Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott Curley Wolves Win Over Fouke In 7AAA Action, 30-12

The Prescott Curley Wolves have bounced from nothing to recognition as they are now ranked 10th overall in the state.

They defeated the Fouke Panthers Friday night on the road, 30-12, and are now tied with Fordyce for first place in the 7AAA Conference. Fordyce will clash this Thursday night at Fordyce to see which team will be first in the conference.

The Curley Wolves have the Nashville Scrappers to help for the nudge, too. Both Prescott and Fordyce were tied before last week's games. De Queen was first, but the Nashville Scrappers knocked them out with a 7-0 win. Prescott's only loss has been at the hands of the De Queen Leopards.

The final game is this week and the Wolves must travel to Fordyce to do what some said could not be done. Before the season started Prescott was to have finished fourth, behind Nashville, Fordyce and De Queen in that order. Nashville has lost two games in the conference (Prescott and Fordyce) and De Queen has lost two (Fountain Lake and Nashville) in the conference. Fordyce's only loss has been against De Queen.

Now it is up to a Prescott team that went against the odds and, through determination and David Bennett's coaching ability, have overcome those odds much to the surprise of some.

A win by Prescott will put the Wolves alone at the top. A loss will drop them to second at the best, or to third if De Queen beats Fouke and they should.

The Curley Wolves must play their best game of the year Thursday at Fordyce. No costly mistakes like that against Mena or Fouke. No mistakes at all.

Last Friday the Curley Wolves gave Fouke three first downs due to penalties, but in the game against Mena they gave the Bearcats seven first downs attributed to penalties.

In the earlier games they permitted touchdowns on mistakes of turnovers or a blocked punt, or run-backs of a kick. This can't happen at Fordyce or the Redbugs will win big time. Let's not give them anything.

Last week's game at Fouke was one of dread before it happened, but when the game started it appeared worry was for nothing. The Curley Wolves could do no wrong that is until the second half, then they could not right.

The Prescott defense held the Panthers to 17 yards rushing the first half and Panther quarterback Justin Jones only had seven yards passing. He attempted two; the second was fumbled after a catch. It was Prescott's dream come true.

But there also was a second half, and neither team wanted to play. Prescott had it won, so there was no need to be serious about it. Fouke couldn't, but they moved the ball around anyway. And the officials seemed to want to help the Panthers, so a couple of bad calls and Fouke was knocking on Prescott's door. In fact, Prescott gave them a couple of first downs because of penalties that were questionable in the third period. The Panthers managed four first downs in the quarter while Prescott only had two, one of them was because of a penalty against the Panthers. The Wolves only moved the ball eight yards offensively in the third period.

In the first half the Curley Wolves scored three times in the first quarter and once in the second. The exciting part was the points after the touchdowns. For the first time this season, the Curley Wolves managed to convert each time on the point after try, twice with kicks for one point each, and once with a run and once with a pass for two points each time.

Prescott struck early in the game. They kicked off to the Panthers, who fumbled on second down and one. Keon Sockwell came out of the congested area with it tucked under his arm and his direction was toward to goal.

After the TD run Terry Woodley took it in from 1+ yards out for a two-point conversion and the score was 8-0 with 11:06 left in the period.

The Panthers were unable to convert a first down on their next possession and had to punt with the Wolves getting the ball at the Fouke 39-yard line.

Quarterback Josh Bullock wanted to pass on first down, but had to run. He picked up the first down at the Fouke 28.

On second and seven, Fred Hopson got to the 17 for another first down.

With the ball just inside the 10, Bullock got another first down at the eight with a sneak. Then it got tough.

Woodley tried a sweep, but the run was nullified when Prescott was flagged for clipping, moving the ball back to the 26-yard line. Woodley again got the ball and ran another sweep, but this time a flag was thrown at the 15 due to a holding penalty against the Wolves. From the 25 Bullock found Andrew Fellows open around the five and hit him with a pass and a TD. This time Sid Giles kicked the ball through the uprights for the point after. It was 15-0 with 4:39 left in the first period.

The Panthers began to drive on their next possession. Starting at their own 41, they were down on the Prescott 42-yard line when a completed pass was dropped. Hopson picked it up and wasn't tackled until he reached the Fouke 18-yard line.

Woodley gained nine yards on the first play and Calvin Flemons got the first down at the seven.

Flemons was thrown for a loss on the next play, but on second and 14, Bullock connected with Rafael Marlow in the end zone for another TD with 14.7 seconds left in the quarter. The toe of Giles was good again and the score was 22-0.

Fouke got one play off before the quarter ended, but the Panthers punted on fourth and two with Prescott taking over on the Fouke 46-yard line.

Brian Joseph gained four yards on the first play; then Bulloch hit Woodley with a sideline pass. Woodley managed to get to the 34 before he was stopped.

Woodley then gained six yards and then lost one on the next two plays. Flemons got the first down at the 20 on third and five.

Flemons gained three on the next play and then Woodley went 17 yards for the score. Fellows took the snap for the point after try kick, but jumped up and found Joseph in the end zone for another two-point conversion. The score was 30-0 with 7:36 left in the half, and that was all the scoring for the Curley Wolves in the game.

The third quarter was made up of penalties, bad calls, missed tackles and two turnovers against the Wolves. This was all leading up to a score for the Panthers. Mistakes are costly.

Prescott fans knew what they were in for when a pass interference was called on Fouke's second possession in the quarter; it gave the Panthers a first down. Then a roughing the passer penalty was called that gave them another first down. Then another pass interference call against the Wolves gave the Panthers another first down. They were at the Prescott five-yard line and knocking on the Wolves' door.

Jones went to the end and around on the first play of the fourth period for the score. The two-point conversion attempt failed for the score to remain 30-6.

On Prescott's next possession, Woodley gained 11 yards on the first play for a first down. He then gained four more, but on second and six he fumbled the ball with Fouke recovering at the 38-yard line.

Jones, as had been the case several times during the game, was downed in the backfield on the first play. From the 35, he hit Brandon Attaway around the Prescott 30-yard line. Attaway went all the way for the score. Once more the two-point attempt failed to keep the score at 30- 12.

Fouke made another drive to Prescott territory, but this time the Curley Wolves were stubborn and wouldn't let them go past the 23.

When Prescott took over, Bullock and Company handled the ball with well-executed plays and maintained control as they ran out the clock on the ground.

Jones, who could pass and run, was one of the key running backs for the Panthers. But the Prescott defense caught him in the backfield 11 times. He finished the game in the minus column.

Prescott's leading rusher was Woodley with 128 yards. Brad Cooper was the leading rusher for Fouke with 43 net yards.

Bullock attempted six passes. He had one interception and one incomplete, but he threw four complete, including two for TDs. The Curley Wolves rushed for 196 yards for a total of 254 yards. Fouke had a total of 161, including 139 in the air.

Prescott finished the game with 17 first downs to Fouke's 13.

The Curley Wolves were penalized 10 times for 100 yards while Fouke was penalized four times for 30 yards.

Prescott committed three turnovers all in the last half during the game while Fouke had two.

Remember, this week's game at Fordyce will be played on Thursday night. Game time is 7:30. This is always an exciting game and this year should be no exception since this is to see which team will be number one in the conference. Win or lose, Prescott fans know already.

In other games of interest last week in the 7AAA Conference, Fordyce beat Mena 49-12; and Fountain Lake slipped past Bismarck 7-6.

Outside the conference, Gurdon had a 28-6 homecoming victory over Murfreesboro; Mineral Springs licked Stamps 29-14; Magnolia beat Hope 27-20; and Lake Hamilton ran over Ashdown 42-8.

The Ashdown Panthers, who will be in the 7AAA Conference next year, is still in second place in the AAAA Southwest Conference. They have 4-2 conference record behind Lake Hamilton (6-0). The Panthers are 6-3 overall.