Bauxite returns to form against Smackover
Miners' senior runningback rushes for 257 yards and five touchdowns
MARTIN COUCH Sports editor

MINERS' MEETING BOB MCADORY PHOTO The Bauxite Miners defense surrounds a helpless Smackover Buckaroo runner during Friday's game at 'The Pit'. The Miners trouned Smackover 47-14 to remain unbeaten in the 8AAA Conference standings.

Miners football is alive and well in Bauxite.

There's a renewed attitude of gridiron tenacity that only a Jon Watsoncoached team can have and it's finally become engrained in the 2007 Miners. After graduating a list of seniors who were all leaders on the football field, Bauxite has had to struggle to find that type of leadership within themselves.

This Friday when the Miners face Little Rock Epsicopal, it will be the return of Miners football at its finest.

"If we can ever get healthy and continue to improve on discipline and reads, things will fall into place for us," Watson said. "I think right now, we're just happy to be Bauxite Miners and fi- nally, I feel like we're looking forward to practices so we can equip a better team on the field than we did last week and play Miner football the rest of the way."

BOB MCADORY PHOTO HEAD MINER Bauxite Miners head coach Jon Watson.

The Smackover Buckaroos found out first hand what it meant to face the winning tradition of the Miners.

Bauxite ran for 452 yards against Smackover in a 47-14 rout. Ryan Dunlap led the rushing attack with 257 yards rushing, four running touchdowns and a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown.

"I think Dunlap had more than 400 yards of total offense for us in the game," Watson said. "You can't talk about the win without mentioning him and he'll be the first one to express that it was all because of his teammates blocking for him."

After the opening kickoff, it only took the Miners two plays to score. Dunlap broke free on a 31-yard run to start the game, then followed it up with a 15-yard touchdown run. Peter Whitfield added the kick for a 7-0 lead with 11:42 left in the first quarter.

Following a Smackover punt, Dunlap highlighted a nine-play drive with a 24-yard run and capped it off with a 16-yard touchdown. Whitfield's extra point made it 14-0 with 6:11 to play in the first period.

Defensively, Dunlap intercepted a Smackover pass and on the Miners' next play from scrimmage, he took a pitch from quarterback Aaron Mathis and raced 71 yards for his third touchdown. Again, Whitfield added the point after for a 21-0 lead at the 2:51 mark of the opening period.

DANGEROUS DUNLAP BOB MCADORY PHOTO Bauxite senior runningback Ryan Dunlap couldn't be stopped against Smackover.

Smackover had a sustained drive run over into the second quarter, but eventually the Bauxite defense forced a punt. After a Mathis carry and Tommy Wimberly running for a hard couple of yards, Dunlap took another pitchout and ran 75-yards for a touchdown. The extra point made it 28-0 with 8:59 left in the first half.

Miner Rustin Kidd stopped a Smackover runner for a 5-yard loss, and two incompleted passes later, the Buckaroos punted. Whitfield ran back the punt to the Smackover 28, but a holding penalty on the Bucs forced another punt. This time, Dunlap received it and ran it back 60 yards for a touchdown and a 34-0 lead with 7:21 left before halftime.

The next Smackover drive was stopped by a Blake Childress interception. Wimberly took over the running duties for the Miners and carried six straight times, the last of which was a 3-yard touchdown to make it 40-0 with 4:22 left before the break.

CRUNCH TIME BOB MCADORY PHOTO The Bauxite Miners defense allowed Smackover only 107 total yards.

Smackover finally got on the scoreboard four plays into the fourth period on a 6-yard run to make it 40-8. After a Miners fumble, the Buckaroos scored on a 7-yard run to make it 40-14.

Bauxite's final touchdown came when Steven Brooks broke free for a 17-yard touchdown with 4.4 seconds to play. Whitfield added the extra point to make it 47-14.

"I think we were able to put our finger on some things that was holding us back," Watson said. "One of them was discipline on defense. They are realizing that if they discipline themselves to read the defense and stay low on the snap, they'll start experiencing more success."

The success from the Miners' Lemonheads (namely the underclassmen scout team) was a plesant surprise to Watson.

"Our Lemonheads played with a lot of excitment," he said. "Chad Bono was terrific in the all game. He put himself in a position to make plays and was the second leading tackler for us. Some of the younger kids are beginning to get the discipline that it takes to participate at this level. Steven Brooks showed some of the Miners' tenacity with the licks he passed. Childress has a great nose for football and Austin Hicks was much improved at linebacker. I was really happy with our kids.

TACKLED BOB MCADORY PHOTO Bauxite's Michael Haley tackles a Smackover runner for lost yardage.

"Aaron continued to improve at quarterbacks and Hicks also did a terrific job blocking on the line of scrimmage," the coach said. "Our linemen, Jorre Mc- Mahan and Jonathan Crone showed up good on film, too. This is a feeling we've been looking for all year long. It's a feeling of togetherness and so far we've been a segmented team. Friday night, we stood as one and that's going to be the key for the rest of the season. There were so many positives we can take from that ball game for every person on our team. We coaches have to capitalize on those positives in practice."

Score by quarters

Buckaroos -	0	0	0	14 - 14
Miners -	21	19	0	7 - 47

Scoring summary
1st 11:42 Bauxite - Dunlap 15-yard
run (Whitfield kick)
1st 6:11 Bauxite - Dunlap 16-yard
run (Whitfield kick)
1st 2:51 Bauxite - Dunlap 71-yard
run (Whitfield kick)
2nd 8:59 Bauxite - Dunlap 75-yard
run (Whitfield kick)
2nd 7:21 Bauxite - Dunlap 60-yard
punt return (kick failed)
2nd 4:22 Bauxite - Wimberly 3-yard
run (kick failed)
4th 10:36 Smackover - McElroy 6-
yard run (McElroy run)
4th 6:36 Smackover - McElroy 7-
yard run (run failed)
4th :4.4 Bauxite - Brooks 17-yard
run (Whitfield kick)