No surprise: Zebras return to title game

JONESBORO -- Pine Bluff extended its winning streak to 14 games Friday night by defeating Jonesboro 52-14 in the Class 6A semifinals to earn a third consecutive state title game appearance.

Jonesboro lost in the 6A semifinals for the fifth consecutive year, including a third loss to Pine Bluff after the Zebras won in 2014 and 2012.

Pine Bluff, which improved to 12-0, finished the game with 563 yards of total offense, 529 coming on the ground.

The Zebras, the defending 6A state champions, led 14-0 after the first quarter and 49-14 at halftime to enforce the Arkansas Activities Association's mercy rule for the second half. Pine Bluff added a field goal in the third quarter to set the final margin.

"I thought we played very well," Pine Bluff Coach Bobby Bolding said. "Our defense did what we needed it to get off the field and get their offense off the field and our offense on the field."

Jonesboro (8-4) finished with 272 yards of total offense.

Senior quarterback Ladarius Skelton led Pine Bluff with five rushing touchdowns, all in the second quarter, finishing with 292 yards on 15 carries while also completing 1 of 3 passes for 34 yards.

Senior running back Romar Reades added 199 yards and 2 touchdowns, both in the first quarter, on 17 carries.

"I thought Skelton played well," Bolding said. "We didn't complete the ball but once, but I thought him and Romar ran the ball hard and the offensive line blocked exceptionally well."

Jonesboro sophomore quarterback AJ Aycock completed 8 of 19 passes for 178 yards, including 86 yards on 4 receptions by senior Ke'dren Brunson.

"Our defense was off the chain tonight," Bolding said. "It was three and out early on and we were able to score and kind of put it away early. But now we have one more game to go."

Reades helped give Pine Bluff a 14-0 lead after one quarter when he scored touchdowns on runs of 6 and 51 yards, finishing the opening quarter with 7 carries for 94 yards. Reades' first score came on Pine Bluff's second possession after the Zebras forced a Jonesboro punt on both of the Hurricane's first two offensive possessions.

Skelton helped blow the game open in the second quarter when he scored five times on runs of 65, 14, 33, 10 and 37 yards to give the Zebras a 49-14 halftime lead. Skelton ran nine times for 221 yards in the second quarter in which the Zebras accumulated 360 yards of offense.

Jonesboro managed to score twice in the last 2:46 of the first half when Aycock threw 14-yard touchdown passes to senior Princeton Pitts and junior Jonathan Adams. The Hurricane finished the first half with 257 yards of offense.

Senior Justin Williams gave Pine Bluff a 52-14 lead with 6:23 left in the third quarter on a 35-yard field goal.

Sports on 11/28/2015

Upcoming Events