Strong, McClellan survive
Pierre Strong had 236 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns as Little Rock McClellan ended Lakeside’s football season Friday night with a 50-37 Class 5A quarterfinal victory at Austin Field.
Strong broke a pair of long runs in the fourth quarter, his 46-yard burst with 6:23 left putting the Crimson Lions up 42-31. After Lakeside’s Caleb Dean went up over two defenders for a 38-yard touchdown grab with 4:36 to play, Strong broke a 47-yard run to set up Raoshun Young’s 12-yard touchdown with 3:12 left.
Lakeside (9-3) drove to the McClellan 10 but came up two yards short with 1:37 left, allowing the Crimson Lions (9-2) to run out the clock.
Other than a special-teams gaffe for McClellan, Lakeside had little first-half offense (35 yards) until its final drive. The Rams marched 59 yards, Dupree Swanson’s 17-yard run setting up Alexander’s 29-yard touchdown strike to Dean.
The Lions jumped offside on the twopoint try, and Colt Housley plowed in from a yard out on a jumbo-package run with 44 seconds left, pulling the Rams within 22-15.
McClellan started dreadfully, going threeand-out before the fourth-down snap went through the punter’s legs and was knocked back to the Lion three-yard line. One play later, Maurice Bradford carried the final three yards for the score, making it 7-0.
Lakeside nearly gave up a touchdown on an onside attempt for the second-straight week, Ashley Lane tripping at the Ram 38. Backup quarterback Bennie Kemp kept for 17 yards, and Strong went in from nine yards out and added the two-point conversion for an 8-7 McClellan lead after 4:20 off the clock.
Lakeside continued to give McClellan good starting field position with Alexander throwing an interception to lineman Jaylen Houston-Hay on the next possession. Strong made the Rams pay again, catching a 38-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to make it 14-7 after a failed two-point run.
The Lions got some help to make to take a two-possession lead, Trent Lewis picking up fourth-and-seven with an eight-yard rush before a personal-foul on Lakeside. Lewis got the last three yards, also runnin in the conversion for a 22-7 lead with 4:13 left in the half.
Both sides exchanged fumbles on the next two drives, Carlos Sandoval recovering a bad snap for McClellan and Kelen Bland for the Rams. Bland’s recovery set up a six-play scoring drive, last of the half and which ended on Bradford’s end-zone interception
Strong broke a 38-yard touchdown on his first carry of the second half to make it 30-15 after Lewis’ conversion run. Lakeside answered with Housley’s four-yard touchdown run and an Alexander two-point pass to Ryan Viscardis, making it 20-23 with 5:40 left in the third.
A Lion defensive stop set up a Lewis 12yard TD run to make it 36-23 with 24 seconds left in the third quarter. Housley added a five-yard TD run run early in the fourth quarter, often Lakeside’s best of the season but not on this night.