Deatherage, Lions Keep Bobcats At Bay

By Henry Apple

Posted: October 27, 2012 at 4:14 a.m.

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GRAVETTE — Zach Deatherage had already batted away one fourth-down pass attempt against Berryville, but that wasn’t enough heroics Friday night.

The senior defensive back then grabbed a batted ball out of midair for a crucial interception inside the Gravette 5 with two minutes left and sealed the Lions’ 33-20 victory in 4A-1 Conference play at Lion Stadium.

“One of my teammates, Josh Lockhart, tipped it up,” Deatherage said. “And I just jumped up and got it from him. It felt great to get that pick and end the game. Our defense executed well, and it was a great team effort.”

Cody Robinson’s 19-yard touchdown run gave Gravette (4-5, 2-3) a 33-20 lead with 6 minutes, 13 seconds remaining and forced Berryville (1-7, 0-6) to throw the ball. The Bobcats, however, did have some success moving the ball until they went inside the Lions’ 10.

Berryville quarterback Garrett Stone threw two incompletions before Deathridge stepped in front of the intended receiver on fourth down and knocked the ball down. Cody Powell took over on the Bobcats’ last possession and drove them to the 8 before Deatherage interception.

“That’s a senior coming through at the end in the last game he’ll play here,” Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said. “That’s something he’s going to remember, and he did a great job on the coverage.”

Gravette jumped out to an early 14-0 behind the combination of Chase Brody and Shay Shimer. The two connected for a 40-yard touchdown pass on the Lions’ second offensive play, then scored again with a 1-yard shovel pass on fourth down.

Robinson then took over after that. The senior tailback accounted for 105 of his 141 yards in the second half and finished with three touchdowns, including a 2-yard run in the third quarter.

“We just pounded Cody at them pretty good in the second half,” Harrelson said. “The offensive line did a good job, and we had some others that made some plays.”

Berryville didn’t go away easily. The Bobcats cut Gravette’s lead to 27-20 on Ethan Chapin’s 5-yard touchdown run to end the third quarter, but they never had a chance to get closer.

“I thought our boys fought hard, and I was proud of their effort,” Berryville coach Eric Daniel said. “We had some opportunities there, and we had one or two blocking assignments that hurt us. Otherwise, I was proud of our kids.”

Gravette closes out its regular season next week at Prairie Grove.

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