BOONEVILLE -- Booneville made the most of its possessions just before halftime and just after the break, then it didn't look back Friday night at Bearcat Stadium.
Booneville scored with seven seconds left before halftime and rode that momentum to a 63-47 victory over Hoxie in a quarterfinal matchup in the Class 3A state playoffs.
"We knew we didn't matchup well with them," Booneville Coach Scott Hyatt said. "They are a well-coached team. I'm glad we got to them on offense, because we sure couldn't stop them."
Hoxie cut Booneville's lead to 21-13 with 44 seconds left in the first half on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Cole Sears, but it didn't take long for Booneville (11-2) to respond.
The Bearcats took over at their own 32 with 44 seconds left in the second quarter, and running back Bryson May found Hayden Fennell for a 47-yard pass that put the ball on the opposing 18 with 19 seconds left in the half.
Booneville capped the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run by Matt Berry to give Booneville a 28-13 lead with 7 seconds left in the half.
Booneville used a five-play, 50-yard drive on the first possession of the second half to push its lead to 35-13. The drive was capped by Josh Smith's 29-yard run.
"That touchdown just before halftime was a killer," Hoxie Coach Tom Sears said. "We got it close and then they score. They took advantage of it, and we were chasing them all night after that."
Booneville finished with 450 rushing yards and came up with big-play scores throughout the game.
Berry led the way for the Bearcats, finishing with 14 carries for 165 yards and 3 touchdowns. Smith added 154 yards and 3 touchdowns on 13 carries. May had 116 yards and 2 touchdowns on 19 carries.
The Bearcats used runs of 15, 24, 11 and 55 yards for touchdowns in the second half to put the game out of reach. Booneville also had rushing scores of 49, 46 and 14 yards in the first half.
"I actually thought it would be a ground-and-pound game, but getting those big plays surprised me," Hyatt said. "They were getting some big plays, too. I thought coming into this it would be a great defensive game."
Cole Sears kept Hoxie (11-2) in it in the second half as he finished 19 of 27 passing for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also had 20 carries for 37 yards with 4 touchdowns.
The Mustangs cut the lead to 49-33 with 10:46 left in the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Sears but couldn't get the stops needed after that.
"This was a tough one, and the last one with my son," Tom Sears said. "We just couldn't slow them down. I give them all the credit in the world. They made some big plays, but we battled until the end."
James Johnson caught 5 passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns and Dylan Littlejohn added 6 catches for 117 yards and 1 touchdown for Hoxie.
Sports on 11/29/2014