Dancing around midfield at Quigley-Cox Stadium in Little Rock, Jonesboro quarterback D.J. Anderson and linebacker Malcolm Stafford waved their arms at running back Martin Stafford.
“You need to cool off, boy,” Anderson told Stafford on Friday night.
Stafford needed a breather after rushing for 195 yards and two touchdowns for No. 3 Jonesboro (4-0, 2-0) in the Hurricane’s 35-24 victory against 7A/6A-East Conference foe Little Rock Central.
“He just does that week in and week out,” Jonesboro Coach Randy Coleman said. “When it comes right down to it the guy is our bread and butter. We’re going to dance with the date that brought us.”
The 5-9, 195-pound senior carried the ball 32 times for Jonesboro, which gained 377 yards of total offense, including 256 rushing against theTigers (1-4, 0-2).
With under two minutes until halftime, the Hurricane covered 81 yards in three plays, with Stafford’s 5-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the second quarter putting Jonesboro in front for good 21-17.
The touchdown came two possessions after Jonesboro held the Tigers to a 20-yard Wes Whatley field goal and 17-14 lead after Central drove to the Hurricane 3 with 5:07 left until the half.
“That’s probably the turning point in the game,” Central Coach Ellis “Scooter” Register said of the Hurricane touchdown.
Jonesboro built on that turning point early in the second half, thanks again to Stafford. He ran 36 yards to the Central 7 then bulled in from the 3 on fourth-and-goal for a 28-17 lead with 9:51 left in the third quarter.
“Getting that score was huge,” Coleman said. “We knew we could make it a twopossession game, and that was real important for us.”
Up until that point, neither team had led by more than seven.a
Jonesboro receiver Kevonte Pope scooped up a bouncing punt at his 25-yard line, raced left then turned upfield at midfield for a 75-yard touchdown return and a 7-0 lead with 10:52 left in the first quarter.
Central running back Malcolm Robinson tied it on the ensuing drive by scoring from a yard out with 6:00 remaining in the quarter.
The Tigers, who totaled 376 yards of offense, took a 14-7 lead on its next possession when quarterback Cooper Westbrook threw a screen pass to Logane Moragne and Moragne covered 86 yards for the touchdown.
Jonesboro tied it 14-14 on its quarter-closing drive when quarterback D.J. Anderson, who was 6 of 12 for 100 yards, threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Jerome McIntosh.
Westbrook finished with 280 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16 of 31 passing, but threw 4 interceptions.
CABOT 26, MARION 12
MARION - Kyle Edgar scored two touchdowns to lead the Panthers (3-2,1-1) to a 7A/6A-East win over the Patriots (2-3, 1-1).
Max Carroll and Chris Henry also scored a touchdown apiece for Cabot.
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/29/2012