Conway comeback
No. 7 Conway scored the final 28 points to take a 35-21 victory over No. 5 Fort Smith Northside.
CONWAY 35, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 21
CONWAY — Senior tailback Cary McClain rushed 20 times for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns in Conway’s 35-21 homecoming victory over Fort Smith Northside in 7A-Central action Friday night at John McConnell Stadium.
The Wampus Cats (6-1, 3-1 7A-Central) scored the game’s final 28 points after trailing 21-7 early in the third quarter. McClain sparked the comeback with a 76yard touchdown burst up the middle with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Conway finished with 320 rushing yards on 51 attempts. Junior tailback Luke Bailey’s 1-yard touchdown run iced the victory with 2:27 remaining in the game.
“When we had to run the ball, this would probably be the game we wanted to do it,” first-year Conway Coach Keith Fimple said. “Got simple at halftime and made it easy. Kids took advantage of the easy scheme that we had.”
McClain’s long touchdown run pulled Conway within 21-14. The Wampus Cats took their first lead, 2821, on senior quarterback Jovoni Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 10:48 remaining in the game. Johnson ran 16 times for 103 yards and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Will McKenna to make it 2121 with 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Johnson’s touchdown run came three plays after junior linebacker Parker Prock recovered a fumble at the Northside 27 — one of five Grizzly turnovers.
Northside (5-2, 2-2) was led by senior quarterback Derrick Wise, who completed touchdown passes of 36, 13 and 38 yards. Wise threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Jackson King, and a jump pass to King for two points, to give Northside a 21-7 lead with 9:23 remaining in the third quarter.
The Grizzlies led 13-7 at halftime after Wise threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to King with 19 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
“We’re down 21-7 and we’ve been like that for about the past four weeks,” Fimple said.
“We’ve learned and it’s a teachable moment. Kids did a very good job of finishing and being resilient. That’s what we try to preach around here.”
Wise had given the Grizzlies a 7-0 lead after throwing a 36-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jeremy Maffei with 9:03 remaining in the first half. McCain ran 5 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-7 with 5:58 remaining in the first half.