Lions’ mental toughness shows

Gravette coach Kelby Bohannon was thrilled to see his team’s mental toughness during last week’s victory over Berryville, especially when things weren’t going as planned.

The Lions (3-4, 2-2 4A-1) trailed 7-0 after the Bobcats milked almost 10 minutes off the clock and scored on their opening possession, then Gravette fumbled away the ensuing kickoff. The Lions, however, turned things around quickly and had a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

“Mental toughness is something we want to hang our hats on,” Bohannon said. “We tell our players football is a lot like life — there will be ups and downs. What we have to do is stay the course and stay focused on playing that next snap. I was really proud of our defense for doing that.”

Gravette tied the game on Chace Austin’s 54-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter, then took the lead for good moments later when Mason Bagley stripped the ball from a Berryville runner and ran 45 yards for the go-ahead score.

“We had a three-and-out right after that fumble, then we blocked a punt,” Bohannon said. “We had schemed that all week, so it was fun to see that executed. Then to have big defensive plays on backto-back possessions really swung things in our favor.

“We knew it was a big game, and we knew it was a winnable game. We just had to execute our game plan and be tough on defense in order to be successful. This win put us right back into the hunt for a playoff game, and that was one of our goals this season. We wanted to turn things around and have a chance at that 11th game.”

Gravette travels to Green Forest for a 4A-1 Conference game Friday.