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| Carlisle's Kamryn Taylor [7] scores the Bison's first touchdown in their 38-13 win over the Lonoke Jackrabbits on Friday night at Fred C. Hardke Field. (Photo by Mark Buffalo) |
By Mark Buffalo
Staff Writer
CARLISLE — The fourth time was the charm for the Bison.
Class 2A Carlisle rallied from a 13-8 halftime deficit to beat the Class 4A Lonoke Jackrabbits 38-13 in the Central Lonoke County Showdown at Fred C. Hardke Field on Friday night in the season opener for both teams.
Lonoke and Carlisle had not played for 26 years before resuming the series in 2016 with the Jackrabbits winning the previous three matchups in convincing fashion.
“I told the kids this year that we were not going to have any excuses,” second-year Bison coach Caleb Shock said after the game. “We were going to try to be heavy hitters and swing big punched. I knew they were going to bring a lot of big punches. They are a good 4A football team. We knew we were going to have to come out swinging if we wanted to win.”
Carlisle won the opening toss and deferred to the second half. However, Carlisle’s Lynn Mills recovered an onside kick to start the game. That led to them taking an 8-0 lead following a 5-yard run by Kamryn Taylor with 8:32 left in the first quarter. Will Carter added the two-point conversion.
“We knew we were going to try an onside kick and see if we could get it,” Shock said. “We did. I was proud of our guys. We kept slugging and slugging away.”
Lonoke dominated the second quarter, scoring two touchdowns to take a 13-8 halftime lead.
Anthony Parks scored on a 3-yard pass with 4:30 left in the first half. After the play was over, Lonoke’s M.J. White was ejected after shoving a Carlisle player to the ground and throwing down his helmet in frustration. Lonoke attempted the two-point conversion but failed, leaving the Bison ahead at 8-6.
On it’s next possession, the Jackrabbits drove 43 yards in six plays with Davonta Adams scoring on a 4-yard run with 11 seconds left in the first half. The big play of the drive was a 47-yard pass from Spencer Pepper to Anthony Parks down to the Bison 12.
Lonoke’s Hunter Smith kicked the extra point.
“Lonoke made a lot of big plays in the second quarter,” Shock said. “I was proud of our guys being able to rebound in the third quarter.”
The Bison took the second half kickoff and drove 55 yards in 14 plays. It was capped off by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Carter to Isaac Monroe with 5:50 left in the third quarter. The two-point conversion was no good, leaving the score at 14-13.
Lonoke turned the ball over on its next possession when Parks was not able to catch a backwards pass from Pepper with the Bison recovering at the Lonoke 32. Six plays later, Carter scored on a 12-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the score 22-13.
The Bison added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Carter scored on a 29-yard run with 7:33 left and Taylor scored on a 41-yard run with 28 seconds left. Taylor scored three two-point conversions in the final 12 minutes.
“Ball control was the game plan going in,” Shock said. “They are explosive. No. 11 [Parks] can go. Their quarterback [Pepper] can go. No. 6 [Adams] can go. We told our guys that we had to move the sticks and we’ve got to win time of possession and keep the clock rolling.
“When their offense was on the field, our defense played awesome tonight. We flew to the football. We’ve got guys that run all over the field. Coach [Wes] Rowland does an outstanding job of getting those guys prepared. It showed up.”
The Bison finished with 316 yards in total offense. Taylor led the Bison with 139 yards rushing on 15 carries. Carter had 70 yards rushing on 9 carries. He also caught 4 passes for 54 yards and threw one pass for 21 yards.
Devarius Allen had 49 yards rushing on 13 carries before leaving the game with an ankle injury.
Eli Moody completed 4 of 12 passes for 54 yards.
Lonoke finished with 155 yards in total offense. Adams had 45 yards rushing on 7 carries. Pepper had 43 yards 12 carries. He also completed 6 of 17 passes for 76 yards.
Parks caught 3 passes for 46 yards. Shaw Lake caught 3 passes for 30 yards.
The Bison had two interceptions. One each by Carter and Drew Sanders.
Carlisle will host Johnson County Westside next Friday while Lonoke has the week off before hosting Beebe on Sept. 14 at James B. Abraham Stadium.
