CABOT - Pine Bluff stopped a two-point run attempt in the final 40 seconds to secure a 27-25 victory against Cabot in a 7A-Central game Friday night at Panther Stadium.
The victory was the first at Pine Bluff for Coach Bobby Bolding, who moved from Stuttgart in the off-season.
"I'm just very proud of the kids," said Bolding, who led Stuttgart to the 2002 Class AAAA state championship. "We overcame a lot of adversity."
Pine Bluff (1-7-1, 1-5 7ACentral) jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and never trailed.
Sophomore wide receiver Jon Frazier, who finished with more than 100 receiving yards, caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Jarvis Mayo.
Christian Owens gave Pine Bluff a 14-0 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run.
In the second quarter, Frazier caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from sophomorequarterback Claude Johnson for a 21-0 lead.
Both Frazier and Johnson were members of the preseason Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore Team.
The Zebras led 27-7 at halftime on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Kelsey Collins.
The Panthers (6-3, 3-3) pulled within 27-25 with two touchdowns, but couldn't convert the tying two-point play, an off-tackle run.
The loss dropped Cabot into a fourth-place tie with Little Rock Catholic heading into the final week of the regular season.
Catholic beat Cabot 30-12 on Sept. 28 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Only the top four teams advance to the playoffs. Little Rock Central, which lost to Cabot but rallied to beat Catholic 28-27 on Friday night, is alone in third place at 4-2.
Sports, Pages 30 on 10/27/2007