BEEBE -- Little Rock Christian finally solved Beebe's Taylor Boyce in the fourth quarter as the Warriors held on for a 35-21 victory Thursday night at Bro Erwin Stadium in Beebe.
The Warriors (9-1, 6-1 5A-Central) await tonight's results to see which team out of the 5A-West they will meet on their home field next Friday.
"5A-Central is a really tough conference," Little Rock Christian Coach Eric Cohu said. "We have some of the best teams in the state. Maumelle gave us a good game last week, and Beebe beat Maumelle. Beebe is a good football team, and we knew we were going to be in a battle on the ground."
Through three quarters, Boyce had carried the ball 26 times for 197 yards, but the Warriors held him to only a yard on three carries in the final quarter.
"We were certainly keying him, because he's gonna get the ball more than the others," Cohu said of the 5-6, 150-pound running back. "He's a really tough football player, but size doesn't show heart."
When it came time for the Warriors to control the ball in the fourth quarter, Cohu turned it over to 5-8, 220-pound Kendel Givens. The main running back for Little Rock Christian carried the ball on seven of the Warriors' 15 plays in the fourth quarter, gaining 42 yards.
"Our offense, we take what we can get," Cohu said. "We run a lot of [run-pass options], and Kendel did a good job. He's a big, physical player, but he's got good feet."
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Things happened quickly in the first quarter as the Warriors scored on their first possession, a five-play, 65-yard drive that ended with quarterback Justice Hill passing 39 yards to Michael Loggins for the score with 10:21 left in the quarter.
It didn't take Beebe (4-6, 3-4) very long to tie the game as Boyce outran the Little Rock Christian defense for a 61-yard touchdown with 7:57 left in the quarter.
Beebe recovered an onside kick, taking possession at the Warriors' 38. Things went awry at that point when Gage House fumbled the ball to the Warriors on first down.
Little Rock Christian got a first down on a Hill-to-Matthew Ware pass, but Hill's next pass went straight to Beebe defender Braden Healy, who returned the ball to the Warriors' 39.
It took eight plays, but House made up for his error with a 6-yard run for the score.
Little Rock Christian tied the game at 14-14 when Givens ran for 35 yards, but fumbled at the goal line, allowing Ware to make the recovery for the touchdown. That scored held until halftime.
Beebe was stopped on its first two possessions of the third quarter, the second possession starting after the Badgers recovered a fumble, the Warriors' fourth turnover.
Little Rock Christian needed three plays to score after forcing a Beebe punt. Loggins caught passes for 29 and 5 yards, then Hill scored on a 20-yard run.
Beebe quarterback Alex Boyce scored from 2 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter, tying the game at 21-21.
Little Rock Christian scored once on a 5-yard run by Hill and again on a 21-yard pass from Hill to Loggins, setting the final score.
Sports on 11/02/2018