Junction City didn’t need Jamario Bell or a last-second comeback to defend its state championship.
Instead, the Dragons did it with ridiculous ease.
Junior quarterback Randall Holyfield ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more scores in Junction City’s 60-0 victory over Des Arc in the Class 2A championship game Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
A waterlogged crowd of 3,212 watched the Dragons (13-0), top-ranked in Class 2A, claim their fifth state championship in the past decade, stretch their winning streak to 27 games - the longest active mark in the state - and record the most lopsided victory in a state final since the modern playoff era began in 1968.
Junction City led 41-0 at halftime to invoke the Arkansas Activities Association’s sportsmanship timing rule and a continuously running clock, in the second half.
Shivering outside the locker room following his 198th career victory at the Union County school, Junction City Coach David Carpenter, 57, said he never dreamed his Dragons would breathe so much fire on such a windy, cold and damp day.
“I thought we would play well, but I didn’t know we would play, you know, like that,” said Carpenter, Junction City’s coach since 1996. “That was good. That was good.”
How good?
Junction City amassed 497 total yards on just 34 plays, needed only two plays to score touchdowns on its first four possessions and limited Des Arc (11-3) to only 126 total yards.
Junior tailback Jaqwis Dancy, the game’s MVP for the second consecutive year, rushed 14 times for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns (67 and 20 yards).
Holyfield completed 5 of 6 passes for 136 yards. Both touchdowns went to senior split end JarKell Brown, who turned a reception in the right flat into a 64-yard score on the second play from scrimmage, then caught a 53-yard touchdown for a 26-0 lead with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
Holyfield scored on a 31-yard run with 7:07 left in the first quarter and weaved 14 yards into the end zone on third-and-goal for a 41-0 lead with 2:26 remaining in the first half.
The game was so one-sided that Josh Armstrong, Junction City’s standout junior linebacker, ran 62 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter. Reserve junior halfback Sam Williams added a 55-yard touchdown run late in the game.
“Offense was clicking good today,” Carpenter said. “They were ready to play. Theyproved what I thought they could do.”
Junction City accomplished all of that without one of its most heralded players, Bell, a junior tight end/defensive end who has orally committed to Arkansas.
Bell, 6-5, 232 pounds, was ejected in the third quarter of last week’s 38-28 semifinal victory over Carlisle for pushing a Bison after a play, Carpenter said. Because of the ejection, Bell served a one-game, AAA-mandated suspension Saturday. He was the team’s leader in receptions (23), touchdown receptions (8) and tackles for loss (15) this fall.
No Bell. No problem.
“That’s a great ball club over there,” Carpenter said. “We had to get out there and do some things to them quick. We kind of made them have to press to go, you know. That’s the good part.”
Junction City’s defense did its part, too. Des Arc ran 47 offensive plays but never advanced inside the Junction City 30. The Eagles were in a 26-0 hole after one quarter, outgained 236-46 in total yardage.
“They got on us quick and I think we were shellshocked,” Des Arc Coach Dustin Prescott said. “It was just downhill from there.”
Prescott, 27, was trying to lead the Eagles to their first state championship since 1976.
The outcome was a stark contrast from the schools’ last meeting in the state final. Junction City kicked a field goal as time expired in that game to beat Des Arc 10-8 to win the Class 2A crown in 2008.
Junction City used a 30-yard Hail Mary as time expired to beat 8-2A rival Bearden, 27-26, in last year’s Class 2A final.
Saturday marked the sixth time the sportsmanship rule has been used in a state final since the AAA adopted the rule for all games in 2002. It is used when the scoring differential is at least 35 points in the second half.
Junction City’s lead ballooned to 41 points late in the first half.
Barton held the previous record for largest margin of victory in a state final in the modern playoff era. The Bears beat Augusta 53-0 to win the Class A state championship in 1987.
Junction City was a missed extra-point attempt away from applying the sportsmanship rule to Barton in the 2003 Class AA final. The Dragons settled for a 40-12 victory to win their first state championship and captured their third in 2009 by beating Bearden 24-14.
But Saturday’s performance may have been one for the ages.
“We’ve done some good things,” Carpenter said. “This is way up there, now.”
Sports, Pages 32 on 12/22/2013