Badgers’ backs shred Panthers
Beebe wasn’t going to panic Tuesday night after trailing by two touchdowns in the first half.
Instead, the Badgers turned to their two- headed monster in the backfield.
Senior Jovaughn Wyrick rushed for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns on 25 carries and Trip Smith ran for 167 yards and 1 touchdown on 32 carries as Beebe defeated Greenbrier 41- 27 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Wyrick scored on runs of 34, 25, 51 and 5 yards for the Badgers, who advanced to the Class 5A semifinals last season.
Smith turned in the 21st 100yard rushing game of his career and scored on a 1- yard run on fourth- and- goal that gave the Badgers their first lead, 27- 20, with 10: 37 remaining.
“Everything is built around those two,” Beebe Coach John Shannon said of his Dead- T offense. “When those two go, we’re going to go. Jovaughn had the big plays, and Trip just pounded and grounded and wore them down.”
Wyrick’s 5- yard run gave Beebe a 34- 20 lead with 4: 32 left, but Greenbrier answered as senior quarterback Harold Ross threw a 40- yard touchdown pass to Brandon Thomas to cut the lead to 34- 27 at the 3: 13 mark.
Beebe put away the game with just over a minute left as Wyrick ran 33 yards down the left sideline for his fourth touchdown to extend the Badgers’ lead to 41- 27 with 1: 07 left.
Greenbrier Coach Randy Tribble, whose team led 14- 0 with 8: 50 left in the first half, said his team didn’t have an answer for a Badgers rushing attack that gashed the Panthers for 375 yards.
“It just snowballed,” Tribble said. “We got undisciplined a little bit.”
Greenbrier led 14- 13 at halftime, and Ross’ 18- yard touchdown pass to Alex Massey extended the Panthers’ lead to 20- 13 with 10: 49 left. Ross completed 27 of 43 passes for 342 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception while Massey had 105 yards on eight receptions.
But Beebe tied the game at 20- 20 with 10: 35 left in the quarter when Connor Patrom returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards.
Greenbrier struck first, going 69 yards in 12 plays. Ross found Carter Coats for an 8- yard touchdown and Ross’ two- point conversion pass to Massey gave the Panthers an 8- 0 lead.
Greenbrier extended its lead to 14- 0 in the second quarter on Ross’ 23- yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 8: 50 left, but Beebe responded with a 12- play, 80- yard drive that was capped by Wyrick’s 25- yard run that pulled the Badgers to within 14- 7 with 2: 08 left in the half.
The Badgers got the ball back after Garrett Grier recovered a Greenbrier fumble. On a third- and- 12 play from the Greenbrier 49, Wyrick sprinted 51 yards for his second touchdown of the half. A bad snap on the extra- point attempt and failed pass allowed Greenbrier to hold on to a 1413 lead with 31 seconds left in the half.