Alma hits quick, drops Maumelle

Time of possession meant little in this one.

Alma scored on one play to start and finish three first-half drives and took command early, and they controlled Maumelle throughout a 39-14 victory at Hornet Stadium in Maumelle on Friday night.

[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]

After holding Maumelle to three plays and punt on the game's first drive, Alma (7-3, 6-1 5A-West) scored on its first play from scrimmage -- a 46-yard flea-flicker pass from junior receiver Brayden Johnson to senior Drake Pendergraft.

Four minutes later, Alma (2-8, 2-5) again needed one play to score, this time with a 36-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Noah Dotson to Johnson to take a 15-0 lead with 7:39 left in the first quarter.

Alma was up 22-0 after a Dotson 3-yard keeper early in the second quarter.

Dotson completed 13 of 18 passes for 201 yards and led Alma's rushers with 55 yards on 6 carries.

"They are very well coached," Maumelle Coach David Farr said. "Other than their quarterback, who is a great player, they don't have a lot of superstars. They're just very well coached and they get the get the best out of everyone."

"We're just a part of the Alma tradition," Alma Coach Doug Loughridge said. "We don't have a lot college scholarship players on our team. We're not the flashiest team. We're just made up of a bunch of blue-collar kids, and the kids buy into that."

Maumelle was held to 172 yards of offense but to just 74 in the first half. Alma had 365 for the game.

A second half of a mercy-rule running clock was put into place after Alma scored twice more in nine seconds, first on a 3-yard run by junior reserve quarterback Garrison Jensen.

Alma junior Dillon Crims recovered the following pooch kickoff, and on the first play from scrimmage on Alma's sixth possession, Dotson threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Brayden Harris and Alma took a 36-0 lead with 5:55 left in the first half.

At the end of the half, Maumelle had time-of-possession advantage of 5 minutes, 16 seconds.

Maumelle reserve senior quarterback Cameron Porras threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, one of 15 yards to sophomore Evan Robinson and 5 yards to senior John Word, after he replaced sophomore starter Xavion Morgan. Porras started most of last season but was replaced by Morgan three games into this season.

"I lost a lot of confidence after not getting to play for a while, but this helped a lot," Porras said.

Alma will advance to the next week's Class 5A playoffs. Maumelle will begin to prepare for next season.

"We're getting ready to hit the offseason," Farr said. "We will be improved next year. I promise that."

Sports on 11/05/2016

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