STAR CITY — There was only one problem with Star City’s sizable halftime lead over DeWitt - it wasn’t enough.
The Bulldogs ended up rolling past DeWitt 34-6, keeping them in the hunt for a No. 2 seed out of the 8-4A with one game left in the regular season. But considering Star City came out blazing against the Dragons (1-8, 1-5), Bulldogs Coach Blair Brown was hoping for more than a 20-6 halftime lead.
“I was disappointed in how we finished the second quarter,” Brown said. “It’s a phenomenon that young people have, even in college in the pros. It’s an athletic phenomenon. Once you get in there, you think you’re going, but you lose kind of an edge. Mentally, you lose your edge. We could have blew it out in the first half, but we went in there and we refocused.”
That focus was apparent on the first play of the second half, when backup quarterback Davondrick Shelton ran the ball 72 yards to get Star City (7-2, 4-2) near DeWitt’s goal line, setting up a 4-yard touchdown run by Rashod Davis to put the Bulldogs up 27-6.
That was more to Brown’s liking, and Star City didn’t look back.
The Bulldogs scored on their first three possessions, taking a 20-0 lead. That included a stretch that began with Austin White hitting Levonte Gardner for a 56-yard touchdown pass, only to have the Bulldogs immediately retake possession after an interception by Zack House.
House’s interception set up a 24-yard touchdown run by Drue Harvey.
“We saw flashes tonight where I thought we played quite well, offensively and defensively,” Brown said.
The Dragons were unable to sustain drives despite using various methods of moving the ball. DeWitt’s run game out of the Wing-T often had the Dragons facing long-yardage situations on third down, and a move to a Spread look later in the game fared no better thanks to the pressure brought on by Star City’s pass rush.
The victory assures the Bulldogs of a playoff spot in what has been a crowded 8-4A field behind first-place McGehee.
“We’re in a lot better situation now because we put ourselves in that situation,” Brown said. “We’re in good shape. We don’t worry about what’s happening around us. We just try to take care of what we’re doing.”
PINE BLUFF DOLLARWAY 30, LAKE VILLAGE 0
LAKE VILLAGE - Josh Liddell scored two first-quarter touchdowns and Pine Bluff Dollarway (2-6, 2-4) shut out Lake Village (1-6, 0-6).
Liddell scored on runs of 60 and 21 yards. Shamario Allmond added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Tracy Smith scored on a 5-yard run in the fourth.
MCGEHEE 15, DUMAS 7
DUMAS- Roger Blackmon and Deondrai Haynes scored touchdowns to lift McGehee (8-1, 6-0) to a victory over rival Dumas (4-4, 3-3).
Dumas scored on a 50-yard pass in the second quarter.
WARREN 41, HAMBURG 10
HAMBURG - Jalen Cobb had six receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown and Kilay Cox rushed 87 yards for two touchdowns as Warren (5-3-1, 4-2) beat Hamburg (3-6, 2-4).
Otis Miller had 15 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown and Warren quarterback Drake Jones passed for 251 yards.
Lamco Harris had 20 carries for 84 yards and one touchdown for Hamburg.
Sports, Pages 30 on 10/29/2011