Strange brews up big plays with special teams for CAC
The uncomplicated game plan for the Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs paved the way to their 35-34 victory over the Mayflower Eagles on Friday night, but it was the special teams play of a sophomore who provided a big boost.
Quarterback Tyler Williams ran for four touchdowns to lead the way for CAC (2-1). But sophomore Vance Strange provided two big kick returns that led to points after the Eagles (0-3) had tied the score. Strange then blocked an extra-point attempt that provided the winning cushion.
“It is one of those things where it gets tight Tyler is going to carry the football,’’ CAC Coach Tommy Shoemaker said. “That is just going to be the way it is. We have a few other guys who compliment him nicely, give us some runs here and there to give him a rest. But at the end of the day, it is no secret No. 5 is our guy and we are going to ride his back.
“He had a great game, our O-Line did a great job, the other back did a nice job, had some nice catches. We just have to keep working and we have to get better throwing the ball a little bit. Really proud of our guys for hanging in there and making plays at the end.”
While it was Williams, who ran for 165 yards on 30 carries, doing the heavy work, Strange had kick returns of 47 (kickoff) and 30 (punt) yards to set up go-ahead scores for the Mustangs. His biggest play came when he blocked the extra-point try, after a bad snap, with 1:49 left to preserve the victory.
“He made some big plays,’’ Shoemaker said. “He is another one of those complimentary players.”
CAC grabbed a 14-0 lead on a 5-yard run by Williams and a 12-yard score from Isaac Rine. Rine hit both extra points and was perfect on five attempts for the night.
The Eagles answered with Jaden Robinson scoring on a 72-yard run and junior quarterback Noah Gailey hitting sophomore Frankie Fennell on a 29-yard touchdown pass. Alex Stafford kicked both extra points.
Strange’s 47-yard kickoff return preceded a 1-yard scoring run by Williams as CAC led 21-14 at the half.
Gailey and Robinson connected on a 46-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-21 with 8:27 left in the third quarter.
Strange’s 30-yard punt return to the Mayflower 13 set up Williams for a 1-yard score. Gailey’s third touchdown pass, this one 22 yards to Fennell, made it a 28-28 game with 11:09 left.
After driving to the Mayflower 11 and coming up empty, the Mustangs took the lead with 3:00 left on Williams’ 5-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles needed just three plays to score again. Gabriel Morris ran for 16, Gainey hit Fennell for 27 yards to the 5 and Morris ran it in the next play. Mayflower recovered enough from the bad snap for Stafford to get the kick off, but Strange deflected and it did not have enough to clear the crossbar.