Big third quarter pays off for Cabot

CABOT -- A big third quarter gave the Cabot Panthers the edge they needed to outlast the Searcy Lions 49-36 in the 7A/6A-East season finale at Panther Stadium on Thursday night.

Cabot (6-4, 4-3) broke a 22-22 tie and outscored Searcy 27-0 in the third quarter to take a 49-22 lead in an otherwise back-and-forth game with nothing but playoff momentum on the line for each team.

Searcy (4-6, 3-4) fought back with 14 fourth-quarter points and recovered a Cabot fumble with 6:33 left, but the Panthers pushed the Lions back into a fourth-and-31 punting situation and were then able to run out the clock.

"Nothing is ever easy for us. We make it so hard on ourselves," Cabot Coach Mike Malham said. "But I'll tell you what, Searcy came to play."

Malham bemoaned two blocked extra points, two fumbles and a porous, first-half pass defense that Searcy exploited almost at will. Defensive adjustments and the big third quarter made the difference for the Panthers.

"Hopefully it gives us a little momentum wherever we go next week," Malham said.

Cabot will be a No. 3 seed in the 7A playoffs and Searcy a No. 2 seed in 6A.

Cabot opened the second half scoring with Jason Schrunk's 45-yard touchdown run in which he ran over a defender and gave the Panthers a 28-22 lead with 10:22 left in the third quarter. The extra-point attempt was blocked, but the Panthers' Easton Seidl recovered Luke Dixon's fumbled kickoff at the Lions 42 and Cabot drove for Jalen Hemphill's 6-yard touchdown. Kolton Eads' conversion carry made it 36-22 with 8:05 left in the quarter.

Eads accounted for a one-play possession when he ran through the left side and went 56 yards for a 43-22 lead with 2:42 to go in the third.

The Cabot defense allowed Searcy just 1 yard on the Lions' first two possessions of the second half. Dylan Smith ended the third quarter when he intercepted Andrew Neaville's pass and returned the ball to the Searcy 9. Hemphill scored from there for a 49-22 lead with 2:17 left in the quarter.

Searcy's first play of the fourth quarter was a 60-yard completion from Anthony Arnold to Dixon to the Cabot 6. Arnold ran for a 4-yard touchdown, while a two-point conversion pass left the Lions trailing with 11:09 left. Searcy recovered the ensuing onside kick and Arnold found Wallace Robinson on a halfback pass to cut it to 49-36 with 10:04 left.

Cabot recovered the next onside-kick attempt, but fumbled the ball away after driving to the Searcy 10.

"Any time you're two scores down it's a ballgame," Malham said.

Searcy's Chris Qualls kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to tie it 22-22.

Two failed extra points and an interception by Cabot's Logan Melder were the only real blots on Searcy's first half. Cabot turned the interception into a 39-yard touchdown drive capped by Hemphill's 1-yard touchdown and conversion run for a 22-19 lead with 32 seconds to go.

Searcy raced to a 13-0 lead with a quick opening drive and another scoring possession after Cabot fumbled the kickoff. The Lions opened the scoring with Neaville's 22-yard touchdown pass to Rivers Ridout with 7:45 left in the first quarter.

After the fumbled kickoff the Lions started at the Panthers 27 and scored in two plays, making it 13-0, after one of Qualls' successful extra points, on a 19-yard pass from Neaville to Ridout with 7:01 to go in the quarter.

Cabot responded with an eight-play drive ending with Jarrod Barnes' 27-yard touchdown run on a toss sweep to the left to pull within 13-7 with 3:18 left in the quarter. Cabot's Jack Whisker stuffed Dixon on a fourth-and-1 gamble and the Panthers took over at their 8.

Cabot covered the distance with help from Jess Reed's 47-yard keeper up the middle to the 20, and they took the 14-13 lead when Barnes scored on an 18-yard run. But Neaville went 5 for 5 on Searcy's next drive and completed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Dixon, and another blocked extra point left it 19-14 Searcy with 3:48 to go in the half.

Sports on 11/07/2014

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