2-4A

Palomino's muddy field goal lifts Ricebirds over Mustangs

On a night when most of the field was soggy and muddy, Stuttgart sophomore Paulo Palomino was about to try a game-winning field goal on the best place on a bad field.

"We knew where we were,'' Stuttgart Coach Josh Price said. "We noticed that before the game. With the field conditions like they were, I thought we had a better chance with him kicking it than we would throwing it."

Palomino's 27-yard field goal with 1:19 left, which followed a drive set up by Mitchell Stovesand's interception, lifted the Ricebirds to a 30-27 victory over Central Arkansas Christian on Friday night at Mustang Mountain in North Little Rock.

Thanks to a 35-yard kickoff return by Seth Crews, CAC still had life in the final minute. The Mustangs stalled once they got inside the 25 and had to settle for a 47-yard field-goal attempt by junior Eli Jenkins on the final play. Jenkins slipped on his approach and the kick fell short.

The Ricebirds (8-1, 7-0 2-4A) will have a first-round bye next week in the Class 4A playoffs.

"I didn't think the ending would be that close, but we knew Coach [Tommy] Shoemaker would have his guys ready to go," Price said. "We have already drawn the one seed and those guys are fighting for their playoff life. We told our kids about that at all week. I was proud of the way we came back after halftime and made enough plays to get the win.

[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Click here for more scores, recaps and photos]

"We hardly did anything right. We let field conditions become an issue, and their undersized D-line and linebackers were absolutely dominating us up front because we were just going through the motions. We had no intensity and no emotion."

Receiver Tyion Berry made sure the Ricebirds stayed in the game. He had 4 touchdown receptions from Tim Johnson on passes of 41, 13, 27 and 33 yards.

"He has turned into our best receiver this year," Price said. "He had an outstanding game tonight like he has had the last few games."

CAC (5-5, 4-3), which got the conference's fourth seed and will open the playoffs at Dumas next week, used touchdowns from its special teams and defense to challenge the conference champs.

Berry's first score made it 7-0, but the Mustangs answered with a 7-yard touchdown run by Eli Garrison. CAC missed the extra point, leaving the score at 7-6.

Berry's next score made it 13-6 and the Ricebirds missed the kick. Crews returned the kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and Jenkins' extra point made it 13-13. CAC led 20-13 at the half after Krishaun Watson returned an interception 55 yards for a score.

Brown next score made it 20-19 and Stuttgart failed on the two-point try. The Ricebirds made it 27-20 when Berry scored again and Merritt Coker caught the two-point pass.

Garrison grabbed a 20-yard touchdown pass and Jenkins kicked it 27-27 with 2:37 left in the third quarter.

Sports on 11/03/2018

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