Pulaski Academy to play for another championship
PULASKI ACADEMY 42, BATESVILLE 25
Pulaski Academy is headed to a familiar place — the state championship game.
Senior quarterback Will Hefley completed 31 of 46 passes for 500 yards and 4 touchdowns, and ran for another score, as Pulaski Academy beat Batesville 42-25 in the semifinals of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night at Joe B. Hatcher Stadium in Little Rock.
Pulaski Academy (12-1) will face Wynne for the state championship at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Batesville (11-2) had its nine-game winning streak snapped.
The Bruins, who have won 12 consecutive games, advanced to their sixth state championship game since 2003.
Pulaski Academy won the Class AAA state championship in 2003, Class 5A state championship in 2008 and Class 4A state title in 2011, its last appearance in the final.
“I don’t know what we can complain about,” said Pulaski Academy Coach Kevin Kelley, the architect of the school’s mega success the last 11 years. “That’s a place you want your program to be, where the expectations are high. It was built from a lot of guys before this, and the guys now have a lot of pressure to continue that. A state championship game every three years isn’t that bad.”
Hefley surpassed 9,000 career yards passing during the game. His favorite target was senior wide receiver Will Hastings, who finished with 13 receptions for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns (60 and 8 yards).
Junior wide receiver Zack Kelley, Kevin Kelley’s son, had a 61-yard touchdown reception to stretch Pulaski Academy’s lead to 35-18 with 1:54 remaining in the third quarter.
Kelley has caught at least one touchdown pass in the 22 games he’s played in the last two seasons.
The Bruins led 21-18 at halftime.
The Pioneers were trailing 27-18 when standout senior quarterback/safety Kenton Crawford was injured with 5:26 remaining in the third quarter.
Crawford, who ran for two touchdowns and intercepted a pass in the first half, was injured after running 10 yards for a first down on fourth-and-5 from the Pulaski Academy 33.
The game was delayed approximately 12 minutes after Crawford was immobilized on a stretcher near the Pulaski Academy bench and taken by ambulance to a local hospital as a precaution, Batesville Coach Dave King said.
Crawford raised his right arm to the overflow crowd as he was being brought off the field.
But Batesville’s hopes for a fourth consecutive trip to the Class 5A state championship game quickly evaporated after Crawford left.
Senior place-kicker Osvaldo Espericueta missed a 37yard field-goal attempt with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter. Crawford’s replacement at quarterback, junior Chris Robinson, threw two interceptions.
Crawford ran 13 times for 81 yards before being injured. “He’s our alpha,” King said. Hefley threw his 61-yard touchdown pass to Zack Kelley four plays after Espericueta’s missed field-goal attempt.
The Bruins took a 4218 lead on Hefley’s 24-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Cannon Smith with 7:04 remaining to play.
Hefley, who has orally committed to Tulsa, scored on a 2-yard draw to give Pulaski Academy a 27-18 lead with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Sophomore tailback Myles Fells gave Pulaski Academy a 21-10 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run with 5:46 left in the first half.
Fells is a son of former Pulaski Robinson (quarterback) and Henderson State great (tailback) Kenny Fells.
“Pulaski Academy did a great job of doing what they do,” King said.
Batesville eliminated Pulaski Academy 40-21 in the 2012 semifinals.