Booneville, Ray churn out win

BOONEVILLE — Once again, the formula for a Booneville playoff win was the running of quarterback Randon Ray and an opportunistic defense.

Ray rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns while the Bearcat defense forced five turnovers along with a goal-line stand to advance to the Class 3A semifinals with a 49-21 victory over Glen Rose at Bearcat Stadium on Friday night.

Booneville (13-1) travels to Harding Academy, which defeated Centerpoint 35-7, for next week’s semifinals. The defending 3A champion Wildcats beat the Bearcats 52-21 in last year’s 3A quarterfinals.

“It is going to take an unbelievable effort on both sides of the ball next week,” Booneville Coach Doc Crowley said. “We know we will need to score some points and force some turnovers. We want to run the ball and keep the ball away from our opponent to have a shot.”

With 11 minutes left in the first half, the game was tied at 14-14, but the Bearcat defense stiffened while the offense made big plays to seize control.

“We felt like the game was going to be a one-score game but then our defense stepped up in a lot of big-time situations for us tonight,” Crowley said. “We were able to take advantage of the turnovers and pull away. Our defense played great, and I was so proud of them.”

The Bearcats rushed for 510 yards. Besides Randon Ray, Rylen Ray added for 100 yards on 8 carries as 5 players had at least 45 yards rushing in the game.

Booneville took a 28-14 halftime lead on second-quarter touchdown runs from Ray of 2 and 97 yards.

The big run by Ray came after the Bearcats stopped the Beavers on a fourth down at the Booneville 3 when an inside run was stopped short of a first down.

On second down, Ray kept on an option keeper and broke free at the Bearcat 20 and outran two Beavers defenders to the end zone with 2:30 left before halftime for a 28-14 Boonevile advantage.

Glen Rose had a quick window at the start of the second half when Dalton Taylor scored on a 33-yard run to get to within 28-21 two minutes into the third quarter.

The Beavers then recovered the onside-kick attempt but was forced to punt when the Bearcat defense forced a three-and-out.

From that point on, though, Booneville took over the game. The Bearcats marched 86 yards in seven plays, keyed by a 62-yard run by Brooks Herrera. Ray broke three tackles on a 15-yard touchdown run to finish off the drive for a 35-21 lead with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

The defense then helped the Bearcats score their final two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

On the first play of the quarter, Daxton Goff picked off a Glen Rose pass and returned it 20 yards for the score with 11:50 left and a 42-21 lead.

On the Beavers’ next play from scrimmage, Herrera picked off another pass and on the next play, Goff scored on a 33-yard run with 11:17 remaining.