Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves live to fight another day

History has a nasty habit of repeating itself, and it did Friday night as Prescott visited Pulaski Oak Grove and ended the Hornets's season.

The Wolves last met the Hornets in the 1973 playoffs and ended Oak Grove's season. The same occurred on Nov. 22, when Prescott made the trip to North Little Rock and sent the Hornets to basketball season with a 14-9 win.

Prescott's quest for a state title continues, with the Wolves on the road to Ozark on Nov. 29. Ozark is near Fort Smith.

Ozark, known as the Hillbillies, smacked Pocahontas 41-0 to advance.

The Wolves didn't take the Hornets lightly, knowing the game would be physical, and from the outset, it was.

Statewide, the "experts" had picked the Hornets to beat Prescott, which only served to inspire the Wolves to prove them wrong.

Oak Grove won the opening coin toss and deferred until the second half. This gave Prescott the ball to get the game started.

The Wolves wasted little time in putting six points on the board, as Prescott's opening drive took seven plays and less than three minutes.

A.J. Lewis fielded the opening kick at the 25 and made it to the 28 where Prescott set up shop.

Zach Martin rolled to his left and fired an incomplete pass on first down, before R.J. Vanhook fought to the Hornet 47 on a draw play.

Prescott didn't see third down on the drive, as Vanhook, Lewis and Damaricus Craven carried the load, which ended with Vanhook taking a pitch from Martin and scoring from 14 yards out. This touchdown, though was called back as Prescott was flagged for holding.

The Wolves were moved back 10 yards, where Martin found Jason Butler in the end zone for the touchdown. A flag was thrown on this score as well, but it was against Oak Grove for pass interference.

The penalty was declined.

Lewis's kick for the point after made it 7-0 before fans were settled well in their seats.

Butler's subsequent kick went into the end zone for a touchback, putting the ball on the Oak Grove 20.

The Hornets ran three plays before Jarrod Norwood picked off a pass at the Oak Grove 36.

Seemingly, this put the Wolves in scoring position, but Martin was intercepted with the pick being returned to the Oak Grove 44.

Scoring was over for the first quarter, as neither squad could move effectively against the other. And, there were fumbles on both sides as well.

Most of the first quarter was played between the 40 yard lines, as the Wolves and Hornets were unable to generate consistent offensive drives.

Prescott suffered three turnovers in the opening 12 minutes, all in Hornet territory.

The second quarter began with Oak Grove facing a third and six from the Hornet 34. The Hornets wound up punting, with the ball going out of bounds at the Oak Grove 43.

This set up Prescott's final touchdown of the night, as Martin guided the Wolves downfield in 10 plays for the touchdown.

During the drive, the Wolves fumbled twice, but managed to recover both.

Martin again found Butler in the end zone for the touchdown from five yards out with 6:31 left in the half.

Lewis again split the uprights for the PAT to make it 14-0.

Oak Grove responded with its only touchdown of the night.

The Hornets began at the Oak Grove 24 after the kick and began pounding the middle of Prescott's defensive line.

Oak Grove needed nine plays to cover the 76 yards and cut the score to 14-7 with 2:40 showing.

The Wolves began moving toward what appeared to be another score, but fumbled with Oak Grove recovering.

The Hornets followed suit, getting to the Prescott 35 before losing the ball on the final play of the half.

Prescott fans got a scare as the third quarter began, as the Hornets started from the Oak Grove 29 and marched to the Prescott one before turning the ball over on downs.

Oak Grove ran 13 plays and used almost seven minutes in the ineffective drive.

Before Wolf fans could get their pulse rate back to normal, there was another crisis for Prescott.

Three plays saw the Wolves go nowhere and set up for a punt. Lewis attempted to run the ball out of bounds, but, fortunately, was called down in the end zone for a safety.

This gave Oak Grove two points and cut the score to 14-9. The safety was the final points scored in the game, as both defenses dominated for the remainder of the contest.

Those three offensive plays were the only ones Prescott would run in the third quarter.

Following the punt after the safety, Oak Grove, starting at its 25, following a clipping penalty, fought to the Prescott 29 as time ran out in the third.

The Hornets turned the ball over on downs shortly after the fourth quarter started.

Taking over at the Wolf 25, Martin found Joe Stueart a the Prescott 40 to give Prescott some breathing room.

This, though, was followed by Martin being sacked at the Prescott 30 on the next play. The Wolves were eventually forced to punt, with the ball being returned to the Oak Grove 47.

Prescott's defense had been bending all night, but seldom breaking. This was again the case as Oak Grove had to punt after suffering a third down sack.

With 6:03 left on the clock, Prescott had the ball at its 10. The Wolves proved to be their own worst enemy as a screen from Martin to Vanhook for 27 yards was called back because of holding.

Martin then found Butler at the 45 to get the yardage back. The drive ended with Prescott fumbling at its 46, with 2:38 left in the game.

The Hornets began Oak Grove's final offensive series of the game. Four plays gained three yards with Prescott taking over on downs with 22 seconds left.

The Hornets frustration showed as Martin was tackled after taking a knee on first down. The second time it happened, Oak Grove was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.

From the outset, the Wolves had their hands full as Oak Grove played old-fashioned hard-nose football. Still, when the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, the Wolves were left standing. Bruised and battered, but still standing.

Oak Grove gained more yards than Prescott, 261-221. The Hornets yardage came on the ground, 264 yards, while Prescott's came mostly from the air, 141 yards.

Oak Grove's passing attack lost three yards, while Prescott's normally potent rushing attack was held to 88 total yards.

The Wolves were penalized four times in the game for 30 yards, while Oak Grove was flagged five times for 70 yards.

Prescott was 10 of 19 in passing, while Oak Grove completed one of six passes. Both quarterbacks were intercepted once.

Both teams fumbled six times in the game, with Prescott losing four, while Oak Grove lost two.

The Hornets ran 63 offensive plays, with Prescott snapping the ball 52 times.

In other AAA playoff games, Nashville advanced with a 32-13 win over Dover in a game that started an hour late as Nashville was without electricity.

Newport ended Booneville's season 38-18, while Ozark blanked Pocahontas, 41-0. Rivercrest beat Greenland, 31-27, with Star City posting a win over Pulaski Academy, 28-21. Warren easily handled Brinkley, 38-6.

This week's playoff action has Prescott at Ozark, Star City playing Rivercrest, Nashville and Newport meeting, and Warren has a date with Gosnell.

Should the Wolves beat the Hillbillies, the semifinal game will most likely be against Warren.

This season could be a bit of a repeat of the 1995 campaign, when Prescott and Nashville met in the championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Two more wins by each team, and history could repeat itself once again.