A big second half from Josh Johnson lifted the Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs to a 41-14 victory over the Gosnell Pirates in the Class 4A playoffs Friday night at Mustang Mountain.
Johnson, a speedy junior receiver, grabbed 5 passes for 193 yards in the second half and 1 touchdown as the Mustangs (11-1) broke from a 14-14 halftime to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Pea Ridge next week. He finished with 11 catches for 252 yards and a touchdown, ran once for 13 yards and added an interception.
But it wasn't just Johnson who had the big night for the Mustangs. Senior running back Braylon Harris ran for 195 yards on 19 carries, caught 4 passes for 49 yards and had 4 touchdowns.
"Josh made some unbelievable plays and Braylon, he is a special back,'' CAC Coach Tommy Shoemaker said.
Noah Evans finished 20 of 29 for 325 yards. He was 7 of 8 in the second half for 201 yards.
The Mustangs dominated the second half but two interceptions -- one by Thomas Pugh and the other by Ronnie McShan -- at the goal line and a missed field goal left the game tied 14-14 at halftime.
Johnson had receptions of 27, 49 and 48 to set up Harris' second-half touchdown runs of 10, 2 and 9 yards. He capped the scoring with a 48-yard pass from Evans in the fourth quarter.
"We felt like tempo on offense would wear them down a little bit and I think it did,'' Shoemake said.
CAC scored on its opening drive, a 2-yard run by Kristian Watson. Gosnell answered with a 1-yard run by Carlos Blackman, who ran in the 2-point play for an 8-7 lead.
Harris' 63-yard run put the Mustangs back on top 14-7. Blackman added his second score on a 4-yard run with 3:23 left in the half. The two-point pass failed.
Blackman, who had more than 300 yards last week in the first round, finished with 152 yards on 16 carries. He also played quarterback some and added 70 yards passing.
"He is a special player,'' Shoemaker said. "It was going to take a great effort on our part to stop him. That was part of it. We had to have a lot of hats there. He is going to make plays. We were concerned about him."
Sports on 11/21/2015