BATESVILLE -- Little Rock McClellan survived Blackout Friday and the Batesville Pioneers to advance to its first state championship game since 1994.
Trent Lewis ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns and Jaylin Cunningham intercepted the ball in the end zone to end Batesville's final drive to allow the Lions to escape Pioneer Stadium with a 14-9 victory in the Class 5A semifinals.
Class 5A state championship game
PULASKI ACADEMY (13-0) VS. LITTLE ROCK MCCLELLAN (10-2)
WHEN 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock
LAST MEETING Pulaski Academy won 41-30 on Oct. 2
The game was delayed 51 minutes by a power outage that stuck a large portion of the city and was marred by numerous mistakes in the punting game by both teams.
McClellan(10-2) advances to play unbeaten Pulaski Academy in next week's title game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
McClellan was on the verge of wrapping up the game when the stadium went dark at 9:18. The Lions had just taken over at the Batesville 36 after a punt when the lights went out. When play resumed at 10:09, Lions running back Pierre Strong fumbled.
Batesville had two possessions after the blackout, with the first ending on a turnover on downs at its own 27, but the Pioneers regained possession with 2:27 left after McClellan fumbled on a fourth-and-1 play.
A 29-yard completion from Zach Griffin to Trey Thompson put the Pioneers (9-4) on the McClellan 45 with 1:50 left.
After two running plays by Louis Sonnier moved Batesville to the 31, Griffen attempted to loft a pass into the end zone but it was pulled down by Cunningham. The Lions ran four plays to run out the clock.
The game was played in a steady rain and was beginning to come down harder when the lights flashed then went out. Officials said a vehicle hit a guide wire and knocked out power to about a fourth of the city.
Lewis scored on runs of 15 and 3 yards.
Both teams experienced trouble with the punting game. Batesville scored its touchdown with 5:10 left in third quarter when senior Sam Stalker recovered a blocked punt in the end zone. That score came one minute after Ricardo Terreaux kicked a 22-yard field goal to cut McClellan's lead to 8-3.
McClellan responded with an eight-play, 79-yard scoring drive that ended with Lewis's second touchdown. Lewis also had runs of 38 and 16 yards on the drive to move the Lions into scoring position.
Batesville finished with 161 yards of total offense, and Griffin was only 5 of 16 for 85 yards. Sonnier led the Pioneers in rushing with 68 yards.
Strong topped the 2,000-yard mark for the season, but managed only 63 yards on 22 carries.
Thanks to a wet field and a consistent rain, both teams struggled to hang on to the ball.
McClellan fumbled four times in the first half, losing two, and once giving Batesville the ball on the McClellan 15 with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
Batesville, however, couldn't do anything with the gift, turning the ball back over to McClellan three plays later when linebacker Lee Ridley recovered Sonnier's fumble.
McClellan responded with a time-killing 17-play drive that ended on downs at the Batesville with 56 seconds remaining.
Batesville managed only 36 yards and two first downs in the first half. One of the first downs came on a pass interference call late in the first half.
McClellan's lone scoring drive of the first half consisted of runs of 24 and 15 yards by Lewis. The two-play drive was set up by a bad snap on a Batesville attempted punt.
Sports on 11/28/2015