The Little Rock McClellan Crimson Lions needed a play to preserve the No. 3 seed from the 5A-Central Conference in the Class 5A playoffs.
One of its senior leaders provided it Thursday night.
Bennie Kemp, the Crimson Lions' quarterback and middle linebacker, hit Parkview junior quarterback Geary Allmon and forced a fumble, recovering it to help his team seal a 26-24 victory over the Patriots at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
With 24 seconds remaining, Allmon ran 11 yards to the Parkview 33, but fumbled and Kemp recovered. Parkview was out of timeouts and McClellan ran one play to run out the clock.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Thursday night's results + recaps, photos and more]
"I was happy," Kemp said. "We got the fumble. We got the ball back. We're in the playoffs. That's all I could think about on the play."
McClellan (7-3, 5-2) will be the 5A-Central's No. 3 seed in the Class 5A playoffs, which begin Nov. 10. The Crimson Lions will travel to the 5A-East's No. 2 seed in the first round.
It's McClellan's third consecutive playoff appearance under Coach Maurice Moody, who led the Crimson Lions to the state championship game in 2015 and the quarterfinals last season.
"It's big time," Moody said. "We're starting to build some tradition. That's what I wanted to do. We want to keep this thing rolling. We got a big ballgame next week."
Parkview (4-6, 3-4) will not qualify for the 5A playoffs, losing its final four games of the regular season after starting 3-0 in the 5A-Central.
"Our kids did a very good job of moving this program in the direction that it needs to," said Parkview Coach Brad Bolding, who was in his first year with the Patriots. "We're not happy with how it ended. But we got a lot of momentum going into the following year. We got a good group of kids coming back. I'll be excited about getting these kids rolling."
Senior Tyrse Lair led McClellan offensively with 109 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries. Kemp rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries and 1 touchdown. He threw one pass for 3 yards Thursday.
Lair's 39-yard touchdown run gave McClellan a 26-18 lead with 5:18 left. But Parkview pulled within 26-24 with 2:56 remaining on Allmon's 8-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Joe Howard. Howard attempted to score on the two-point conversion, but was stopped by McClellan junior Caleb Hendrix.
McClellan took a 6-0 lead with 7:55 left in the first quarter on junior Damion Martin's 42-yard touchdown run. Parkview tied the game at 6-6 with 7:21 to play in the quarter on Allmon's 13-yard touchdown run.
The Crimson Lions regained the lead 14-6 with 6:20 to play in the first quarter on Kemp's 1-yard touchdown run and his two-point conversion run.
McClellan led 14-6 at halftime, but Parkview cut the lead to 14-12 on Allmon's 56-yard touchdown pass to Howard with 11:20 left in the third quarter.
Sophomore running back Jeremiah Akins extended the Crimson Lions' lead to 20-12 with 6:32 left in the third quarter on a 20-yard run. However, Parkview got to within 20-18 with 1:31 left in the quarter on Allmon's 1-yard run.
Allmon completed 7 of 17 passes for 157 yards and 1 touchdown and rushed for 117 yards and 1 touchdown on 26 carries. Howard caught 3 passes for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Moody was pleased with Thursday's victory, but moreso with the competition between his school and Parkview, both Little Rock School District schools.
"A hell of a ballgame," Moody said. "It was great for the Little Rock School District and great for both programs."
Sports on 11/03/2017