Sports

OWLS FALL TO LUMBERJACKS

By Sean Saunders/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, October 24, 2009 2:12 AM CDT

WARREN — The McGehee Owls proved that they can compete with the elite of the 8-4A Conference on Friday. But they just couldn’t find the end zone.

McGehee’s Justin Davis prepares for impact with Warren’s Allen Tatum to put an end to the play. PINE BLUFF COMMERCIAL/RALPH FITZGERALD.

The Owls outgained Warren 221-199 and maintained possession for more than 70 percent of the game. But losing four fumbles, including two in the red zone and another that was returned for a touchdown, proved to be too much to overcome as they lost 14-0 in a pivotal 8-4A Conference showdown at Jim E. Hurley Jr. Stadium.

“When you’re playing for the conference title and playing against this competition, you can’t afford to make mistakes,” McGehee coach Marcus Haddock said. “We moved the ball effectively all night and played against an outstanding defense that physically, we shouldn’t have even been on the field with. They had a great scheme and changed it up a lot and our kids made adjustments to their changes. It was a chess match all night.”

For the third straight game, the Lumberjacks (5-3, 5-0) had their defense carry them to victory. The high-octane passing attack suffered once again from dropped passes, forcing quarterback Hayden Smith into a 7-of-17 night for only 107 yards.

“We were horrible on offense. That’s just the bottom line,” Warren coach Bo Hembree said. “We didn’t play well. The defense played well, but we had three turnovers and probably six or seven dropped passes. Three of those should have been touchdowns.”

Defense dominated the first half on both sides. The only team to crack the scoreboard in the first half was Warren with a 39-yard touchdown strike to the corner of the end zone from Hayden Smith to Allen Tatum. But every other Warren drive either stalled or ended with McGehee (4-4, 3-2) forcing a turnover. Smith took a shot down the field after the touchdown, and senior Isaah Holmes made the interception to set up a lengthy McGehee drive.

The Owls drove all the way to the Warren 10-yard line in 12 plays. But after a holding penalty, Grant Gill dropped back to pass but dropped the ball that Antonio Harding alertly pounced on for the turnover.

But while Gill had a bad night offensively by turning the ball over three times, he kept the Owls in the game by interrupting the Warren passing game. He broke up three passes, two with hard hits over the middle, and intercepted Smith right after losing his first fumble.

But Gill gave it right back on the ensuing possession when Harding came up with his second fumble recovery. Warren went into halftime ahead 7-0 despite being outgained 105-84.

“Any time you get a chance to get a turnover against these guys, it’s big,” Haddock said. “Again, we get the turnover, we get the football and then we give it right back to them.”

The game-changing play occurred near the start of the third quarter. McGehee had picked up two first downs and was near midfield when Gill was stripped by Devonte Ross just as Gill crossed the 50, and Ross returned the recovery 51 yards for the touchdown.

“That was a big play for us because we couldn’t score on offense,” Hembree said. “That gave us a two-score lead, and we knew our defense was playing well enough to carry us. They never really threatened us but once after that.”

McGehee put together one more lengthy drive in the fourth quarter that made it all the way to the Warren 5. But senior Mark Allen Cummings fumbled the toss on a sweep and Chase Ashcraft recovered for the turnover.

McGehee running back T’Cambry Green eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground once again, leading all rushers with 114 yards on 24 carries. Though the Owls’ 183 rushing yards weren’t even close to Warren’s season-high allowed, Haddock gave credit to his offensive line against a bigger Warren defensive front.

“Our biggest offensive lineman is literally 205 pounds,” Haddock said. “We were going against defensive linemen who were at least 235, but that’s nothing different than we’ve seen almost all year. But our kids were up to the challenge.”

Haddock told his team that they got a taste of what the next level is like. His Owls stood toe-to-toe with a program that has averaged double-digit wins a season this decade, and he impaired them to take that momentum into their rivalry game at Dumas next week.

“I tell you what. These 26 kids can compete with anybody that walks out on the field with them,” Haddock said. “They believe that and that’s the difference. Physically, they’re not ever going to be the strongest or the fastest, but they have the state of mind to finish. ... It’s the funniest bunch I’ve ever watched.”

The win put Warren in the driver’s seat for the conference’s No. 1 playoff seed and one win away from at least a share of the conference title, which it will seek when it travels to Hamburg next week. But the outcome also reinforced the respect Hembree now has for Haddock and his rebuilding project of a once-powerhouse program that won five state titles throughout the 1980s and ‘90s.

“He’s doing a great job there,” Hembree said. “He’s turned the program around in two years and I think they’re going to make the playoffs this year.”

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