Neosho found a cure for its recent ails on the football field Friday night.

Taking on a winless Willard squad, Neosho was in a dogfight early on, but finally got on track in the second half to pull out a 27-7 win at Tiger Stadium in Central Ozark Conference play.

Neosho snapped a 3-game losing streak with the win and moved to .500 in COC play with a 2-2 mark.

“Like they say, I’d rather take an ugly win than a pretty loss,” said Neosho coach Shawn Flannigan. “Sometimes, it doesn’t take much for a team to catch fire. Hopefully that will be us next week and throughout the playoffs. We need to find our consistency and find our groove on offense.”

The Neosho offense showed flashes of its past brilliances this season, but at times, also showed flashes of why the offense has sputtered during the three-game losing streak.

The very first play of the game was a 28-yard pass from Alex Wise to Landon Ryser, moving to the Willard 37-yard line. However, after a 14-yard holding penalty, the drive stalled and Neosho was forced to punt from the Willard 39.

The Neosho offense got on the board on its second possession, one set up by Anthony Westfield’s 28-yard punt return. At the Willard 47-yard line, Neosho put together a steady drive that lead to a touchdown. The first first down of the drive was an offsides call on Willard. Wise then hit Westfield for a 25-yard strike, moving to the Willard 14-yard line. Wise later added a 7-yard run for a first down, getting to the Willard 3. Moving to a jumbo set, Nick Morrison came in at quarterback and scored on a 1-yard run at the 2:22 mark.

Logan Burr’s PAT made it 7-0.

On the Wildcats’ next drive, the team went for the deep ball, but the pass was picked off at the Willard 16-yard line. The Tigers (0-7) responded by driving 84 yards on 10 plays to tie the game.

The second play of the drive was perhaps the most controversial call of the game, as Neosho’s Kyle Dickens and Willard’s Bryce Harris went up for the ball. It was tipped and one official called it incomplete, while another one overruled the call and made it a complete pass to Harris, although a Neosho player was the one that actually caught the ball.

Despite arguments from the Neosho coaching staff, the 26-yard pass from Mark Propst stood.

Garrett Mayfield ran for a 10-yard play and Propst hit Justin Cobb for a 22-yard pass, moving to the Neosho 22-yard line. Mayfield moved his team to the 7-yard line on a pair of runs. On 1st-and-goal, Ryan Barker score on a 7-yard run.

Propst’s extra point tied the game at 7-7.

The tie stood for less than three minutes as the Wildcats got back on the board. The Wildcats marched down the field, sparked by a 30-yard run by Dickens on a quarterback keeper. Jared Shurley then busted open for a 21-yard gain, and a face mask call on top of it, gave Neosho the ball at the 10-yard line.

The team didn’t score a touchdown though, settling for a 29-yard field goal by Burr after the offense lost 2 yards after getting to the 10.

The 10-7 lead stayed throughout the rest of the first half.

The second half essentially turned into a punting contest for the most part, although the Neosho offense put up 17 points over the final two quarters.

However, field position became key. Neosho’s punting by Westfield pinned Willard down deep, starting at on its own 9-yard line on its second drive of the third quarter.

Willard’s offense lost 6 yards on the drive and was forced to punt from its end zone and Neosho took over at the Willard 27-yard line.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to get in the end zone. Wise ran for 7 yards and Jake Middleton followed with an 8 yard gain. Wise ran 6 yards to the Willard 6-yard line. On third and goal from the 3-yard line, Wise scored on a keeper up the middle, making it 16-7. Burr’s extra point gave the Wildcats a 10-point lead, 17-7.

“Field position really took the momentum, I thought,” said Willard coach Phil Wickwar. “It also comes down to blocking and tackling, but I thought field position was key.”

Neosho’s defense in the third quarter was stellar, giving up a total of 2 yards of offense. Willard ran for 6 yards and passed for negative 4 yards.

“They say offense wins games and defense wins championships, so hopefully we can get the offense going a little bit,” said Flannigan. “The defense is definitely doing what it needs to do.”

Leading 17-7, the Wildcats tacked on 10 points in the fourth quarter.

On the first drive of the final period, Burr booted a career-long 41-yard field goal, a kick that had plenty of distance and could have probably been good from 50 yards.

Neosho got a turnover on defense, as Xavier Morrison sacked Propst on a 4th-and-17 play on the first possession and then stopped Barker for a 1-yard loss on 4th-and-3 on Willard’s second drive.

Neosho capped the scoring when Wise threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Shurley on a bubble screen. Burr’s extra point with 4:48 left made it 27-7.

The Wildcats return on the road Friday, playing at Branson. The Pirates were 6-0, before losing to Webb City, 34-13, Friday.