Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves pound Dollarway, 28-8, Oak Grove next

ROAD TRIP!

The Curley Wolves will be on the road Friday, Nov. 22, as football continues for Prescott with a trip to Pulaski Oak Grove.

Prescott earned the right to make the trip to North Little Rock by ending Pine Bluff Dollarway's season 28-8 at Cummins Field to get post-season action underway.

And, Prescott Coach Greg Smith has issued an ultimatum to the citizenry of Prescott  support the Wolves by making the trip.

The Wolves played old-fashioned smash mouth football, relying primarily on the ground game, but mixing in an effective passing attack to keep the Cardinals off balance.

Prescott played almost mistake free in the game. The Wolves were flagged once for holding, suffered one interception and fumbled three times (all three fumbles were recovered by Prescott).

Prescott won the opening toss and deferred until the second half. This gave Dollarway the ball to get the game underway.

The Cards began at the Dollarway 20 after Jason Butler's kick sailed into the end zone.

Dollarway ran seven plays, moving to the Wolf 36, before Cody Burns fumbled, with Prescott recovering at the 40 and managing to move it to the 45.

Prescott got five easy yards before snapping the ball as the Cards were flagged for being offside. From there, the Wolves needed but five plays to find the promised land and score the first points of the game.

Zach Martin found A.J. Lewis with a 35-yard pass for the touchdown with 4:05 to go in the first. The point after made it 7-0, and the Wolves never looked back.

Sahio Rogers took the ensuing kick at the Card 5, returning to the 12, only to see the run cut in half as Dollarway was called for holding.

The Cards moved to the 45 before Prescott's defense stiffened and forced a punt.

The kick was fielded by R.J. Vanhook at het 17. Vanhook found a hole on the home sidelines and raced in for what appeared to be a touchdown. However, the lone Prescott penalty nullified the score and brought the ball back to the Wolf 22.

Following a fumble on first down, the Wolves used a little razzle-dazzle as Martin lateraled to Lewis, who hit Jarrod Norwood at the Card 49.

Prescott would get to the Dollarway 44 before Martin was sacked at midfield on third down, thereby forcing a punt.

The kick rolled dead at the Cardinal 5 with 9:07 left in the half.

It was three and out for the Cards, with the punt rolling to the Prescott 41.

The Wolves did no better and punted three plays later, with Rogers returning the punt to the 25.

The Cards began moving, getting to the 42 before quarterback Jonathan Moore fumbled, but managed to fall on the errant pigskin at the 41.

On fourth down, the Cards lined up to punt. However, the snap bounced to the punter, who was introduced to most of Prescott's front line at the Card 25.

This set up Prescott's second touchdown of the night.

The Wolves again needed five plays to cap the drive, which culminated on a second Martin to Lewis TD pass from five yards out, with 20 seconds left.

The point after made it 14-0.

Tristan Lee took the kickoff at the Dollarway 25, ran long enough to lose four yards before being swarmed by Prescott's defense.

An option play resulted in a fumble, but the ball was recovered for a three-yard gain at the 24. Moore took a knee to end the first half of play.

The initial 24 minutes were a defensive battle, which set the tone for the rest of the contest.

Prescott converted Dollarway's mistakes into points, while the Cards were unable to move the ball consistently in the first half.

Chris Hopper took the second half kick at the 18 and fought his way to the 40, making Cardinals miss along the way.

Martin found Butler behind the secondary for a 60-yard touchdown pass on the first offensive play of the third quarter.

With 11:39 showing, the Wolves were up 21-0, and fans hadn't had time to cool off their hot chocolate from halftime.

At this point, the Cards mounted Dollarway's lone scoring drive of the contest.

Marcell House took the kick at the 16 and made it to the 38, where the Cards set up shop.

Dollarway ran four plays to score, with the big play being a 37-yard run by Moore to put the Cards at the Wolf 18.

Martin found Rogers open over the middle for the touchdown two plays later.

Dollarway successfully converted a two-point attempt to make it 21-8.

For the remainder of the period, it was a defensive war as neither team did more than bend.

The final 12 minutes began with Prescott facing a second down at the Wolf 11.

The Wolves fought to the Dollarway 41 before Martin's pass was tipped to Chris Bailey, who returned the pick to the 35.

The turnover didn't bother the Prescott defense, as the Wolves pushed the Cards backwards, and included a sack on Moore on third down with 5:45 to go.

Dollarway went for it on fourth down, but fell far short of gaining the necessary yardage for a first down.

This gave Prescott the ball at the Card 29, and set up the final score of the game.

The Wolves ran seven plays, ending the drive with a two-yard run by Vanhook with 1:36 left in the game.

Prescott was perfect in point after attempts as Lewis booted the fourth one between the uprights to make it 28-8.

"Wow," was Smith's first words after the win. "This was a heck of a battle. They have a great defense and a lot of speed. We beat a good team tonight."

Smith said this was a big game, with the Wolves playing great ball.

Prescott, he said, has played well at home all year, but the challenge will be taking this level of play on the road next week when Prescott travels to Pulaski Oak Grove for round two of the playoffs.

The Hornets beat Bald Knob 31-21 at Oak Grove in their first round game.

Nashville was the only other 7AAA team to advance, as Fouke and Ashdown were both handily defeated by their 8AAA opponents.

Star City pounded Ashdown 417-21, while Fouke lost to Warren 40-7. Nashville hammered Dumas 48-12. The Scrappers will host Dover this week.

Statistically the game was close.

Prescott was four of nine in the air for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

Dollarway was one of six in passing for 19 yards and touchdown.

The Wolves ran the ball 31 times for 89 yards, while the Cards rushed 42 times for 188 yards.

Vanhook was Prescott's leading rusher, gaining 57 yards on 15 carries.

Prescott punted four times for a total of 147 yards. Dollarway booted the ball three times for 141 yards.

In penalties, the Wolves were flagged once for 10 yards, while the Cards were penalized eight times for 61 yards.

Both teams fumbled three times, with Prescott recovering all three of its, and one of Dollarway's.

Martin was sacked twice in the game, while Moore was sacked once by the Wolves.

Prescott earned 14 first downs, while the Cards managed nine.

Still, Dollarway snapped the ball more than Prescott, 48-40.

"I challenge the people of Prescott to follow us to Oak Grove and show their support," Smith said. "These kids are playing great ball. We need to go into Oak Grove's stadium and take it to them."

The win gives the Wolves a 9-2 overall record, and one more ticket to the post-season dance.

Kickoff Friday night is scheduled for 7:30.