Friday Night Football: THS, Prescott, Nashville,
NASHVILLE, Ark. — Nashville exited the football playoffs at home on Friday night.
The Scrappers (9-3) fell to Warren (8-4), 48-40, in a Class 4A state quarterfinal game at Scrapper Stadium.
“We just made too many mistakes,” Nashville head coach Mike Volarvich said. “Right before the half, we threw a pick 6. We called a deep kickoff late in the game, the kicker didn’t hit it good and it was returned for a touchdown. We held them to a 3rd-and-20, but they scored on a long pass. When a team has that many mistakes against a good team, they can’t win.
“I can’t say enough about the senior group. It’s a great group of guys. They come to work every day. These Friday nights during the football season doesn’t really define what these guys have done. They have done a body of work from weights to in the classroom and in the community. I can’t say enough about them and what they’ve done for this program.”
Nashville’s Ty Gordon threw an 8-yard pass to Keyshawn Stewart with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter to inch the Scrappers closer, 41-33. The PAT kick was wide right.
Gordon, a senior, finished with 252 yards on 20-of30 passing, three touchdown passes, three touchdown runs and a pair of interceptions. Gordon rushed for a game-high 144 yards on 17 totes.
Tayshawn Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards for a touchdown to put the Lumberjacks up by 15, 48-33, with 4:28 to go in the game.
Stewart caught a pass from Gordon and sped 44 yards into the end zone to make it an eight-point game, 48-40, with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter. Warren picked up key first downs on its ensuing drive and ran out the clock.
Stewart, a senior, finished with 88 receiving yards on seven catches with three touchdowns and rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries.
Gordon had a 1-yard touchdown run for Nashville with 4:38 to go in the third quarter to cut the Warren’s 14-point lead in half, 34-27. But the Lumberjacks drove down on their next possession, and Cedric Calbert scored on a 6-yard run to pad the Warren lead again, 41-27, with 24 seconds left in the third.
Warren went into the locker room with a 34-20 lead at the half. The Lumberjacks outscored Nashville, 28-7, in the second quarter.
Payton Byrd ran in a 5-yard touchdown for Warren to knot the game at 13-all with 11:56 to go in the second. Jacari Lee had a long return off the Nashville kickoff to set the Lumberjacks up at the Scrapper 16-yard line, which resulted in Byrd’s score.
Keyshawn Stewart grabbed a pass from Ty Gordon and zipped to his right on an 8-yard touchdown to give the Scrappers a 20-13 lead with 8:04 to go in the second.
Jarard Payne caught a 68-yard pass from Maddox Lassiter for Warren to tie the game at 20-all with 6:53 until halftime. After Nashville turned the ball over on downs, the Lumberjacks drove down the field and capped the drive when Byrd scored from a yard out. The touchdown gave Warren a 27-20 lead with 1:08 to go in the second.
The Scrappers drove down the field on the arm of quarterback Gordon, but Lee stepped in front of a Nashville receiver, intercepted the ball and ran 67 yards for another Lumberjack score with just 27 seconds left in the second quarter.
Lassiter finished with 178 passing yards as he hit on 7 of 9 passes with a touchdown. Lassiter also rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries for Warren.
Warren advances to next week’s 4A semifinals against Rivercrest, which eliminated Crossett, 61-27, in the quarterfinals.