Saturday, November 10, 2012
CONWAY — The scouting report on Conway was that the Wampus Cats were a running football team in a spread formation.
Conway proved it is a balanced football team Friday night against Rogers High in a Class 7A playoff game at John McConnell Stadium.
Gamebreaker
CONWAY 42, ROGERS HIGH 6
Why The Wampus Cats Won
Quarterback Cody Rhoades threw three touchdown passes to cap one-play drives in the first half and the Wampus Cats scored two touchdowns off a Rogers fumble and a blocked punt to while scoring on their first five possessions.
Why The Mounties Lost
Rogers was plagued by poor field position in the first half and never crossed midfield. The Mounties defense had no answer for Conway’s passing attack as Rhoades had plenty of time to find open receivers, passing for 192 yards in the first half.
Conway quarterback Cody Rhoades threw touchdown passes on the Wampus Cats’ first two offensive plays of the game to start a 42-6 victory over the Mounties.
Conway (8-2) will face Fayetteville in the quarterfinals Friday at Harmon Field. Rogers ends the season at 6-5 as the Mounties qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2006
Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan said the Mounties did not match Conway’s intensity.
“I don’t think we were mentally ready for what this game was,” Flannigan said. “First time for our kids in the playoffs and maybe they didn’t approach it with the intensity needed. Partly our fault as coaches, but it’s tough to teach kids what it means to be in the playoffs. We made a lot of mistakes early, and it killed us on both sides of the ball and on special teams.”
Rhoades threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Anderson on Conway’s first play from scrimmage and the senior quarterback then hit Brandon Cox for a 16-yard score and a 14-0 lead a play after the Wampus Cats blocked a Rogers punt.
In all, Conway scored on its first five possessions for a 35-0 lead at halftime, which set the 35-point mercy rule clock running to start the second half. Conway also had a third one-play drive when Rhoades hit Cox for a 50-yard catch and run for a 35-0 lead. That score was setup by a Rogers fumble.
Rhoades entered the game averaging 120 yards a game passing and he finished 13-of-19 for 205 yards and three touchdowns after going 10-of-15 for 192 yards in the first half. Anderson finished with 115 yards on 19 carries while Cox had six catches for 103 yards.
“We saw a few things that we on film that we wanted to take advantage on and we worked on those things in practice,” Conway coach Clint Ashcraft said. “That is what we came out with offensively, and it worked out well. Cody is getting better every week, and that is what you need this time of year. We put a lot on his plate.”
Rogers had just 127 yards rushing before the mercy-rule clock started and they finished with 277 yards. Rogers’ only score came with less than a minute left in the game when quarterback Nick Wary raced 42 yards for a touchdown. Wary finished with 131 yards on 24 carries and he finishes the season with 1,100 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns.
Rogers was driving on its first possession as Wary picked up 35 yards on four carries to put the Mounties at midfield. But Conway stopped Rogers on fourth-and-2 and Rhoades needed just one play to find Anderson coming out of the backfield for an easy touchdown to start the Wampus Cats’ first half onslaught.