BAUXITE — The De Queen Leopards, led by Jace Stephens’ three touchdowns, defeated the Bauxite Miners 40-20 in 7-4A Conference action Friday night at The Pit.
Bauxite led 14-7 at halftime, but the second half was all De Queen as the Leopards capitalized on fumbles and interceptions.
“I was proud of our guys in the second half. I thought Bauxite outplayed us the first half as we blew some chances and had some penalties,” De Queen Coach Sam Goodwin said. “Our kids really played well the second half. Our whole offense played very well.”
The Leopards tied it up midway through the third quarter by capping at 52-yard drive with a 15-yard run by Stephens with 7:51 left in the quarter and getting the extra point from Kevin Barrera for a 14-14 score.
De Queen went ahead after recovering a Miners fumble at its 1-yard line. Nine plays later, quarterback Devon Hagood ran from the 1 for the go-ahead score with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
An onside kick was recovered by the Leopards on the Miners’ 42 and Hagood immediately passed to Marquette Williams for a quick score and a 27-14 lead.
The Leopards pushed their lead to 34-14 with 3:30 left in the game after Brennon Watklins intercepted a pass at the 23 and Stephens scored on the next play.
Bauxite responded with a touchdown pass from Tim Dunlap to Zac Brewer from the 7 with 2:06 left, but Stephens ran 48 yards on the first play after the ensuing kick to set the final score with 57 seconds left.
The Miners scored on their first possession of the game by driving 72 yards in five plays, capped by a 5-yard run by quarterback Tim Dunlap taking less than two minutes off the clock. The kick by Alex Mendoza was good for a 7-0 lead with 10:31 left in the first quarter.
The Leopards’ only score of the first half came after Watkins intercepted a pass on the 42 and ran to the Miners’ 5. Three plays later, Chris Jones ran 1 yard and Barrera added the extra point with6:17 left in the first quarter.
The Miners went ahead late in the first half on an 11-play drive that covered 62 yards. Jay Spradlin ran 25 yards untouched up the middle for a 14-7 lead, after Mendoza’s extra point with 52 seconds left in the first half.
Sports, Pages 30 on 10/29/2011