Badgers' backs shred Panthers

Beebe’s Jovaughn Wyrick collides with Greenbrier’s Grant Brown (32) during Tuesday night’s game. Wyrick rushed for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns on 25 carries.
Beebe’s Jovaughn Wyrick collides with Greenbrier’s Grant Brown (32) during Tuesday night’s game. Wyrick rushed for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns on 25 carries.

Beebe wasn't going to panic Tuesday night after trailing by two touchdowns in the first half.

Instead, the Badgers turned to their two-headed monster in the backfield.

Senior Jovaughn Wyrick rushed for 213 yards and 4 touchdowns on 25 carries and Trip Smith ran for 167 yards and 1 touchdown on 32 carries as Beebe defeated Greenbrier 41-27 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Wyrick scored on runs of 34, 25, 51 and 5 yards for the Badgers, who advanced to the Class 5A semifinals last season.

Smith turned in the 21st 100-yard rushing game of his career and scored a 1-yard run on fourth and goal with 10:37 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Badgers their first lead, 27-20, with 10:37 remaining.

"Everything is built around those two," Beebe Coach John Shannon said of his Dead-T offense. "When those two go, we're going to go. Jovaughn had the big plays, and Trip just pounded and grounded and wore them down."

Wyrick's 5-yard run gave Beebe a 34-20 lead with 4:32 left, but Greenbrier answered as senior quarterback Harold Ross threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Thomas to cut the lead to 34-27 at the 3:13 mark.

Beebe put away the game with just over a minute left as Wyrick ran 33 yards down the left sideline for his fourth touchdown of the game to extend the Badgers' lead to 41-27 with 1:07 left.

Greenbrier Coach Randy Tribble, whose team led 14-0 with 8:50 left in the first half, said his team didn't have an answer for a Badgers rushing attack that gashed the Panthers for 375 yards.

"It just snowballed," Tribble said. "We got undisciplined a little bit."

Greenbrier led 14-13 at halftime, and Ross' 18-yard touchdown pass to Alex Massey extended the Panthers' lead to 20-13 with 10:49 left. Ross completed 27 of 43 passes for 342 yards with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception while Massey had 105 yards on 8 receptions.

But Beebe tied the game at 20-20 with 10:35 left in the quarter when Connor Patrom returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards.

Greenbrier struck first, going 69 yards in 12 plays. Ross found Carter Coats for an 8-yard touchdown and Ross' two-point conversion pass to Massey gave the Panthers an 8-0 lead.

Greenbrier extended its lead to 14-0 in the second quarter on Ross' 23-yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 8:50 left, but Beebe responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by Wyrick's 25-yard run that pulled the Badgers to within 14-7 with 2:08 left in the half.

The Badgers got the ball back after Garrett Grier recovered a Greenbrier fumble. On a third-and-12 play from the Greenbrier 49, Wynrick sprinted 51 yards for his second touchdown of the half. A bad snap on the extra-point attempt and failed pass allowed Greenbrier to hold on to a 14-13 lead with 31 seconds left in the half.

Sports on 09/02/2015

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