Comeback nets Cobras’ coach first league win
FOUNTAIN LAKE — His players proved J.D. Plumlee accurate and gave the first-year head coach his initial conference win Friday night against Bauxite.
“We talked about it all week, how it would come down to one or two plays, and it did,” said Plumlee, his team winning 28-27 one week after a 70-7 savaging by Arkadelphia.
One or two big plays in the third quarter preceded some high fourth-quarter drama at Beckham Memorial Field.
Ahman Johnson returned the second-half kickoff 66 yards to the Miners’ 24. Andrew Roberson got the rest in three plays, going over from the three as Fountain Lake, once down 21-6, tied it at 21.
“I thought in the second half, we came out and our ball pursuit was so much better,” said Plumlee. “We made a couple adjustments. We wanted … to get them to spread them out a little bit. It all started with Ahman’s kickoff return. We gave it to Andrew three times on inside zone, and we were able to punch it in. That’s just stuff that we do every day.”
Fountain Lake went ahead with 7:47 remaining and survived a two-point attempt by Bauxite after Seth McDowell’s
11-yard quarterback keeper made it a one-point game.
Second-year Miner head coach Daryl Patton had no regrets about the failed two-point try.
“Going for two down there, I’d do it again,” he said. “On the road in the 7-4A, we’re going to go for the win, we’re not playing … to go (into) overtime.”
Kyle Fortner scored Fountain Lake’s only touchdown in Bauxite’s 21-6 getaway, but a late first-half score provided the Cobras carryover momentum. Parion Johnson went up high in the end zone for a 27-yard pass from Stephen Turner, and Roberson found a hole on the two-point attempt that made it 21-14.
“Parion’s our guy,” Plumlee said. “He goes up over two guys and makes that great catch.”
Fountain Lake won despite 11 penalties for 85 yards and being outgained
295-211, the Miners with a three-minute edge in possession time.
“I’m not worried about time of possession as much as I am snaps,” Plumlee said. “I want snaps. Keep snapping the ball. We talked about that at half.”
While the Cobras have been passheavy the past few weeks, Plumlee had the team focus on the ground game.
“I told them all week, we need to focus on running the ball. We thought we could run the ball. We challenged our offensive line, and … I told Ahman and Parion all week, ‘Be patient.’ Their time came, and when it did, they executed.”
Fountain Lake caught Bauxite’s defense off guard, said Patton, whose team, coming off an 0-10 season, had won four in a row.
“Coach Plumlee had a good game plan,” Patton said. “Their offense, they’ve got some playmakers. They ran the ball tonight; they didn’t really throw it. We really thought they’d throw it a little bit more. They just did a good job running the football, and we had a hard time getting them off the field.”
Dawson Dabbs carried 94 times for 94 yards, McDowell 12 for 86 and Colton Robinson 10 for 82 for the Miners.
Of Dobbs, Patton said, “He’s a heck of a player. We’ve got several guys who are pretty good players. Tonight, too many times, we got bogged down and we didn’t get the ball in there. We had a fourth-down pass that we came close to catching. We had opportunities.”
Roberson gained 179 yards on 27 carries. Parion Johnson had three catches for 51 and Ahman Johnson two for 40. Turner was six of nine for 99 yards.
“I challenged Andrew (Roberson), and he rose to the challenge tonight,” Plumlee said. “It was fun to keep it on the ground. When you do that, it opens everything else. We’re going to do whatever it takes to find a way to get a win.”
Colson Simpson had 20 tackles and Joe Murphy 14 for Fountain Lake (3-4, 1-3) which plays Malvern at home Friday night while Bauxite (4-3, 2-2) goes to undefeated Joe T. Robinson.