Cobras clinch playoff berth

ASHDOWN — Needing a win to qualify for the Class 4A state playoffs, Fountain Lake reeled off 42 straight points on the road Friday night at Ashdown to win, 42-21, and clinch the No. 5 seed from the 4A-7 conference.

Ashdown (3-7, 1-6) got on the scoreboard first with a 27-yard reverse for a touchdown by Keamon Nutt with 4:10 left in the first quarter. Nutt kicked the extra point for the early 7-0 lead.

Fountain Lake (6-4, 3-4) answered before the end of the quarter with a four-yard touchdown run by senior Colson Simpson. Senior Joe Murphy kicked the extra point to tie the game 7-all.

Another senior, Andrew Johnson, busted out for a 78-yard touchdown run with 9:10 on the clock in the second quarter. Johnson had nine rushes for 59 yards and one touchdown going into the game. Murphy’s extra point gave the Cobras a 14-7 lead.

Simpson recorded his second score on a 22yard run with 5:50 on the clock. The extra point gave the Cobras a 21-7 lead going into halftime.

It was Simpson again for a nine-yard score early in the third quarter for his team-leading

11th touchdown of the season. A missed extra point kept the score at 27-7.

Fountain Lake piled on in the third quarter.

An interception by Simpson set up senior Kyle Fortner for a 37-yard touchdown. Murphy’s extra point gave the Cobras a 34-7 lead.

The Cobras took the ball back later in the quarter on another interception by senior Ahman Johnson. They scored on the ensuing drive early in the fourth quarter and Simpson’s 2-point conversion made the score 42-7 to set the clock running under the Arkansas Activities Association’s mercy rule.

Ashdown added a score with 7:30 remaining in the game as Ben Birtcher ran 20 yards for a touchdown. Nutt’s extra point made the score 42-14.

The Panthers added a final score on a five-yard touchdown pass from Bradley Bearden to Taylon Robinson. Another extra point by Nutt set the final.

Fountain Lake began the season, 3-0, in non-conference games before losing four straight against the 4A-7’s top four teams. The Cobras blanked Malvern (0-10, 0-7),

35-0, on Oct. 19 before surviving a 35-34 senior night thriller on Oct. 26 against Haskell Harmony Grove (5-5, 3-4).

The Cardinals had a chance on Thursday to take the No. 5 seed in their first year in Class

4A, but Joe T. Robinson (8-2,

6-1) took a convincing 35-6 victory in Haskell.

Fountain Lake will now travel on Friday to face the top seed from the 4A-3 conference.