Dancy’s first half does it for Dragons
JUNCTION CITY 50, EARLE 16
JUNCTION CITY — Jaqwis Dancy rushed 13 times for 184 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half as Junction City rolled past Earle 50-16 Friday night in the Class 2A semifinals.
Junction City (12-0) scored 50 consecutive points after Earle’s Tevin Scott returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play as the Bulldogs (10-4) took an 8-0 lead.
The Dragons are one victory away from a third consecutive state championship and will play Hazen (14-0) on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
“We came on back and got after it,” Junction City Coach David Carpenter said. “We got the ball back, went on a drive, got a score and showed that we were here to play.”
Junction City tied the game 8-8 with a 25-yard touchdown pass later in the first quarter and Dancy’s two-point conversion run. Dancy then scored on five of Junction City’s next 16 offensive snaps as the Dragons built a 43-8 lead going into halftime.
Reserve running back CJ Johnson scored on a 44-yard run on the final play of the third quarter to cap Junction City’s scoring.
Earle scored its other touchdown when Bohanon found senior wide receiver Jarius Wright with a 48-yard pass pass late in the fourth quarter.
Dancy, who is orally committed to Louisiana Tech, scored on runs of 6, 2, 41 and 19 yards to blow open the game.
“Dancy is a very explosive back,” Earle Coach A.C. Coleman said. “We stressed all week trying to stay in that C gap and not let them beat us to the corner, but we didn’t get it executed, and that’s the part that’s frustrating.”
While Dancy dazzled, Junction City’s defense did a its job as well, limiting the Bulldogs to nine first downs. The Dragons defense held Earle junior running back Richard Merritt to 13 yards on 10 carries, and harassed freshman quarterback Gerry Bohanon into 8-of-21 passing for 146 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions.
Bohanon also was sacked four times.
“I thought we played great,” Carpenter said. “That was a very explosive team that we saw tonight, you can tell from their scores that they’ve had. Our defense did a great job, especially out here in this old slop. We played hard, and we played fast.”