LITTLE ROCK — Pulaski Academy held Ashdown to minus-43 yards in a 38-0 rout of the Bruins’ 7-4A Conference foe in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A playoffs at Rector Field on Friday.
Ashdown (9-4) didn’t get a yard of offense until Roy Jetton raced for a 35-yard gain in the third quarter. The Bruins (12-1) sacked the Panthers two quarterbacks nine times.
Dylan Little, Kyle Whelpley and Wilson Tharp each sacked Ashdown quarterback Raylon Hubbard in the first quarter, but the Panthers weren’t making it easy for Pulaski Academy quarterback Fredi Knighten, either. Vincent Webb and Carlo Gooden intercepted Knighten passes in the first half, while Ryan Burris and Terry Trotter had sacks.
Pulaski Academy finished with 417 yards of offense, though, and got its scoring started after a 47-yard screen pass from Knighten to tight end Hunter Henry. That set up an 8-yard touchdown run from Greyson Skokos.
Later in the first quarter, Knighten passed Kendall Bruce for a 36-yard gain and hit Henry with a 30-yard scoring pass on the next play for a 14-0 lead.
Webb intercepted Knighten’s third pass at the Bruins’ 15, but Little sacked Hubbard for an 8-yard loss, then George Friedmann dropped Hubbard for a 16-yard loss to turn the ball back over to Pulaski Academy.
Friedmann added a 36-yard field goal at the end of the first half to put the Bruins up by 17, and the Panthers went into the locker room having finished the half with minus-30 yards of offense.
Skokos capped a nine-play, 80-yard third-quarter drive with a 3-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal. His touchdown was set up by a 34-yard pass from Knighten to Garrett Lamb to the Ashdown 5 and Skokos’ run of 23 yards.
Two plays later, Whelpley recovered an Ashdown fumble in the end zone for a touchdown and a 31-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
Junior quarterback Jack Snider threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Bruce with 33 seconds to play in the third to put the sportsmanship rule into effect.
Sports, Pages 27 on 11/27/2010