CONWAY -- A recent rash of injuries have ravaged Conway's backfield, but that didn't prevent the Wampus Cats from running the ball right at Cabot on a chilly Friday night.
Senior Luke Bailey ran 19 times for 112 yards as Conway piled up 300 yards on the ground to wear down the Panthers 30-20 in 7A-Central Conference play at John McConnell Stadium.
Bailey added a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for Conway (4-2, 2-1), which has won the past five consecutive games against their rivals from Lonoke County.
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"You've got two strong communities with strong traditions football-wise playing in a great atmosphere, but this is a good win for us," Conway Coach Keith Fimple said. "It was just another typical night in the 7A-Central. Nothing is ever easy, and we're a little banged up right now at running back.
"But it's always nice to have guys rotate in and step up when you need them."
Conway lost lightening-quick sophomore tailback Manny Smith last week to injury in a loss at North Little Rock and suffered another big blow Friday when running back Jamal Bethune injured his right ankle with 41 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The junior had 84 yards on just four carries -- including a 4-yard touchdown run at the 7:12 mark of the quarter -- before going down.
Bailey and junior Bryce Bohanon, however, were there to pick up the slack for the Wampus Cats. Bohanon ran for 65 yards on 5 carries and had a 1-yard score early in the fourth quarter to help widen Conway's lead. He also caught two passes for 27 yards.
Junior quarterback Tyler Gee completed 23 of 44 passes for 360 yards and 3 touchdowns for Cabot (4-2, 1-2), which had no trouble moving the ball but put itself in binds continuously by wasting scoring opportunities, especially during the first 24 minutes of play. The Panthers missed a 20-yard field goal on their first drive of the game and turned the ball over on downs deep in Conway territory on their final possession of the first half.
"Conway was big, and we couldn't stop their run game, but we just continued to miss chances when we got in the red zone," Cabot Coach Scott Reed said. "We gave great effort all night like we always do, but we just couldn't finish off drives when we were in position to do so. That drive at the end of the first half really hurt us."
Cabot trailed 14-7 late in the second quarter following Gee's 28-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver De'Kairo Rudolph but was threatening to tie it after moving the ball inside Conway's 5. The Panthers, however, turned the ball over on downs. Conway, in turn, responded by driving 73 yards and got a 39-yard field goal from senior Will Hogue with seven seconds showing to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.
"That turned a one-possession game into a two-possession game," Reed said. "But give them credit because it was a great drive by them. You have to overcome things like that."
Conway made it 23-7 at the 7:39 mark of the third quarter on senior quarterback Nick McCuin's 20-yard touchdown pass to classmate Shane Smith. Gee's 32-yard scoring toss to senior wide receiver Tanner Wilson cut Cabot's deficit to 10 with 11:02 remaining in the game until Bohanon's short touchdown run less than two minutes later effectively put the game away. Gee threw a 20-yard score to junior receiver Garrett Hill on the game's final play.
"It was a little different of a challenge with Cabot this time around," Fimple said. "We're use to playing against the Dead T, but now you've got passes going all over the place. They've got a great receiver, great quarterback and they made it tough on us.
"They played really, but I'm glad we came out on top."
Sports on 10/12/2019