This team knows who to turn to.
An early struggle between the Little Rock Christian Warriors and Wynne Yellowjackets turned into a runaway led by senior tailback Damarea Crockett, who rushed for 155 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead Christian's 49-21 victory at Warrior Stadium in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A playoffs on Friday night.
"He's so strong," Christian Coach Jeff Weaver said. "He's explosive. He's a guy that's hard to get to the ground. Give him just a little bitty crease, and he has a chance to go make a big play."
Christian (12-0) scored on two of its first four possessions to lead 14-0 early in the second quarter after a 1-yard touchdown run by Crockett and an 18-yard run by senior receiver Isaiah Harper.
But Wynne (6-6) countered with a 22-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Luke Chapman to junior receiver Devontae Pounds and, following a Christian fumble, a 46-yard run by Chapman to tie the score with 5:58 left in the second quarter.
"That's the kind of thing their team does," Weaver said. "They're a really well-coached football team with great tradition. I have the utmost respect for the Wynne football program and all they've done."
To that point, Crockett had carried the ball seven times for a total of 12 yards. He rushed for 42 yards on five carries on Christian's next possession and scored on a 9-yard run to give the Warriors a 21-14 lead.
"Little Rock Christian did a great job of responding," Wynne Coach Chris Hill said. "They're a very good football team. They're 12-0 for a reason."
"I thought we played a really quality game in all three phases," Weaver said.
A 25-yard run by Crockett in the final minute of the quarter gave Christian a 28-14 halftime lead. By then Crockett had rushed for 90 yards.
"Crockett is hard to stop," Hill said. "He's a big ol' strong kid, and they're line does a good job of getting hats on people."
Christian senior quarterback Kyron Sanders' 28-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Joe Hampton completed the scoring with 9:47 left in the game.
Sanders completed 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns, both to Hampton.
Junior running back Jamar Dixon led Wynne with 124 yards on 23 carries. Chapman rushed for 95 yards on 8 carries and scored 2 touchdowns.
Christian will next play against west Little Rock rival Pulaski Academy in the 5A semifinals. Pulaski Academy advanced with a 78-54 victory over Hope.
"This will be a very anticipated game," Weaver said. "West Little Rock will be a crazy place to be. People have been asking me for the last two months, 'When are y'all going to play? When are y'all going to play?' When the bracket came out, everyone had it penned in at the semifinals. I know we both had good teams to play to get here. It's going to be a tough matchup, but it's going to be a lot of fun. We know we'll have to play very well to win."
Sports on 11/21/2015