Sports

SECOND-QUARTER SPURT LIFTS ‘CATS OVER HOGS

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

Following Watson Chapel’s third touchdown of the second quarter, kicker Collin Massanelli lined up for the extra point and wide receiver Kyle Coleman kneeled down to hold. When the snap tumbled low Coleman, a junior wide receiver, picked it up and took off sprinting for the right corner of the end zone.

Coleman made it there just before three Texarkana defenders for the successful conversion, completing a play that showed both the versatility that Coleman brings to the Wildcats and just how well things were going for the home team on Friday.

That short run came after C.J. Branch connected with Sam Bass for a 37-yard touchdown pass, Watson Chapel’s third score in less than seven minutes of an eventual 30-6 win over the Razorbacks at Wildcat Stadium.

It was a win in which the Wildcats (6-2, 3-2 6A-South Conference) eventually asserted their presence on the ground — they rushed 46 times for 344 yards — after a slow first quarter and, in the process, took control of third place in the conference standings.

“The most important thing that happened tonight is that we were able to get a conference win and we were able to stay on track,” Watson Chapel coach George Shelton said. “They’re there if we continue to win.”

If there was a star as Watson Chapel spread the ball to eight different rushers during its homecoming win, it was Coleman. Splitting time between receiver, quarterback and safety, he rushed nine times for 52 yards, caught two passes for 38 yards, forced a fumble and, of course, improvised to score on a two-point conversion.

Branch, as he has every game this season, started at quarterback for the Wildcats but Coleman took snaps there in the second quarter and the majority of them in the fourth.

After his hit of Texarkana receiver Chris Stewart forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Ashton Lawrence early in the third quarter, Coleman began a drive at his own 48-yard line under center. After a 2-yard run on first down, he took an option keeper to the right side for 27 yards and later, when Branch re-entered at quarterback, he caught a 15-yard pass on a fourth-and-13 to keep the drive alive at the Texarkana 12-yard line.

Carries by him and Branch got the Wildcats to the 1-yard line where Nick Vanderbilt punched it in for their final score of the night.

“We see (Coleman) as a very talented athlete so we put him in a lot of various situations,” Shelton said. “He’s still a young athlete. He’s growing, there’s a lot of things that he’s able to do, but he’s never done (them) before.”

Texarkana coach Phillip Miller said it didn’t matter which quarterback was taking snaps for Watson Chapel, his team was having trouble stopping all of its ball carriers. About midway through the second quarter, the Wildcats began a string in which 22 of its runs went for at least 6 yards.

Miller, like most coaches who have faced the Wildcats this season, couldn’t find an answer.

“Their offensive line does a good job of blocking and their backs run hard,” Miller said. “It’s a complete effort. It’s not any one thing.”

Branch led Watson Chapel with runs of 20, 37 and 38 yards to finish with 133 on the ground. He also finished 4-of-9 passing for 86 yards and a touchdown. Kevin Johnson had 66 yards on eight carries, including a 44-yarder that set up his 3-yard touchdown run to give Watson Chapel a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.

Fullback Chris Jones added 41 yards, most of which came on a 26-yard touchdown run which, after a Johnson run on the two-point attempt, put the Wildcats up 15-0.

Texarkana (2-6, 2-3) was able to gain 329 yards of total offense, but had trouble finishing its drives as six of the Razorbacks’ nine possessions ended with a punt or a turnover on downs.

Quarterback Kierra Harris completed 12 of 23 passes for 169 yards and he also added 73 yards on 11 carries, but didn’t have much help. Charles Hillis, who had 80 yards on 12 carries against Pine Bluff last week, was held to 45 on 14 rushes on Friday.

The Razorbacks’ only sustained drive came right before the half, when Harris led a march that covered 70 yards in just five plays and ended with Hillis’ 3-yard touchdown run to make it 23-6.

“You’re always looking for a little (spark) somewhere,” said Miller, who was disappointed in his team’s five penalties for 45 yards. “We shot ourselves in the foot too many times, couldn’t put a drive together.”

Prior to Friday, these two teams made up half of a four-way tie for third place in the 6A-South. Now, Watson Chapel and Pine Bluff, which beat Sheridan 42-6 on Friday, are tied for a spot that guarantees a home game in the first round of the playoffs, and the Wildcats hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their 22-20 win over the Zebras earlier this month.

Though Shelton acknowledges his team’s final two regular season games, it plays at Sheridan next week before finishing with a home game against Benton, he likes the spot his team finds itself.

“It’s not locked up until we lock it up. We have eight quarters or more of football to go and get that done,” Shelton said. “Six-and-2 is an awfully good place to be, I can assure you that.”

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