Second half thwarts ‘Dogs

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 10/26/22

It was a tale of two halves at Arp Friday night.  

The dam broke in the second half as the Tigers took control in the third quarter, scoring 21 unanswered points for a 27-6 lead and the …

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Second half thwarts ‘Dogs

Posted

It was a tale of two halves at Arp Friday night. 

The dam broke in the second half as the Tigers took control in the third quarter, scoring 21 unanswered points for a 27-6 lead and the eventual 41-6 victory over Quitman.

Neither team could muster much offense in the first half which ended in a 6-6 tie. Neither scored until the final two minutes.

“In that first half we were proud of how our kids competed. They did a great job for us, especially on defense,” Head Coach Shane Webber said. “We fought for everything we got in that first half. We kept our noses to the grindstone and played a great first half. The second half was a tale of two different stories. We did have some penalties that put us in a bind and let them make some big plays. We fought hard that first half, but they got to us in the second half.”

The Bulldogs took the opening kick-off and drove to the Arp 46 yard line where they found themselves facing a fourth down and seven yards to go for a first down. On the fourth down play Kameron Crockett found Brady Floyd open and the pass completion netted 25 yards. Quitman fumbled at the 28-yard line.

On the first play Arp ran, K.J. Yarborough took it 72 yards for a score but it was brought back on an illegal procedure call. Arp drove to midfield, but Quitman held on downs.

Arp scored on a three-yard run by quarterback Frank Smith to take a 6-0 lead with 1:58 left in the half. The Bulldogs came right back to score on a 77-yard drive in four plays. A halfback pass from Carson Dickens to a wide-open Floyd covered 62 yards for a touchdown with 35 seconds left.

Arp scored early in the third quarter to lead 13-6.

The back-breaker came in the third quarter with 4:20 to go when Arp quarterback Smith ran up the middle for 49 yards and a score to up the Tiger lead to 20-6. Arp got another score late in the third quarter on a short run to make it 27-6 heading into the final stanza.

Arp scored on the first play in the final quarter on a short run to lead 34-6. The final Tiger tally came on another run by Smith for 23 yards with 8:30 left in the game.

Landon Green led the Bulldog rushing attack with 81 yards on 15 carries while Klayton Meadows had 50 yards on nine totes, Dickens with 40 yards on seven carries and Mikey Pickering 38 yards on eight carries.

Webber said the secondary with Floyd, Meadows, Pickering and Thomas Sabedra did a good job  at slowing down the Arp passing attack. 

“We just have to find ways to come back and overcome when we have a set back or a bad call against us,” Webber said. “When we learn how to do that we will be a lot better.”

Things don’t get easier as one of the state’s top five teams rolls into Quitman Friday when West Rusk comes to town. It will be senior night for fall sports and activities.

West Rusk is coming with a 6-2 record and 4-0 in district play. Quitman will finish the regular season at Winona Nov. 4.