphone, a cup of coffee,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and absolutely no guarantee where any of this is going.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: From small town Arkansas to Washington, D.C., from politics and
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: current events to history, space, faith, and whatever else happens
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: to get under his skin. He'll ask the questions. He'll
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: give you his opinion. And every once in a while,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: he might even know what he's talking about. No fancy degree,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: no corporate talking points, just an ordinary guy trying to
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  Speaker 1: make sense of an increasingly strange world. Ladies and gentlemen,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: this is The Kevin Stone Podcast.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Well, folks, I got to give credit where credit's due.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Ozark Hillbillies are playing some mighty good football this year.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: And I say that as somebody who grew up in
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Russellville and still has a soft spot for the Cyclones.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: So you can imagine what this football season is doing
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: for me. I'm sitting here watching Ozark win game after game.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: And meanwhile, I'm looking over toward Russellville wondering if somebody
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: might need to go and check on the football program.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: I'm kidding, of course, mostly. But seriously, Friday night, October 23rd,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: the Ozark Hillbillies hosted the Boonville Bearcats, and this wasn't
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: just another Friday night football game. Both teams came into
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: this thing undefeated. Seven wins, no losses for either team.
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  Speaker 2: And these two schools have quite a history together. Boonville
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: and Ozark have been going at each other for years
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: on the football field, and according to the published series history,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Boonville has won quite a few more of those meetings
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: than Ozark. So this wasn't just about keeping a perfect record.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: There was some pride involved, too. And this year, with
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Boonville moving into Class 4A, the two schools are conference
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: opponents again. While Ozark apparently decided if Boonville was coming
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: up Highway 23, they might as well send them home
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: with something to remember. final score, Ozark 34, Boonville 18.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: And just like that, the Hillbillies are 8-0. Now there's
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: something that caught my attention. Ozark rushed for 389 yards
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: in that game. 389. John Skolarski had 201 rushing yards,
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  Speaker 2: and Easton Fox added another 183. Folks, when two running
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: backs are putting up numbers like that against an undefeated opponent,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: somebody on the offense line is doing some serious work.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: and the defense deserves credit too. Boonville came into the
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: game with a reputation for running the football, but Ozark
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: held the Bearcats to 164 rushing yards. Now, I'm not
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: going to sit here and pretend I was standing on
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  Speaker 2: the sidelines drawing up plays. I'm just looking at the
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: reported numbers. But those numbers tell me Ozark was able
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: to run the ball effectively while making it harder for
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Boonville to do the same. That's a pretty good combination.
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: And it's even more impressive when you look at where
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: this Ozark football program has been over the last few years.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Back in 2019, the Hillbillies finished 12-2. In 2020, they
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: were 9-4. They followed that with 8-3 in 2021, 8-4
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: in 2022, and then 10-3 in season 2023. That's a
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: pretty respectable stretch of football. But then came 2024. Four
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: wins and seven losses. Not exactly the kind of season
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: anybody was hoping for. In 2025, Ozark improved to seven
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: wins and four losses. And now, here we are in 2026, 8-0.
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  Speaker 2: That doesn't happen by accident. It takes players putting in
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: the work, coaches preparing them, families supporting them, and a
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: community showing up on Friday nights. And I think that's
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: something worth recognizing. Now before I go any further, I've
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: got to talk about Russellville, because that's my hometown. I
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: grew up with the Cyclones, and I still want to
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: see them do well. And well, this year's been a
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: little rough. Russellville lost Friday night to Fort Smith Southside 50-29.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: They also had a winless season last year. And I'm
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: not going to pile on a bunch of high school
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  Speaker 2: kids who are already out there working harder on a
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  Speaker 2: Friday night than I am sitting behind this microphone. These
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: are students. They're learning. They're competing. And there's a whole
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: lot more to being part of a football team than
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: to find the score. But I will say this. As
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: a Russellville guy living in Ozark, I find myself in
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: a strange situation. The team from the town I grew
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: up in is struggling. And the team from the town
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  Speaker 2: I live in now is undefeated. I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: I'm supposed to cheer, cry, or just quietly change the
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: subject when somebody asks me where I'm from. Maybe I
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: need two hats. One that says Russville, the other that
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: says Ozark. Then I can just turn around depending on
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  Speaker 2: who's winning. I'm kidding. But there's another thing we need
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  Speaker 2: to remember. Rustville competes in Class 6A. Ozark plays in
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  Speaker 2: Class 4A. They're facing different schedules and different competition, so
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  Speaker 2: comparing their records doesn't tell the entire story. And Rustville
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  Speaker 2: has a proud football history of its own, including a
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: state championship in 2016. A tough season doesn't erase that.
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  Speaker 2: What I really want to see is both programs do well.
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  Speaker 2: Because whether you're wearing purple and gold here in Ozark
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  Speaker 2: or black and red in Russellville, these young people deserve support.
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  Speaker 2: And when a team has a season like Ozark is
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  Speaker 2: having right now, that's worth celebrating. The Hillbillies have two
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: regular season games remaining on the schedule, Dover on October
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: 30th and MENA on November 6th. They're in an excellent position,
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: but those games still have to be played. And that's
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: another thing about high school football. Nothing is guaranteed. A
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: team can be undefeated today and still have plenty of
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: work ahead of it. So congratulations to the Ozark Hillbillies
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: on a big victory over Boonville. Congratulations to the players, coaches,
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  Speaker 2: and everybody who's been a part of this season. And
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: to my Russellville Cyclones, hang in there, guys. You still
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: got people pulling for you, including one old Russellville boy
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: sitting in Ozark trying to figure out which team he's
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: supposed to be bragging about. And that's the beauty of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: high school football in the Arkansas River Valley. It's not
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: just about the scoreboard. It's about the towns. the traditions,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: the rivalries, and the kids who get to carry those
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  Speaker 2: traditions forward. So wherever you are in the River Valley,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: get out there and support your local teams. And if
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: you're an Ozark Hillbilly fan, you've certainly got something to
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: smile about this week. That's going to do it for
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: this edition of the Kevin Stone Podcast. You can find
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: us on YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Spreaker.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: Thanks for listening, everybody, and congratulations again to Ozark. 8-0.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Not too shabby, Hillbillies. Not too shabby at all. Thank you.