Championship games draw more than 52,000

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 12/05/2014 - Benton's Thomas Harris is grabbed by a pile of Pine Bluff defense during their championship game December 5, 2014 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/MELISSA SUE GERRITS - 12/05/2014 - Benton's Thomas Harris is grabbed by a pile of Pine Bluff defense during their championship game December 5, 2014 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

The 2014 high school football season ended Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock with Junction City winning its 40th game in a row to earn its third consecutive Class 2A state championship.

Junction City's streak is the state's fifth-longest and longest active streak. The Dragons will open the 2015 season needing four victories to reach Shiloh Christian's 44-game streak from 1998-2000.

Four of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's six preseason No. 1 teams won state titles -- Bentonville (Class 7A), Pine Bluff (6A), Warren (4A) and Junction City (2A).

Bentonville won its fourth title since 2008, and Pine Bluff earned its first state title since 1995. Pulaski Academy (5A) claimed its first state title in three years and fourth since 2003. Warren won its first state championship since 2002 and third overall, while Charleston (3A) earned its second consecutive crown and fifth since 2005. Junction City captured its sixth state title.

The Class 6A final (15,651) drew the largest crowd of the six championship games, while the 7A final (4,861) had the smallest announced attendance. In all, 52,686 attended the championship games.

Here is a recap from the six state championship games:

CLASS 7A

BENTONVILLE 24, FAYETTEVILLE 21

ATTENDANCE 4,861

MVP Cody Scroggins, WR/DB, Bentonville

Senior running back Dylan Smith scored from 6 yards out with 26 seconds left to lift Bentonville over its 7A-West Conference rival Fayetteville on Dec. 6.

Bentonville (9-4) won its fifth state title since 2001, rebounding from an 0-4 start that included losses to =Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst, Broken Arrow, Okla., Bergen (N.J.) Catholic and 7A-West rival Fort Smith Southside.

Tigers senior wide receiver and defensive back Cody Scroggins earned the game's MVP award. He intercepted two passes, with the last one sealing Bentonville's victory.

Bentonville junior quarterback Kasey Ford completed 15 of 23 passes for 143 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Sophomore quarterback Taylor Powell finished 22-of-28 passing for 305 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for Fayetteville (11-3), which beat two No. 1 seeds, Conway (7A/6A-Central) and Fort Smith Southside (7A-West), to reach the state championship game.

CLASS 6A

PINE BLUFF 50, BENTON 10

ATTENDANCE 15,651

MVP Ladarius Skelton, QB/S, Pine Bluff

Pine Bluff finished with 523 yards of total offense, including 357 rushing, in their rout of 6A-South Conference rival Benton on Dec. 5.

Pine Bluff (10-3) had lost the previous two Class 6A state championships -- 51-44 to Greenwood in 2012 and 31-24 to El Dorado last season -- but it took control early and led 20-7 before a lightning delay interrupted the game with 7:51 left in the second quarter.

The delay lasted 1 hour and 8 minutes, but it didn't slow down the Zebras, who won their first state title since 1995.

Junior quarterback Ladarius Skelton accounted for 285 yards and six touchdowns for the Zebras, earning MVP honors. He rushed for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns on 13 carries and completed 8 of 14 passes for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Pine Bluff held Benton (11-1-1) to 346 yards.

CLASS 5A

PULASKI ACADEMY 38, WYNNE 28

ATTENDANCE 9,897

MVP Will Hefley, QB, Pulaski Academy

Quarterback Will Hefley threw for almost 500 yards and Pulaski Academy's defense sacked Wynne quarterback Ross Trail 12 times as the Bruins earned their fourth state title with a victory over the Yellowjackets on Dec. 6.

Pulaski Academy (13-1) won its first state championship since 2011, when it beat Malvern for the Class 4A title. Its other state titles came in 2003 and 2008.

Hefley, a senior, completed 36 of 56 passes for 486 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions as the Bruins compiled 551 yards of total offense. He threw for 4,860 yards and 62 touchdowns in 2014.

Will Hastings, a senior wide receiver, caught 14 passes for 234 yards and finished the season with 2,036 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns.

Trail completed 22 of 31 passes for 253 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for Wynne (12-2).

CLASS 4A

WARREN 48, MENA 14

ATTENDANCE 7,518

MVP Kilay Cox, RB, Warren

Kilay Cox rushed for 214 yards and 5 touchdowns on 35 carries to lead Warren in a rout of Mena on Saturday.

Cox, a senior running back, scored on runs of 14, 2, 1, 8 and 1 yards for the Lumberjacks, who led 35-0 at one point.

Warren (12-3) won its first state title since 2002. It had lost in the state championship game in its two previous appearances, to Nashville in 2006 and to Booneville last season.

Senior wide receiver Jaylon Marshall caught 5 passes for 106 yards and 1 touchdown and also had 2 interceptions on defense.

Mena (12-3) was playing in its first state championship game since 1976. Senior quarterback Sage Kesterson threw two touchdown passes for the Bearcats.

CLASS 3A

CHARLESTON 33, SMACKOVER 26

ATTENDANCE 9,861

MVP Ty Storey, QB, Charleston

Ty Storey threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Taylor King with 17 seconds left and Charleston held off Smackover on Friday for its second consecutive Class 3A state championship and fifth overall.

Storey engineered the Tigers' game-winning 10-play, 65-yard drive. He ran on the first nine plays of the drive before throwing his only pass.

The senior quarterback accounted for all five Charleston touchdowns. He completed 24 of 38 passes for 218 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushed 35 times for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Storey, who has orally committed to play at the University of Arkansas, finished his high school career with 154 touchdown passes and 12,860 yards, good for second and third, respectively, on the state career lists.

Charleston (14-0) has won 29 consecutive games under Coach Greg Kendrick, who has not lost a game in his two-year head coaching career.

King caught 13 passes for 101 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Senior Logan Clark passed for 235 yards and three touchdowns for Smackover (13-2).

CLASS 2A

JUNCTION CITY 38, HAZEN 6

ATTENDANCE 4,898

MVP JaQwis Dancy, RB, Junction City

Junction City won its third consecutive Class 2A state championship and sixth overall with a victory over Hazen on Saturday.

Senior running back JaQwis Dancy rushed for 139 yards and 1 touchdown on 21 carries and returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown.

The Dragons (13-0) also won state titles in 2003, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013. They have won 40 consecutive games, the state's longest active winning streak.

Junction City led 21-0 at halftime and invoked the Arkansas Activities Association's sportsmanship rule in the third quarter for the 12th game in a row.

Logan Penn scored from 2 yards out for Hazen (14-1).

Sports on 12/16/2014

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