HARRISON -- Wynne used a Harrison turnover to grab some momentum late in the first half, but Colton Shaver helped turn the tables in the final two quarters on Friday night at F.S. Garrison Stadium.
The junior outside linebacker picked off a pass and recovered a fumble in the second half to help the Goblins roll to a 49-14 win and advance to the Class 5A state football semifinals.
Harrison 49, Wynne 14
Wynne^0^14^0^0^—^14
Harrison^14^7^7^21^—^49
First Quarter
Harris-Huskey 3 run (Payne kick), 5:12.
Harris-Shaver 79 pass from Johnson (Payne kick), 1:41.
Second Quarter
Wynne-Alston 64 pass from Parker (Parker kick), 4:57.
Harr-Huskey 1 run (Payne kick), 2:14.
Wynne-Alston 64 interception return (Parker kick). 0:6.9.
Third Quarter
Harr-Johnson 1 run (Payne kick), 0:55.2.
Fourth Quarter
Harr-Huskey 4 run (Payne kick), 10:10.
Harr-Huskey 45 run (Payne kick), 7:22.
Harr-Keylon 23 run (Payne kick) 4:36.
Harrison (12-0) will now hit the road to take on Pulaski Academy next week.
The Goblins led only 21-14 at halftime after Wynne's Kavion Alston intercepted a Harrison pass and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown with seven seconds left in the second quarter.
But Shaver came up with a pair of big second-half turnovers that Harrison turned into scores and went on to the big win.
Harrison coach Joel Wells took the blame for the turnover late in the half, opting to try a pass rather than running out the clock.
"I got a little bit greedy there before the half," Wells said. "We should have just run the clock out up two scores. I got a little bit greedy, and it cost us. I'll take responsibility for that.
"But in the first half, we felt like it should have been 21-0. We overthrew one, and we dropped one. But really we stopped ourselves. The second half we came out and played the way we are capable of playing."
Junior running back Gabe Huskey rolled up big numbers again, rushing for 218 yards on 28 carries and four touchdowns. But his 35-yard pass reception on third-and-24 down to the Wynne 9 helped make sure Shaver's fumble recovery didn't go in vain.
Four plays later quarterback Ben Johnson scored on a 1-yard keeper on fourth down to give Harrison a 28-14 lead with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
Shaver picked off a Wynne first-down pass on the ensuing drive and Harrison converted that into more points and a 35-14 advantage with 10:10 left in the fourth quarter. Huskey followed with a 45-yard touchdown run three minutes later, and the Goblins were able to give the starters the rest of the night off.
Harrison rolled up 461 yards of total offense, compared to just 231 for Wynne (7-5). The Yellowjackets completed only one pass on the night, and the Goblins defense pitched a shutout in the second half.
Quarterback Holden Parker caught Harrison playing up for the run and found Alston wide open for a 64-yard touchdown with 4:57 left in the second quarter to get Wynne within 14-7.
Shaver, a standout on defense, also came up big on offense with three catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. Wells said Shaver is just a playmaker on both sides of the ball.
"He's a ball hawk," Wells said. "Where ever the ball is, he's around it on offense and defense. He's got great hands. That's what he does."
Sports on 11/17/2018