HAZEN -- The second Mud Bowl ended much better than the first for the Hazen Hornets.
Hazen splashed through the quagmire at Hornet Field to a 14-6 state 2A state semifinal victory over the McCrory Jaguars on Friday night to earn its third trip to a state championship game.
"I'm so proud of my guys," Hazen Coach Joe Besancon said.
Hazen, which plays Junction City for the Class 2A title next Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium, last made it to a state final in 1982when it lost to Rison 2-0 in the Class A championship played on a field so saturated by rain that locals dubbed it the Mud Bowl.
That game holds a spot in the town's athletic lore, unrivaled until Friday night, when rain during the day softened the field, and even heavier rain during and after a 79-minute lightning delay in the second half, turned the field to slop.
The closest either team came to scoring after the delay was a six-minute drive by Hazen that was stopped on downs at the McCrory 29.
McCrory took over with 2:33 left in the game, but it needed eight plays to advance to its 39 and only six seconds remained.
Quarterback Cade Campbell threw a Hail Mary pass that missed Kaigen Rogo in a crowd near the Hazen 30.
"Both teams kind of shot themselves in the foot in the second half, but obviously a lot of that had to do with the weather," Besancon said.
An early McCrory mistake, a single poor snap on a punt attempt before the rain came, may have the decided the game.
Hazen's defense, spearheaded by linemen Colton Felts and Donovan Gurley, and senior linebacker Lucas Tenison, stopped McCrory's first possession at its 3, and the Jaguars faced fourth and 11.
But Hazen picked up a safety and a 2-0 lead when the ball was snapped over the punter's head.
McCory attempted an onside kick with its free kick, but the ball bounced backward from the McCrory 25 to the 21 to give Hazen possession. Junior running back Trenton Mosby ran in from the 1 on the drive's fifth play, and Hazen, after a failed two-point conversion attempt, led 8-0 with 4:37 left in the first quarter.
"That really hurt us, but I can't say enough about how our kids battled back," McCrory Coach Chris Kennon said.
Campbell's 25-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Hall put McCory within 14-6 midway through the second quarter.
Hazen beat McCrory 30-0 in a 2A-6 Conference game on Sept. 26, but Besancon said his players were focused completely on McCrory (9-4) and not who it might play in Little Rock.
"Our guys knew McCrory was a much better team than the one we played in September," Besancon said. "And, truly, the score of our first game wasn't indicative of how well they played that."
Hazen (14-0) advanced to the semifinals with victories of 48-0 over Western Yell County, 42-0 over East Poinsett County, and 22-14 over Rison in last week's quarterfinals. McCrory's playoff route began with a 36-14 victory over Mountainburg, but its second-round and quarterfinal victories over Gurdon and Cross County, respectively, were by a total of eight points.
Hazen, which will be looking for its first state championship in football, also appeared in the 1973 Class B championship, when it lost to Farmington, 8-6.
Sports on 12/06/2014