Senator defense lays down the law
E’Marion Harris finally took a play off.
With the Class 4A championship firmly in hand on Saturday night, Harris came off the field at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock and bear-hugged Joe T. Robinson Coach Todd Eskola as the final seconds ticked off in the Senators’ 42-14 win over Shiloh Christian.
“It felt great,” Harris said. “We worked for it. We’ve been working since the spring, and it paid off. Not everybody gets a chance to do this.”
Harris started all four years for the Senators on offense as a dominant tackle and three years on Robinson’s defensive front, barely coming off the field on Eskola’s offense and coordinator Brian Maupin’s defense.
“Nah, I didn’t,” said Harris, who will sign Wednesday to play at the University of Arkansas. “I enjoyed it. It was great playing for Coach Eskola’s offense and Coach Maupin’s defense. He wants us to be physical, and I feel like we were the most physical team. We just played our game.”
Robinson’s defense set the tone very early on Saturday night.
Robinson turned two turnovers into touchdowns and used another to turn away a scoring threat in a dominant first half, which Maupin thought the Senators could do.
“I really did,” Maupin said. “Our kids prepare in such a great way. They play so hard. They study film really well. This game was won throughout the week in preparation. The kids worked really, really hard to make sure we were on top of our game.”
Robinson needed just four plays for an early momentum-shifting play when junior safety Chase Nichols forced a fumble at the 1 just four plays into the game with junior defensive end Julian Campos making the recovery.
“The last time we played them they got out to a really fast start,” Maupin said. “It’s so big to play big red-zone defense as far as turnovers to keep them out of the end zone.”
Shiloh Christian opened the game with a 54-yard pass from Eli Wisdom to Cooper Hutchinson, and three plays later Ben Baker was hit just outside the goal line and fumbled.
After the play was reviewed, on a timeout by Shiloh Christian, the play was ruled recovered in the end zone for a touchback. Robinson took over on the 20 and scored on its next four possessions for a 28-0 lead at the half.
Keylan Blalock forced another fumble early in the second quarter with Shiloh Christian driving. After G’Kyson Wright recovered, Robinson used just seven plays with senior quarterback Jack Cleveland connecting with Kirby Owens on an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 28-0 lead with 9:20 left in the half.
“Our coach told us the most physical team is going to win,” senior offensive tackle Micah Bradley said. “When we got that fumble, you could see the panic in their face. That was big.”
Shiloh Christian had a golden opportunity to score late in the first half after a Robinson miscue, but senior defensive back Anthony Freeman intercepted a pass in the end zone for Robinson’s third take-away of the half.
Senior cornerback Zach Wofford added a fourth take-away in the second half with a second interception, a one-handed grab on a deep pass.
“I just turned around and looked up,” Wofford said. “I stuck my hand up and it stuck on there. We just come out every week and play our hardest. It happens to be a recurring event.”
Robinson kept feeding off the turnovers.
“We kept rolling off of it,” Wofford said. “We had a little dead period there, but we bounced back.”
Robinson’s defense limited Shiloh Christian’s high-powered offense to just 271 yards with just 70 of it on the ground.
“I challenge our guys every year to be the most physical team on the field,” Maupin said. “We proved that through the playoffs. We were by far the most physical team on the field.”