Knights-Beavers gear up for 3rd round rematch

GLEN ROSE — Execution will likely be the deciding factor in tonight’s 3A-5 rematch between Glen Rose and Centerpoint in the third round of the Class 3A state playoffs at Beaver Stadium.

The Beavers (10-2), who are looking for their first semifinal berth since 2016, finished runner-up in the 3A-5 conference this season behind Prescott (100) while the Knights (8-3) took third. Falling to Prescott 42-14 at home on Nov. 6, the Beavers’ only other loss came in their season-opener at home where they fell 33-27 to Malvern in a hard-fought match.

Anyone with hopes of a 3A-5 final will have to be rooting for Prescott, who faces McGehee in the bottom half of the bracket. The winner of that match will face Hoxie or Paris on Dec. 11.

The Beavers and Knights had a defensive battle on Oct. 23 at Diamond Bank Stadium with Glen Rose taking a 7-6 win, the Beavers’ closest victory with an average victory of 33 points per game.

Longtime Beavers head coach Mark Kehner said that the key to topping the Knights again is that his team keeps “focusing on playing a really good team.”

“We didn’t execute real well the last time we played,” he said. “Coach (Cary) Rogers is probably going to say the same thing about his team. I think that’s what both of us are probably concentrating on more than anything this week is both of us just have to execute better. I mean, for the fans, it was probably a good football game, but it was not execution-wise on either side of the ball.” Glen Rose tallied 622 yards of offense — 362 on the ground and 260 passing — while holding Centerpoint to just 276 yards. Even with 150 yards of penalties, the Beavers’ net yardage was twice that of Centerpoint’s, who faced just 45 penalty yards.

The Beavers took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter when senior quarterback Wesley Launius found classmate Colton Hixon on a 28-yard shot for the end zone. Centerpoint responded in the third with a 46-yard completion, but the Knights were unable to pick up the extra point, which became the difference in the game.

Launius was 15 for 29 passing for 260 yards while senior running back Ethan Taylor led the rushing effort with 67 yards on 16 touches and junior Conner Taylor led the receiving corps with 116 yards on six receptions.

The Beavers returned 12 starters from last year’s squad, including senior All-State guard Andrew Weatherford (6-2, 230) and most of the offensive line, but Centerpoint junior quarterback Josh Lawson has helped lead the Knights, who have not dropped a game since the loss to the Beavers.

Lawson has 1,790 passing yards on the year, completing

96 of 174 passes (55.1%) for 25 touchdowns with 11 interceptions, averaging 162.7 yards per game. He also has 258 yards rushing on 67 carries.

As a unit, Centerpoint has 1,511 rushing yards led by senior running back Houston Way with 850 yards on 158 carries. C.J. Fox leads the team’s receivers with 808 yards on 43 receptions and is averaging 18.8 yards per catch. Junior Kaden Owens, whose 609 receiving yards on only 24 receptions (25.4 yards per catch) has him second on the team, is another major target for Lawson.

Senior Louis Lozano leads the defensive effort with 66 tackles and four fumble recoveries while averaging six tackles per game. Sophomore Jace Clark follows not far behind with 62 tackles on the year with five sacks and two fumble recoveries. Junior Dathan Vaught leads the team in sacks with six with 57 stops.

“They can throw it and run it,” Kehner said. “I mean, any time you get this deep in the playoffs, you know, for the most part, teams can do whatever they need to do to win a football game. And they can: they’ve got an exceptional quarterback; they’ve got great receivers all over the field that definitely can throw around a lot. But they also have a very good running back as well, and they run the ball really well. So we’ve got to execute at all phases defensively, you know, run and pass. It’s just, like I said, you play good football teams this late; you’ve got to be able to stop everything.”

Kehner said his guys are focused and ready to play.

“You got any team that’s in the third round and not focused, they’re probably not in the third round,” he said. “I mean, both communities are going to be excited about this game. Like I said, it was a really good game the first time, and hopefully both of us can come out and do the same thing and play really good football this time and give everybody what they want to see."

Tonight’s game will kick off at 7 p.m.