Time was right for a Golden Lions ‘Stampede’

Sunday, November 18, 2012

— Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s defense did more things wrong than right during most of Saturday afternoon’s 42-41 victory over Prairie View A&M.

A defense that included five seniors playing their final games at Golden Lion Stadium gave up six touchdowns and a season-high 476 yards to Prairie View A&M.

Defensive end Brandon Thurmond said at times they were “looking like zombies.”

But with his team clinging to a one-point lead with less than two minutes remaining and Prairie View A&M on UAPB’s 2, Coach Monte Coleman let his defensive backs coach Henry Miller call “Stampede,” a safety blitz that was tried, unsuccessfully, when Prairie View scored a touchdown earlier in the game.

But this time, senior safety Jarvis Webb met Courtney Brown at the line of scrimmage with contact that forced a fumble that Xavier Lofton fell on at the UAPB 4. That allowed quarterback Ben Anderson to run out the final 1:52 of a regular-season ending victory at Golden Lion Stadium.

“I said a prayer right before we called that play,” Coleman said. “That’s the good thing about this football team. Good football teams find a way to win. That’s what happened tonight.”

It turned out to be the final play at Golden Lion Stadium for Webb, a three-year starter from Pine Bluff.

“We have a strong defense,” said Webb, who finished with 10 tackles. “I knew somewhere in those downs we were going to make a stop somewhere.”

Webb did, but it didn’t come until UAPB’s defense had yielded more points than in any game since a loss to Jackson State last season.

Anderson, who completed 20 of 27 passes for 262 yards with 2 touchdowns and rushed for 97 yards, led an offense that gained 604 yards and three times scored touchdowns with the game tied or UAPB (9-2, 8-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) leading by one point.

The Golden Lions’ sixth consecutive victory allowed them to tie the school’s single-season record for victories and look ahead to the SWAC Championship in three weeks.

As the Western Division winner, UAPB will play Jackson State (7-4, 7-2), which wrapped up the Eastern Division with a 37-11 victory over Alcorn State on Saturday, on Dec. 8 in Birmingham, Ala.

UAPB slogged through its final two regular-season games having already known it had clinched its first division title since 2006. The Golden Lions won 24-17 at Grambling State last week and failed to put away Prairie View A&M (3-8, 3-6) on Saturday.

“It’s human nature, when you achieve when you’re trying to achieve, there’s going to be a letdown,” Coleman said.“It’s not coaching, it’s not intentional. It’s just something subconsciously that happens.”

William Dunn, who started at quarterback because he’s a senior, threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ledarius Eckwood to give UAPB a 7-0 lead after its first drive, and Anderson led touchdown drives on his first three when he took over to put UAPB up 28-13 with 9:56 left in the second quarter.

But, with about five minutes left in the first half, Anderson fumbled when he was sacked, and Spencer Nelson scored on a 2-yard run to get the Panthers within 28-20. Then Anderson threw an interception to Brian Medlock, and Nelson caught a lateral that he tossed to Robert Primes for a 42-yard Prairie View touchdown. In the span of 26 seconds, UAPB’s 15-point lead had been trimmed to 28-27.

Anderson’s 5-yard pass to Alton Taylor made it 35-27 at halftime, but Prairie View twice got within a single point with touchdowns in the second half. The first time came when Brown scored on a 2-yard run - Coleman said “Stampede” was called on that play, too, but his secondary lined up incorrectly - and then on a Jacoby Anderson touchdown catch from Jerry Lovelocke with 14:53 left.

After each of its last three touchdowns Prairie View A&M Coach Heishma Northern elected for an extra point rather than go for a two-point conversion that would have made up for Chris Barrick missed extra point in the second quarter.

Northern said he didn’t regret any of the decisions.

“Our philosophy is: Don’t go for 2 until you have to,” Northern said. “We’re going to stick to our philosophy. In no way do I think not going for 2 cost us the game.”

Sports, Pages 34 on 11/18/2012