Pine Bluff exhales after two-point try
WEST MEMPHIS — With a chance to send the game into overtime, West Memphis failed on a two-point conversion pass with five seconds left to play as Pine Bluff escaped with a 27-26 victory Friday.
Trailing 27-20, West Memphis quarterback Bryson Jenkins tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Eulls to cut the Zebras’ lead to one.
After 5-yard penalties by both teams, putting the ball back at the 3, the Blue Devils (2-7, 1-5 6A-East) decided to go for two.
A reverse pass from Caden Smith to a wide-open Jenkins in the end zone was overthrown.
“I was expecting them to run the ball,” Pine Bluff Coach Rod Stinson said. “We just dodged a bullet is all I can say.”
The Zebras (3-3, 2-2) had to battle back from some sloppy offensive play in the early moments of the game. On the second snap, a fumbled exchange landed in the hands of West Memphis linebacker Eli Duncan, who sped 45 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Blue Devils’ lead.
The Zebras fought back behind the quarterback play of Landon Holcomb, who ran for two touchdowns on the night.
His 3-yard touchdown with 5:40 left in the first quarter tied it 7-7, and a 1-yard touchdown just before the end of the first quarter gave the visitors a 14-7 lead.
Jenkins, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 190 yards, fired a touchdown pass to Eulls midway through the second quarter, but the extra point failed to keep Pine Bluff on top 14-13.
Pine Bluff led 20-13 at halftime while stuffing the Blue Devils’ ground game for minus-5 yards in the first two quarters.
“I can’t say enough about our defense,” Stinson said. “They played well all night.”
A 15-yard touchdown by junior Brandon Peters, who rotated with Jenkins behind center in the second half, on West Memphis’ opening possession of the third quarter tied the score 20-20.
The Zebras scored the winning points with 10:19 to play in the fourth quarter when defensive tackle Ronald Russell recovered a Jenkins fumble and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.
Jorrell Grant’s extra point struck the cross bar and bounded over for the point that secured the win.
West Memphis began its final drive at its 42, and 11 plays later Jenkins threw his second touchdown pass of the night.
“[The coaches and players] finally convinced me to go for two points,” Blue Devils first-year Coach Robert Hooks said. “We went back and forth between kicking it or going for it after those penalties. We tried to run that play last week and didn’t execute it. It was there tonight.”