5A-WEST CONFERENCE Criswell sparks Devil Dogs to late comeback

— Morrilton was on the verge of getting blown out, but one play swung all the momentum to the Devil Dogs.

A 51-yard screen pass from David Ford to Jamar Criswell with 4:21 left in the third quarter started a 22-point run to end the game Friday, lifting Morrilton to a 32-25 victory over Huntsville at Eagle Stadium.

Huntsville (2-7, 0-6 5AWest) had taken a 25-10 lead just 19 seconds earlier on a2-yard run by Cody Wages. But Criswell took a screen pass on the first play after the kickoff, broke a tackle at the 40 and outran the Huntsville defense down the left sideline for the touchdown to pull the Devil Dogs (2-7, 1-5) within 25-17.

Huntsville followed with two straight turnovers, enabling Morrilton to claw back in the game.

Criswell ran 3 yards and Ford hit Jake Wilson for a two-point conversion to tie the game 25-25 with 11:19 left.

Ford scored the winning touchdown on a 12-yard run with 1:45 remaining.

The Eagles threatened ontheir final possession, reaching the Morrilton 19 with seven seconds remaining. Devin Cornwell knocked away a Cody Stevens pass at the goal line and Stevens fired incomplete on the final play.

“We have had some games where we’ve started slow and fought back and just didn’t finish well,” Morrilton Coach Cody McNabb said. “I was happy to see them finish the football game the way they did.”

Morrilton had its problems early. Ford fumbled on the game’s first play, leading to a 42-yard touchdown run by Jeff Neal for a 7-0 Huntsville lead with 10:22 left in the first quarter.

Ford ran 4 yards on the final play of the first quarter for a 7-7 tie, but he again fumbled on the Devil Dogs’ next offensive play. That led to a 28-yard run by Andy Dotson to give Huntsville a 13-7 lead with 8:53 left in the first half.

The Eagles followed with a 14-play scoring drive on their next possession, Stevens hitting Dotson for 11 yards with 1:33 left in the first half for a 19-7 lead.

The Devil Dogs got to within 19-10 on a 27-yard field goal by Nathan Adams on the final play of the first half.

The Eagles pushed the margin to 25-10 with 4:40 left in the third quarter onWages’ touchdown. It was set up by a 54-yard pass from Stevens to Sean Furr.

“We gave up too many big plays but we came back and made some big plays,” McNabb said. “I was proud of our kids for pushing forward from the turnovers and making plays when we needed to.”

Huntsville, which had 17 plays of at least 10 yards, finished with 426 yards offense. Stevens was 28-of-47 for 276 yards, including 178 to Furr on 14 receptions.

Criswell, a sophomore tailback, ran 23 times for 178 yards and caught 6 passes for 81 yards. The Devil Dogs gained 339 yards.

Sports, Pages 27 on 10/30/2010

Upcoming Events