Cabot ends on top of seesaw matchup

Cabot defensive back Kyle McIntire (right) loses his helmet as he hits Benton running back D’Anthony Harper during the first quarter Friday at Panther Stadium in Cabot. Cabot won 37-28. For more photos, go to arkansasonline.com/921benton/.
Cabot defensive back Kyle McIntire (right) loses his helmet as he hits Benton running back D’Anthony Harper during the first quarter Friday at Panther Stadium in Cabot. Cabot won 37-28. For more photos, go to arkansasonline.com/921benton/.

CABOT -- Quarterbacks Garrett Brown of Benton and Tyler Gee of Cabot threw the ball around so much and so successfully Friday night that the fans at Cabot High School might have thought they were watching a video game.

Back and forth the two teams went, trading touchdowns and leads for more than three quarters.

Then Cabot stomped its Class 7A foot on Class 6A Benton, driving 70 yards and eating up 5:23 of the fourth quarter to put the finishing touch on a hard-fought 37-28 victory.

[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Scores, photos, stories, rankings + more » arkansasonline.com/arpreps/]

Cabot (3-0) enters 7A-Central Conference play next week against Little Rock Catholic at War Memorial Stadium. Benton (0-3) enters conference play against Russellville.

Gee, who received a scholarship offer from the University of Central Arkansas earlier in the day, passed for 360 yards and 4 touchdowns (3 to Kai Rudolph), but he was most pleased with that fourth-quarter touchdown drive that put the Panthers up by nine and left Benton with too much to do and not enough time to do it.

"We just said, 'Run the ball, everyone play as hard as you can and don't stop, and it worked out for us,' " said Gee, who contributed a 15-yard scramble on second and 10 to give Cabot a first down at midfield.

Cabot stayed on the ground from there, with the exception of a 12-yard pass from Gee to Jake Moudy, moving the ball on runs by Graham Turner, who carried six times for 31 yards.

Turner's 5-yard run off the right side put the Panthers up 36-28 with 3:30 to play in the game. Rhett Thurman's extra point made it 37-28, and first-year Coach Scott Reed finally felt like his team was in control.

"That was the thing we hadn't been able to do, mixing the run with the pass and finish the drive running the ball," Reed said.

Benton Coach Brad Harris said his team showed flashes of improvement, especially when it came roaring back from a 14-0 deficit to take a 21-17 halftime lead behind the play of Brown, who passed for more than 200 of his 312 yards in the first half.

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Benton trailed 23-21 after Cabot opened the second half with a five-play, 77-yard drive, which ended with a 35-yard scoring pass from Gee to Rudolph, who finished with four receptions for 188 yards.

Benton went 80 yards in six plays, scoring on Gavin Wells' 6-yard run with 7:26 to play in the third quarter. It was Wells' second touchdown of the game.

The Panthers had a chance to increase their lead late in the third after Caleb Allen intercepted a Gee pass at the Cabot 39.

Benton drove to the Cabot 6, but Harris went for a field goal on fourth down, but Bryan Araujo couldn't overcome a low snap and his 23-yard attempt went wide left, creating an opportunity for Cabot.

"We missed two field goals," Harris said. "The kicking game killed us tonight. We got to get better there."

Cabot regained the lead on a 31-yard pass from Gee to Kyler Carmack, and Thurman's extra point made it 30-28.

Benton had two chances to retake the lead but could not get a first down before Cabot got the ball back at its 30 with 8:53 to play.

"We couldn't get off the field," Harris said. "We needed to step up and make a play, and we didn't do it, you know."

Harris said he saw plenty of improvement after losses to Bryant and Arkadelphia.

"You don't ever want to be 0-3, but we feel like we've played three really good teams that's going to help get us better as a team," Harris said.

Gee said he doesn't have to be convinced after Benton turned a 14-0 deficit into a 21-17 halftime lead.

"It was crazy," Gee said of Benton's comeback. "I don't like those kind of games. They're stressful. Very stressful."

Sports on 09/21/2019

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