Wynne uses 28-point 2nd quarter to take charge

WYNNE -- Wynne reached the 5A state title game for the second time in three years on Friday night when the Yellowjackets defeated Watson Chapel 77-41 in semifinal action at home.

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

The Yellowjackets (13-0) outgained Watson Chapel 478-418 en route to eliminating the Wildcats (8-5).

Junior fullback Ta'Von Hicks led Wynne with 30 rushes for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Luke Chapman rushed 13 times for 26 yards but scored 3 times on 1-yard runs.

Senior Devontai Pounds rushed 4 times for 63 yards and 1 score while adding a 100-yard interception return to seal the game late in the fourth.

"The kids played hard," Wynne Coach Chris Hill said . "We didn't play great but Watson Chapel is a very talented football team. We were able to get stops when we needed to though and got that huge turnover at the end, so we'll take it being 13-0 and a great night for the Wynne program."

Watson Chapel quarterback Jaquan Dorsey passed for 338 yards and 5 touchdowns, including 171 yards and 8 receptions by Devontre Curry, who was one of three Watson Chapel players to catch a touchdown pass.

Wynne had one possession in the first quarter, and the Yellowjackets trailed 13-7 going into the second quarter.

Junior Chris Miller scored the only Wynne touchdown in the first quarter on a 95-yard kickoff return moments after Watson Chapel scored on the game's opening drive.

Watston Chapel scored on a 42-yard pass from Dorsey to Jonathan Harris on the opening drive and later took the lead on a 1-yard rush from Dorsey with 2:49 remaining in the quarter.

The Yellowjackets outscored the Wildcats 28-7 to take a 35-20 lead at the half, and Wynne outgained Watson Chapel 242-215.

Junior fullback Mason Burnett scored on an 8-yard yard run 32 seconds into the second quarter followed by scoring runs of 7, 27 and 2 yards for Hicks, who finished the half with 24 carries, 178 yards and 3 touchdowns.

A 63-yard touchdown pass from Dorsey to Curry with 8:53 left in the first half cut the lead to 21-20, but that was Watson Chapel's only score.

"Hicks played really well and got a lot of tough yards," Hill said. "Pound for pound he's the toughest kid we have."

The Yellowjackets stretched their lead to 49-20 less than three minutes into the second half behind two 1-yard scoring runs from Chapman, the second coming on a one-play drive after Watson Chapel fumbled the kickoff at its 1.

Watson Chapel interrupted Wynne's scoring run with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Dorsey to Curry but Wynne countered with a 50-yard run by senior Pounds to make it 56-28.

Dorsey added another touchdown pass, this time to Davion White, and Chapman added another scoring run, his third of the quarter, to make it 63-35 Wynne.

"We never really could relax to the very end because Watson Chapel is so explosive on offense," Hill said. "It's the semifinals though and there are no bad teams now. We expected a full four-quarter game and that's what we got."

Dorsey threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Harris with 10:08 left to make it 63-41 after the failed extra point. The Yellowjackets followed going to their reserve backfield and still scoring as Miller ran in from 16 yards out with 6:25 to play to make the score 70-41.

Pounds added a 100-yard interception return with 2:36 left in the game to seal the outcome.

Sports on 11/26/2016

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