PINE BLUFF 14, SYLVAN HILLS 3
Forced to depend on its defense Friday night, Coach Bobby Bolding and Pine Bluff battled heavy rain for about half the game and took a 14-3 victory over host Sylvan Hills, its first of the season.
The victory was almost a catastrophe for the Zebras (1-0 6A-East, 1-2-1) when starting quarterback Tyler Foots went down with what Bolding said later was a twisted knee only three minutes into the fourth quarter.
"We don't think it's anything major," Bolding said. "We had a lead and were playing pretty good defense. We didn't see any reason to put him back in the game."
Bolding was not as pleased with other aspects of the Zebras' game.
"We were pathetic offensively," he said. "We missed blocks, we made the same mistakes we have been making for three weeks and we haven't fixed it yet. If we don't fix it, we're not going to be playing football very long this year."
After picking up a first down on a 15-yard pass from Foots to Berkarion Black to open the game, the Zebras were called for holding, putting them in a first-and-19 at their own 42. Braylon Moody got 11 yards on first down, then Foot went for 10 and a first down at the Sylvan Hills 27.
Moody picked up another 5, putting them at the 22.
Foot found a wide open Isiah Mays inside the 5 on the next play and he went in for the score. Eddie Tee's point-after made it 7-0.
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The Zebras forced Sylvan Hills (0-1, 1-3) to punt but Pine Bluff couldn't move the ball either. Foot shanked the punt and it traveled only 6 yards, giving the Bears a first down at the Pine Bluff 28.
Quarterback Dionte Hutchinson picked up 8 yards, then Micah Williams lost two yards, forcing a third-and-4 from the 22. A Hutchinson pass fell incomplete, before Tito Mendoza hit a 40-yard field goal with 8:47 left in the first half.
After back-to-back punts, the Zebras started with a first down at the Sylvan Hills 45.
Moody picked up 6 yards on first down, then after an incompletion, Foot picked up 7 for the first down at the 32.
Foot found Black wide open behind the defense for 32 yards and another touchdown. Tee's conversion made it 14-3 and for all practical purposes the game was over.
Sylvan Hills took the second-half kickoff and, except for a Pine Bluff interception and a fumble recovered by the Bears on the same play, Sylvan Hills kept the ball for 9:43 before Mendoza was short on his second 40-yard field-goal attempt.
Pine Bluff only ran 16 plays in the second half and only threatened once when Tee was wide left on a 27-yard field-goal attempt with 8:12 remaining in the game.
The Bears ran 9 plays before turning the ball over on downs at the Pine Bluff 36, where the Zebras ran out the clock.
Sports on 09/22/2018