El Dorado comes up short at wrong time

EL DORADO —El Dorado missed its chance.

The Wildcats had a chance to tie the game on a two-point attempt with 1:48 remaining but failed, and Lake Hamilton’s Josh Nazario returned the ensuing onside kick 60 yards for a touchdown Friday as the Wolves held on for a 42-27 6A-South victory at Memorial Stadium.

Lake Hamilton’s Ramar Easter’s 95-yard interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the game accounted for the final margin.

For the second week in a row, the first half was an absolute nightmare for the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1), who managed to rally past Texarkana a week ago.El Dorado threw an interception Friday night, lost a fumble and was stopped on fourth and one — all in the first quarter — as the Wolves (5-2, 3-1) built a 19-0 lead and led 26-7 going into the half.

“It’s going to catch up with you sooner or later when you miss your chances,” El Dorado Coach Scott Reed said. “I don’t know how many chances we missed tonight.

“It’s me. I’ve got to have our kids ready to play, and we were not ready to play in the first half. Very disappointed in that. We waited until it was too late to start playing.”

El Dorado held Lake Hamilton to 211 yards total offense as the Wolves completed just 2 of 9 passes for 66 yards and ran for 145 yards on 43 attempts. But when the Wolves had opportunities to make big plays, they did.

“I’m amazed,” Lake Hamilton Coach Jerry Clay said. “We had seven starters out to start the game, and then we lost three more during the game. We were basically a JV group playing at times.

“I’m just so proud of our guys. El Dorado has a great team. Of course, we got some breaks. And, we made some breaks.”

El Dorado’s Kawon Love completed 15 of 27 passes for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns with 2 interceptions. Maketrion Shelton hauled in 6 passes for 151 yards and 2 scores. Christian McLaughlin caught 2 for 89, and Dadraques Harris caught five for 89.

Gemetre Miller rushed for 66 yards but left late with a leg injury. Love rushed for 63 yards.

Trailing 26-7, El Dorado’s defense gave its offense a chance in the third quarter.

On the third play from scrimmage, Martez Modica recovered a fumble and set up the offense with first down at the Lake Hamilton 3. But Love was stopped after a 1-yard gain and Miller went for no gain. Love gained a yard, but on fourth down Love was stopped short and fumbled and the Wolves recovered it at the 14.

El Dorado’s defense came through again and forced a punt, and this time the Wildcats went 82 yards in seven plays. Harris turned a short hitch pass into a 47-yard completion to the 2, and Miller scored on the next play as El Dorado cut it to 2614 with 5:41 left in the third.

The Wildcats forced another quick punt and took over on the 43, but John Sixbey’s pass was intercepted by Easter.

El Dorado’s defense yielded a pair of first downs before forcing a punt, which rolled to the 8. On the next play, Love found Harris behind the Wolves’ secondary but the pass went off his hands. On fourth and 3 from their own 15, the Wildcats threw another incompletion.

Lake Hamilton took over, but after failing to move the ball than Johnson kicked a 28-yard field goal for a 2914 lead with 6:26 left in the fourth.

El Dorado answered with Love’s 52-yard touchdown pass to Shelton, who raced past the Lake Hamilton secondary to cut the deficit to 29-21 with 5:14 left to play.