Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott Holds On To Win, 32-26, Over Clarksville Panthers

Quarterback Barrett Yates passed for three touchdowns Friday night to lead the Prescott Curley Wolves in a 32-26 victory over the Clarksville Panthers.

Actually, the Wolves led 32-7 at halftime. Clarksville came on exceptionally strong the second half and the Panthers capitalized twice on Prescott's mistakes to nearly pull out an upset.

Only with some good defensive plays did the Wolves escape by the skin of their teeth. C.D. Flemons and the whole defensive team read the offensive patterns right in the closing minutes and prevented the Panthers from getting another TD that would have tied or won the game for them.

The win gives the Curley Wolves its second opportunity against one of its toughest 7AA opponent, the Nashville Scrappers. This time it will be for the Class AA championship. The game will be played at 1:30 in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock Saturday.

Also scoring Friday night for Prescott was Sam Marlow on defense. He intercepted two passes that played a big factor in the win. The first pass he ran back 28 yards for a touchdown. The second he ran back 60 yards, but was stopped 7 yards shy of the TD, which was to come. The other TD came from freshman Jared Yates.

Clarksville scored in the first period and again in the third and fourth quarters.

They were a tough team to beat, and, perhaps, another TD was prevented only because time ran out. They were a larger threat to the Curley Wolves than any other team in the playoffs. It has one of the best defenses Prescott faced all year.

The Panthers ran up a total of 396 yards net rushing and passing while Prescott gathered in 318 yards. Of course the Prescott defense added to that considerably.

Yates passed 12 times, completing 7 of them for 137 yards. He was intercepted twice. Khris Buckner, quarterback for Clarksville, passed 35 times for 212 yards. He was also intercepted twice, both of which became scores for Prescott.

Prescott's biggest rusher was Courtney Bryant, who rushed 7 times for 71 yards. The Wolves had a total 181 net yards on the ground.

Clarksville's biggest gainer was Coleman Campbell with 56 yards. He had 10 carries. Shawn Holt of Clarksville carried 14 times for 52 yards. He scored two TDs, one from 3 yards out, and he caught a 64-yard TD pass from Buckner.

Catching scoring passes from Yates were John Cornelius for a 43-yarder, Rashad Johnson for a 34-yarder and Al Johnston, who had a 7-yarder.

Prescott took advantage of good field position to score on its first possession. Clarksville got the ball first, but had to punt on fourth and 11. Rashad Johnson got the ball around his 35 and returned it 7 yards.

Yates came out passing and hit Rashad Johnson with a good one that gained 13 yards and a first down at the Clarksville 45.

Courtney Bryant then took the handoff from yates and gained 9 yards. A holding penalty on the next play moved the ball back to the 49. Johnson then took the handoff and gained 6 yards. On the next play Yates went for the bomb and hit Cornelius for the TD. Yates kicked the point after to make it 7-0 with 9:19 left in the quarter.

Clarksville's efforts were strong and they picked up two first downs before Sam Marlow intercepted a pass. There was no stopping him as he returned the ball 64 yards for a TD. The PAT missed to leave the score at 13-0 with 6:15 left in the quarter.

A good kickoff return set the Panthers up for their first TD. The kickoff was taken around the 25 by Andre May, who got the ball to the Prescott 49-yard line before he was stopped.

Clarksville moved the ball efficiently, but the Wolves helped them with a personal foul at the 28, moving the ball to the 13. Finally, Khris Buckner sneaked across for the TD. The kick by Jeromy Carpenter made it 13-7 in favor of Prescott with 3:04 left in the first period.

Heath Duke didn't do too badly on the kickoff when he took the ball around the 25. He gained 20 yards before he was stopped, setting up Prescott's next TD.

Bryant got the first down and more as he gained 21 yards at the Panthers' 34-yard line.

Yates connected with Johnson for a 34-yard TD pass to make the score 19-7 after the 2-point try was missed. Another 2:23 remained in the period.

The quarter ended with Clarksville driving, but early in the second period the ball was fumbled on the handoff with Johnson getting the recovery for Prescott.

The Wolves, however, had to punt and the Panthers did the same on their next possession as well. Prescott began its next scoring drive at their 47 after Johnson returned the punt 27 yards.

Bryant took the pitch back on the first play for a sweep that netted 27 yards and a first down at the Clarksville 26.

Al Johnston came in as a running back and gained 5 yards on the first play. He was given the ball the second time and gained 10 more for a first down inside the Clarkville 11.

Bryant then got the call, and a costly one it was. He was stopped 2 yards shy of a touchdown and had to be helped off the field. A trip to the hospital showed torn ligaments, which means he will be out Saturday. He is expetect to have surgery before Christmas.

To get a first down the Wolves would only be 6 inches away from the goal line, and the Panthers were fighting hard to prevent another score. Johnston lost 3 yards on the next play. Yates then connected with Cornelius again for the TD, but a holding penalty moved the ball back to the Clarksville 20.

Yates then hit Channing Butler for a big gainer, but still 3 or 4 inches shy of the first down, and it was fourth down. Enter Jared Yates, a ninth grader and brother to quarterback Barrett Yates.

Quarterback Yates handed off to running back Yates and Jared Yates knew what to do with it as he went over the heap for the TD. The PAT by Barrett Yates was good and Prescott led 26-7 with 2:10 left in the half.

Once more the Panthers were able to move the ball -- on the ground and not in the air. Five passes were attempted and four of them were incomplete. The fifth was intercepted by Marlow, who headed for the goal line 67 yards away. He was stopped at the 7, but what an interception.

With 55 seconds left in the half Yates attempted a pass that was nearly intercepted by Jake Thompson in the end zone. The next attempt was good as he hit Al Johnston for the 7-yard TD. Yates missed the PAT to leave the score at 32-7 for halftime.

Thus, with Courtney Bryant out, Prescott was still able to score two touchdowns. The Curley Woles can do it Saturday.

Clarksville had made 11 first downs the first half while Prescott had made 9.

Prescott had been penalized 7 times for 65 yards. The Panthers had not been penalzied at all.

Having won the opening toss Prescott had elected to receive the kickoff to begin the