PB DOLLARWAY 34, WARREN 15
PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff Dollarway ran its way to a share of the 8-4A title.
Senior tailback Keyshawn Williams rushed 25 times for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns in Dollarway' 34-15 victory over Warren on Thursday night at Cardinal Stadium.
The Cardinals (8-2, 6-1 8-4A) earned the conference's No. 1 playoff seed after ending the Lumberjacks' 22-game 8-4A winning streak.
Warren (7-3, 6-1) was bidding for its third consecutive outright conference title, but was buried under an avalanche of mistakes and Dollarway's stout running attack (267 yards on 57 attempts) on a waterlogged grass playing surface.
Warren was penalized 11 times for 82 yards and struggled throughout the game with Shotgun snaps.
"Way too many penalties. Way too many bad snaps," said Warren Coach Bo Hembree, whose teams have won or shared 11 conference titles since 2000. "I think we set a record for penalties by a Warren football team tonight. We couldn't get a rhythm on offense and didn't handle the field conditions very well. They whooped our butts -- bottom line."
Dollarway never trailed. The Cardinals led 8-0 after one quarter, 14-9 at halftime and 26-9 after three quarters.
The Lumberjacks had a chance to take the lead to open the second half, but an interception at the Cardinals' 23 stalled the momentum.
Senior tailback Markell Scott scored on a 19-yard run five plays later to give Dollarway a 20-9 lead with 7:04 left in the third quarter.
Dollarway took a 26-9 lead on Williams' 29-yard touchdown run with 2:09 left in the third quarter.
Sophomore quarterback Simeon Blair didn't attempt a pass in the second half, and only threw three times in the game for the Cardinals.
Dollarway played most of the game without standout senior wide receiver Henri Murphy, who sustained a lower leg injury after a reception late in the first quarter.
Dollarway didn't need Murphy, however, because its running game was so dominant.
"We average like 470 yards a game," Dollarway Coach Cortez Lee said. "If we can hold onto the ball, we're a good team. Just line up and run it -- that's what we do."
Williams scored Dollarway's first touchdown on a 14-yard run with 7:41 left in the first quarter.
Warren was held to two first downs in the first half, one coming on a 66-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Justin Gorman to senior wide receiver Darveon Brown to make it 14-9 with 4:32 left in the second quarter.
Dollarway had taken a 14-2 lead on Blair's 2-yard touchdown run with 5:17 left in the first half.
Warren's first points came on a safety with 10:24 left in the first half when the snap went over the punter's head and rolled out of the end zone.
Senior tailback Kilay Cox finished with 118 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries for Warren. Cox had 95 yards in the second half.
Sports on 11/07/2014