RSS Feed
|  |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The time has come: Miners vs. Saints
The winner gets a shot at the 3A state championship, while the loser ends its season. There is no in-between. "If we make the same mistakes we made last year against them, we'll get beat," said Bauxite head coach Jon Watson, who coached his Miners to a 47-35 quarterfinal win Friday against the Prescott Curly Wolves at The Pit. "Our guys woke up to the fact that they had a lot of improvement to do," Watson said. "They've always been good kids, but we've been after them pretty hard and they've responded. They've worked out all the little things we weren't doing since the sixth week of the season. Right now we're playing real good as a football team and if we work out a few more kinks, we're going to be a tough team to beat."
"Our guys certainly won't have any problem getting up for next week," said Shiloh Christian head coach Josh Floyd. "We get to play on our home field with a chance to go to the finals. It doesn't get any better than that." The fact is that the Saints came to The Pit last year and ended the Miners perfect season by winning 35-21 with players like Arkansas' Crosby Tuck. This year, though, a new Miners team is bulling its way through the 3A field. On Friday against Prescott, running backs Ryan Dunlap, Tommy Wimberly and quarterback Aaron Mathis ran the veer offense to near perfection against the Curly Wolves. Dunlap rushed 16 times for 246 yards and two touchdowns, Wimberly ran 26 times for 145 yards and three scores, and Mathis added 73 yard and one touchdown as Bauxite amassed 466 rushing yards. "We beat a heck of a Prescott team," Watson said. "Our kids played with a lot of heart. They've got this spirit about them and they're not going to give up. Being a touchdown behind or giving up doesn't faze them - they overcome and keep coming and coming. That's what you call great heart. They take coaching well and we're awfully proud of them."
Bauxite answered later in the period when Mathis scored on an 8-yard run. The Miners took the lead on a 3-yard run from Wimberly with 1:44 to go in the first period, but Prescott tied the game on the second play of the second quarter on a 4-yard run. A 10-play, 50-yard drive by the Miners ate up most of the second quarter clock and Mathis scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard run to make it 21-14. The Curly Wolves tied the game 21- 21 with 5:47 to go in the third quarter, but the Miners (11-1) followed with a 12-play, 66-yard march down field that was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run from Wimberly on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Dunlap scored on a 25-yard run to make it 33-21, then after the second Curly Wolves turnover, Wimberly ran in from four yards out to make it a 40- 21 game. Prescott threw an interception to Peter Whitfield and three plays later, Dunlap broke free on a 35-yard touchdown run. Whitfield's extra point made it a 47-21 Miners lead with 5:37 left in the game. The Curly Wolves scored on a 1-yard run, then recovered an onside kick and scored on a 35- yard pass as time ran out in the game. Miners 47, Curly Wolves 35 Score by quarters
Scoring summary 1st 9:31 Prescott - Threadgill 1-yard run (Banks kick) 1st 4:38 Bauxite - Mathis 8-yard run (Whitfield kick) 1st 1:44 Bauxite - Wimberly 3-yard run (Whitfield kick) 2nd 11:13 Prescott - Threadgill 4-yard run (Banks kick) 2nd 7:27 Bauxite - Mathis 5-yard run (Whitfield kick) 3rd 5:47 Prescott - Collier 16-yard run (Banks kick) 4th 11:54 Bauxite - Wimberly 10- yard run (kick blocked) 4th 10:40 Bauxite - Dunlap 25-yard run (run failed) 4th 7:48 Bauxite - Wimberly 4-yard run (Whitfield kick) 4th 5:32 Bauxite - Dunlap 24-yard run (Whitfield kick) 4th 3:11 Prescott - Threadgill 1-yard run (Henderson pass to McCoy) 4th :00 Prescott - Henderson 35- yard pass to McCoy (kick failed) |
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
)
)
)