PRESCOTT -- Jaylen Hopson did his best to rattle visiting Harding Academy on Friday night in a Class 3A semifinal at Prescott.
Harding Academy hardly noticed.
The Wildcats absorbed three highlight-reel plays by Hopson, Prescott's sophomore all-purpose back, and countered with efficient offense and stifling defense en route to a 42-21 victory.
Harding Academy (14-0) advances to play Osceola in next week's Class 3A title game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
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It wasn't as easy as the final score indicates, especially after Hopson returned the game's opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Prescott lead.
Hopson, listed at 5-6, 152 pounds, sprinted through an opening in the middle of the field, moved to the home sideline, then cut back against Harding Academy defenders to score.
But it was no big deal for the Wildcats.
"This is the fourth playoff game, and we've been behind to the start the game in all four of them," Harding Academy Coach Neil Evans said. "It probably shocked everybody else, but we're just used to it, unfortunately."
Prescott Coach Tommy Poole, coaching his final game, said Hopson's kickoff return gave the Curley Wolves hope.
"We knew we needed something like that to crank-start us," said Hopson, who will concentrate solely on his duties as principal and athletic director going forward. "They did a good job of stopping the momentum, taking the momentum back."
Harding Academy -- behind junior quarterback Caden Sipe (22-of-28 passing, 280 yards, 1 TD; 13-71 rushing, 2 TDs) -- rushed and passed the ball up and down the field against an increasingly weary group of Curley Wolves.
Harding Academy scored on drives 61 and 70 yards to open a 14-7 lead before Hopson broke free for a 75-yard run around left end to tie the game at 14-14 at the 9:03 mark.
Harding Academy regained the lead, 21-14, before halftime on a 2-yard run by Sipe, and Prescott could never get any closer.
Harding Academy extended its lead to 35-14 early in the fourth quarter after outgaining Prescott 123-0 in yardage in the third quarter, but Hopson gave the Curley Wolves one last sliver of life. His 53-yard kickoff return set up a four-play, 12-yard drive with 7:55 to play in the game.
"We knew we just had to keep taking the punches and fight back," said Sipe, who spread his passes around to Ty Dugger, Stone Sheffield, Connor McGaha and Isaac Miller.
"They beat us tonight," Poole said. "They made the plays they had to make. They've got a good football team. That's what good football teams do this time of the year."
Evans praised the play of Harding Academy's defense, which limited Prescott to fewer than 50 yards of offense not counting Hopson's 75-yard run.
"A lot of it was matching their personnel and have an idea of what was coming based on how the personnel was aligned," Evans said.
"This was a heavyweight bout. It was going back and forth. Our guys made the plays when it counted."
OSCEOLA 38,
CAMDEN HARMONY GROVE 6
OSCEOLA -- M.J. Vance accounted for five touchdowns to lead Osceola (12-1) past Camden Harmony Grove (11-3).
The Seminoles advanced to their second consecutive Class 3A state championship game, where they'll play Harding Academy on Dec. 14 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Vance threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two scores.
The Seminoles led 14-0 at halftime, then extended their lead to 21-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Vance completed 12 of 15 passes for 202 yards and rushed for 107 yards on 19 carries.
Sports on 12/07/2019