BENTON - An 88-yard drive for Chris Eastburn’s fourth-quarter touchdown run helped Lake Hamilton turn a 14-point deficit into a 35-21 victory over Benton on Friday night.
Benton (5-3, 3-2 7A/6ASouth) led 21-7 after Trek Beaugard’s second touchdown pass to J.V. Davis. Beaugard and Davis connected on touchdown passes of 40 and 27 yards in the first and second quarters, the first coming on fourth-and-10 and the second on third-and-11. Beaugard also ran for a 17-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Lake Hamilton (6-2, 4-1) began its comeback with a 66-yard drive for a 5-yard Donnell West touchdown run. Benton’s first punt returned the ball to the Wolves at their 38. Nathan Sawrie’s 30-yard pass to Trevor Mittelstadt finished a 62-yard scoring drive, Eastburn running for the conversion and a 21-21 tie 48 seconds before halftime.
The Wolves opened the third quarter with a 60-yard march, taking their first lead on Sawrie’s 2-yard sneak and Ethan Johnson’s point-after kick. After the teams exchanged punts, 10- and 16-yard Sawrie runs and pass-interference and Benton unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties on the same play led to Eastburn’s clinching 9-yard touchdown with 5:39 to play.
Josh Nazario, who scored Lake Hamilton’s first touchdown on an 88-yard kickoff return, intercepted Beaugard on Benton’s final possession.
Eastburn had a game-high 87 rushing yards on 18 carries, Sawrie adding 80 on 13. Sawrie went 5 for 10 passing for 71 yards, all in the first half. Lake Hamilton ran 33 second-half running plays, finishing with 240 yards on 53 rushes.
Beaugard finished 18 for 27 for 262 yards, Davis making 12 catches for 222. Benton had 383 total yards to Lake Hamilton’s 311, but hurt itself with 11 penalties for 81 yards. The Wolves had four for 20.
Beaugard and Benton’s Shaun Carey each rushed for 64 yards.
BRYANT 28, TEXARKANA 0
BRYANT - Bryant (5-3, 4-1 7A/6ASouth) had little problem with Texarkana (2-5, 1-4) to stay at the top of the conference standings.
Bryant quarterback Brandan Warner threw a 27-yard touchdown to Devonte Howard in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Warner tossed a 45-yard touchdown pass to Brushawn Hunter for a 14-0 advantage to start the second half before Howard scored his second touchdown on a 1-yard plunge with one second left in the third quarter for a 21-0 Hornet lead. Kylon Boyle scored on a 12-yard touchdown run for the final score.
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/26/2013