Junction City takes 2A state final win

A 10-point second-half deficit was no problem for the Junction City Dragons.

The Dragons scored the final 24 points of Friday’s Class 2A state championship game to earn a 36-22 victory over Hazen on Friday night in front of 3,118 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Junction City (12-2) trailed Hazen (13-1) 22-12 with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter. But the Dragons used two touchdown passes from junior Brady Hutcheson, a 30-yard scoring run by senior running back Dhante Gibson and senior Jack Smith’s 25-yard field goal to capture their seventh Class 2A state championship and first since 2014.

Dragons Coach Steven Jones was confident his team could come back against the Hornets.

“I didn’t have to tell them much,” Jones said. “You could see it in their eyes that they were down, but not out.”

Gibson was named the game’s MVP, rushing for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21 carries.

Junior running back Jakiron Cook accounted for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns. He had 95 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries and caught a 63-yard touchdown pass for his only reception.

Hutcheson was 6-of-12 passing for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Hazen extended its lead to 22-12 with 7:03 left in the third quarter on junior quarterback Blayne Toll’s 58-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Quincey McAdoo.

From there, Junction City took over.

On fourth-and-5 at the Hazen 30, Junction City senior wide receiver Kevontae Haynes caught a 22-yard pass from Hutcheson for a first-and-goal at the 8. Two plays later, Hutcheson found Haynes for a 16-yard touchdown reception and Gibson’s 2-point conversion run cut the lead to 22-20 with 3:56 left in the third quarter.

The Dragons forced the Hornets to go three-andout on their next drive, then Smith kicked a 25-yard field goal with 11:20 left to play to give Junction City their first lead of the game, 23-22.

Junction City made it 2922 with 8:22 remaining when Hutcheson threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Cook on the left sideline. Cook avoided a tackle by Hornets defender Jacob Weems at the Hazen 35, then ran untouched into the end zone.

The Dragons sealed their victory Friday with Gibson’s 30-yard touchdown run with 1:13 left that stretched the lead to 36-22.