Crossett rolls all over Ozark, set to entertain Arkadelphia

OZARK — The Crossett Eagles went fishing Friday night.

The Eagles set the tone in the second half with five consecutive defensive stops as Crossett rolled to a 44-20 win over Ozark in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs at Hillbilly Stadium.

Crossett (9-3) will host Arkadelphia in the quarterfinals next week.

Friday, Crossett led just 2414 at the half with Ozark (8-3) set to receive the second-half kickoff.

Crossett’s defense, though, stifled the Hillbillies, forcing punts on the first three series of the new half and then a pair of interceptions on the next two.

“Our goal is three-and-out and takeaway, three-and-out and takeaway,” Crossett Coach Shawn Jackson said. “We caused a couple of negative plays, and we got a couple of turnovers. We preached that coming out in the second half; keep fishing, keep fishing. We did a good job tonight.”

Senior linebacker Brandon Mayweather halted Ozark’s first drive of the second half with a third-down sack, forcing a punt.

Crossett forced another three-and-out on the next series, and stopped a fourthdown try on the third series.

Junior defensive back Eric Massenburg intercepted a pass on Ozark’s fourth series of the third quarter, and senior defensive Kameron Williams picked off a pass to halt a 16play Ozark drive at Crossett’s 30 with 9:05 left in the game.

“We couldn’t get it going,” Ozark Coach Jeremie Burns said. “Then a quick strike by those guys. We just got too far behind and couldn’t do what we wanted to do. It was tough on us, offensively.”

Crossett, behind a constantly rotating defensive front, limited the Hillbillies to just 187 yards through three quarters.

“We play about nine or 10 guys up there,” Jackson said. “We just kept rolling people in. Their job is to make the play and then the linebackers make the tackles. They did a good job of that.”

Crossett quarterback Tyrique Jones ran 15 times for 133 yards and touchdown runs of 5, 16, 54, 11 and 1 yard. Jones completed 14-of-18 passes for also 133 yards and a 38-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead on Crossett’s opening possession.

“That guy and all of those running backs have some speed,” Burns said. “He can throw the ball. He’s a dangerous weapon. We knew it coming in. We thought we had them early. Then we had the kickoff return, and then the field goal. They’re the real deal.”

The alternating running back duo of Jackson Moore and Tayshawn Paskel also contributed for Crossett, combining for 28 carries for 161 yards.

“We’ve got a lot of good football players on this team,” Jackson said. “We’ve got Jackson Moore, and there’s not anybody better than him in Arkansas. He’s the best hidden secret out there. We’ve got Dewayne Ashford at wide receiver. We’ve got Brandon Mayweather and Denzel Watkins on defense. We’ve got a bunch of good players in Crossett.”

Ozark tied the game at 7-7 on Britton Gage’s 5-yard touchdown run on the Hillbillies opening possession.

Christian Mondragon booted a 26-yard field for Crossett for a 10-7 lead and the Eagles forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Two plays later, Moore scored on an 8-yard run for a 17-7 lead with 1:02 left in the first quarter.

Ryker Martin kept Ozark close, scoring on a 9-yard with 6:54 left in the half but Jones’s 16-yard scoring run had Crossett up, 24-14 at halftime.