Big second half lifts Scrappers
NASHVILLE, Ark.—It was a tale of two halves for Nashville in its Class 4A second-round playoff game against Bauxite.
Meeting the Miners for the second time in three weeks, the Scrappers took charge after intermission, shutting out the visitors over the final two quarters and rattling off five unanswered touchdowns during a 41-18 Nashville win Friday at Scrapper Stadium.
The Scrapper defense limited Bauxite (9-3) to 81 yards of offense and just five first downs in the second half, after the Miners controlled the clock for nearly the entire first half.
Nashville (10-2) advances to the 4A state quarterfinals and travels to Shiloh
Christian next Friday for a 7 p.m. clash with the Saints (11-1).
Carmillas Morrison and Keyshawn Stewart each had a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half for the Scrappers, who finished with 319 yards of total offense.
Morrison had scoring runs of 11 and 15 yards, finishing with 12 rushes for 124 yards, and Stewart added TD runs of 5 and 6 yards, rushing for 81 yards on 14 totes.
Tristen Jamison connected on 7 of 12 passes for 98 yards, two TDs and an interception. Jamison tossed an early touchdown to Levester Gillard and a late strike to Ty Basiliere.
Bauxite QB Seth McDowell rushed 23 times for 116 yards and a score, and Dawson Dabbs added 99 yards and a TD on 24 carries.
The Miners controlled the clock and capitalized on two lengthy possessions, building an 18-7 lead in the first half.
Elijah Cruz intercepted a Nashville pass to halt the game’s opening drive, but a hard hit forced a fumble on the third Bauxite snap. Gillard recovered at the 39 to give the Scrappers a short field.
Gillard also had a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
Two plays after his first recovery, Gillard hauled in a 40-yard bomb from Jamison for the first strike. Jhonny Pioquinto’s PAT made it 7-0 with 8:06 left in the first quarter.
The Miners used a 15-play drive to eat up 6:49 of the game clock on their ensuing campaign, with Dabbs racing 11 yards around the right end for the touchdown.
A 2-point conversion throw from Hunter Davis to Carson Collins made it 8-7 with 1:12 left in the first.
A penalty on the kickoff negated a kickoff to the Bauxite 24, instead giving Detrich Young a 34-yard return. Three plays later Bauxite came up with the second interception by Cruz.
The Miners drove to the red zone, and Turner Southard booted a 37-yard field goal to make it 11-7 Bauxite.
Nashville drove to the 9 but a short field goal sailed wide left, and the Scrappers couldn’t stop another time-consuming possession by the Miners.
Bauxite ate up 6:19 off the remaining 6:30 in the first half with another 15-play drive, McDowell diving in from the 1 for the touchdown with 11 ticks remaining.
The Miners had 189 yards of offense—all on the ground—before intermission, and Nashville had 151 yards with 89 yards coming on 13 rushes.