Cobras strike Bucks
SMACKOVER - If there is one certainty about Friday’s night’s contest between Smackover and Fountain Lake, the ending will leave a bad taste in the Bucks’ mouths for a long time to come.
Stephen Turner fired a 34-yard touchdown pass to Parion Johnson on fourth-and-16 with 1:08 left to lift the Cobras to a thrilling 29-28 win over the Bucks on Friday night.
Smackover entered the final stanza with a 28-14 lead, but couldn’t hang on.
Turner, who was 11-of24 passing for 295 yards and three touchdowns, got the Cobras right back into the game by finding Johnson for the second of their three scoring collaborations, this one spanning 77 yards, to make it 28-21 after Dustin Pitts drilled his third straight extra point.
The Bucks then went
three-and-out, and a personal foul penalty on the punt gave the Cobras the ball at their 48 with 5:54 to play.
However, Smackover’s defense rose to the occasion, forcing a turnover after Peyton Jones picked off Turner’s long pass down the right sideline.
Starting at their 18, the Bucks tried to go to work on running the clock, but after Corbin Lee was stopped for a 1-yard gain, a penalty pushed the Bucks back to the 14.
On the next play, Bryce Lockhart dropped back to pass, but under pressure, tried to throw the ball away while standing in the end zone, resulting in a safety for intentionally grounding the ball.
With the score now 28-23, the Cobras got the ball back at the Smackover 41 after the free kick.
Andrew Roberson, who shouldered a heavy load for the Cobras by carrying the ball 36 times for 143 yards, picked up 15 yards on three carries to start the drive.
Faced with a second-and-8 from Smackover’s 26, a holding penalty pushed the Cobras back to their 36, and Roberson picked up two yards to force thirdand-long.
Turner missed his target in Joe Murphy on third down, setting up the game’s most dramatic play.
After each school took a timeout, Turner was somehow able to corral a high snap before lofting a pass to the end zone that Johnson snared in heavy traffic to give the Cobras their first lead since the first quarter.
“We call that play Ranger,” said Fountain Lake coach J.D. Plumlee. “It was fourth-and-15, and my quarterback just threw it up and my playmaker went up and made a play. They had their playmakers out there, and we had ours. We were just fortunate to come down with that one.”
After the two-point conversion failed, the Bucks had one final opportunity, but that was extinguished when the Cobras, after several near-misses, recovered an onsides kick.
The Bucks jumped out to a 14-7 lead after the opening period on the strength of a 41-yard strike from Roshard Boone to Jaqueze Modica, and a 1-yard run by Dexter Crockett that was set up by Javon Modica’s 59-yard kickoff return following Turner’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Johnson that gave the Cobras their first lead.
The score remained unchanged until the Bucks scored on a fourth-and-goal from the 11 with Lockhart connecting with Jones to make it 20-7 at intermission.
In the second half, the Cobras embarked on a 20-play, 77-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes to complete with Roberson scoring on a 1-yard run to pull the visitors within 20-14.
But as was the case in the first half, the Bucks quickly answered, needing just 58 seconds and three plays to extend their lead.
Lockhart again connected with a wide-open Jones down the left side for 47 yards before Damarous White scored on an 8-yard run on the next play. White’s successful run on the two-point conversion made it 28-14 before the Cobras rallied.
Johnson caught six passes for 172 yards and three scores for the Cobras (2-1), who had 376 yards of total offense.
Lockhart was 5-of-9 passing for 88 yards with Jones catching two passes for 58 yards to pace the Bucks.
Crockett had 30 yards on eight carries for the Bucks, who were limited to just 63 yards rushing, and had 183 yards of total offense.
The Bucks (1-2) will look to snap a two-game losing streak next week when they host Fouke in their 6-3A opener.