Bauxite cruises with tidy drives

BAUXITE 49, CONWAY CHRISTIAN 12

Bauxite made short work of Conway Christian in its season opener.

Senior quarterback Seth McDowell ran for 68 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Miners rolled to a 4912 victory over the Eagles at North Little Rock High School.

Bauxite scored on six offensive possessions and on a 45-yard interception return Saturday morning, but the Miners never had to travel more than 48 yards to get into the end zone. Bauxite also never ran more than seven plays on any of its scoring drives.

The Miners held a 281224 advantage in total yards. Conway Christian controlled possession for 27:59; Bauxite held the ball for 20.01.

Bauxite gained the bulk of its yardage on the ground, rolling up 252 yards on 34 carries. The Miners threw only four passes, completing three for 29 yards.

“They were giving us the inside stuff,” Bauxite Coach Daryl Patton said. “The dive, the trap, the counter dive, the quarterback dive. Those were the things we took, and we had a good advantage in those areas. We tried to force some things and get out wide, but when we did that they did a good job of stopping us.”

The Bauxite defense harrassed Eagles’ quarterback Jacob Wood for the majority of the first half, sacking the senior four times. Senior defensive end Zack Lasage forced and recovered a fumble late in the first quarter to set up Bauxite’s second touchdown.

“[Wood] is as good as there is, so I was awfully proud of our defense,” Patton said. “That’s just a great team win.”

“It was hot,” McDowell said. “At night as the game goes on it gets cooler. When you play in the morning, it just gets hotter and hotter and hotter. But it wasn’t that much different. We prepared during the offseason for this by running in the hot weather.”

McDowell’s touchdown runs came on a 32-yard run with 3:13 left before halftime to give the Miners a 28-6 lead and on a 17-yard run with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter.

But he had plenty of help. Senior Dawson Dabbs ran 12 times for a game-high 71 yards, setting up his 8-yard TD run with a 38-yard carry after Lasage’s fumble recovery; senior Eason Sandage scored the game’s first touchdown on a 7-yard run; and junior Hayden Edwards broke a 43-yard run in the second quarter to give the Miners a 21-0 advantage.

“We have lots of backs who can run,” McDowell said.

“They keep us fresh. We just have guys rolling in and out, giving it their all.”

Conway Christian forced two turnovers, the first of which the Eagles turned into a touchdown. Junior linebacker Clay Hammett returned a fumble 25 yards to the Bauxite 10.

Two plays later, Wood connected with senior Nick Scherrey for a 6-yard TD with 7:03 left in the second quarter to cut Bauxite’s lead to 21-6.

Wood completed 16 of 30 passes for 137 yards with 1 interception. Senior Bradon Shaw caught five passes for a game-high 65 yards.

Bauxite’s final two touchdowns came on a 45-yard interception return by senior Elijah Cruz and a 1-yard run by junior Kamryn Puckett.

Kicker Turner Southard connected on all seven of his extra-point attempts for Bauxite.