Third-down efficiency gives Sylvan Hills boost

Sylvan Hills running back Jamar Porter (right) stiff arms Little Rock McClellan defensive back Tyrse Lair
during the first half of Friday’s game. The Bears had 419 yards of offense to beat the Lions 41-20.
Sylvan Hills running back Jamar Porter (right) stiff arms Little Rock McClellan defensive back Tyrse Lair during the first half of Friday’s game. The Bears had 419 yards of offense to beat the Lions 41-20.

Sylvan Hills Coach Jim Withrow has been more inclined this season to leave the Bears' punt team on the sideline and go for it on fourth down.

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What that's done, Withrow said, has relieved some pressure on third down.

On Friday night, the Bears were so good on third down they rarely needed to go for it on fourth down.

Sylvan Hills converted 15 third downs to extend drives, six of which ended in the end zone during a 41-20 victory over Little Rock McClellan at Bill Blackwood Field.

The Bears were 15 of 19 on third down, including a stretch in the first half in which they converted 8 of 9 to help build a 28-12 halftime lead to avenge a home loss to its 5A Central Conference rival last year.

"That's what wins you games," Withrow said of the third-down conversions.

Quarterback Jordan Washington, who accounted for 376 of the Bears' 419 yards, was the key to it all.

Washington passed for 220 yards and rushed for 156 yards rushing with 4 touchdowns. Washington, who completed 12 of 27 passes for the game, completed seven third-down passes and ran for first downs on four other occasions.

It was enough to impress McClellan Coach Maurice Moody, whose team was held to 195 yards.

"Their quarterback was awesome tonight." Moody said. "He was awesome throwing the ball, he was awesome running the ball. He's got a strong arm and he's smart and tough and he gave us issues all over the field."

McClellan beat Sylvan Hills 44-32 during the conference play on its way to last season's Class 5A state title game.

Pierre Strong rushed for 308 yards last season, but was nowhere near that Friday.

He caught a 39-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, but was held to 10 rushes for 38 yards, including a 24-yard run.

"I think we're faster on defense, I think we're tackling better, I think we're making better decisions," Withrow said.

Andre Campbell returned the opening kickoff 69 yards for a McClellan touchdown, and Campbell's 46-yard run in the second quarter got McClellan to within 14-12, but few other Lions made an impact.

"Everybody knows to find No. 5," Moody said, referring to Strong. "We're going to have to do things differently and kind of use him as a decoy and become creative and get some other guys the ball."

Moody said he thought another element led to Friday's loss -- the 10 penalties called on his Lions for 85 yards. One in particularly that struck Moody was a pass interference called on his defense on a pass he thought was uncatchable. Sylvan Hills was called for 10 penalties for 70 yards.

"Refs were absolutely horrible," Moody said. "I want everybody to know about it, I'm going to call the AAA. But I'm not going to blame them totally. They didn't help us any, but we didn't help ourselves a lot."

Three of the Bears' third-down conversions came because of the Lions' penalties, all of which came on touchdown drives as the Bears avenged a loss from last year and started the conference season with a victory.

"That's as big of a win as we've had in a long time," Withrow said. "They're a good team. They're physical. They're tough. They're fast."

Sports on 09/24/2016

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