Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Wolves manage to get out of De Queen with 28-21 win

Unlike the Razorbacks, Prescott was able to overcome adversity and its own mistakes to remain undefeated.

The Wolves, though penalized 11 times for 122 yards, managed to post an important 28-21 win over the De Queen Leopards Friday, Oct. 10, in spite of a full moon and questionable officiating crew.

While the Wolves did shoot themselves in the foot and proved to be their own worst enemy, at times the officials penalized Prescott for apparent phantom misdeeds.

Fortunately, it didn't matter in the end.

The Leopards won the coin toss and elected to go on offense. Starting at the De Queen 32, the home team ran into a stiff Prescott defense and punted three plays later.

Starting at the Wolf 49, Zach Martin found Eli Ratcliff at the Leopard 39. He followed this by connecting with A.J. Lewis at the 30.

Jason Butler made his offensive debut in the game with a run for two as the Wolves were on the prowl.

In all, Prescott ran seven plays before R.J. Vanhook took it in from the one.

Urfan Taghizada "Fufa" booted the extra point to give Prescott a 7-0 lead with 7:47 to go in the first.

This proved to be the extent of the scoring in the period.

The Leopards, though, were three and out on De Queen's next possession, with Trey Williams being sacked on third down, forcing the punt.

Prescott began at its 27, and appeared to be moving in for another score before turning the ball over with an interception. The Wolves had lined up and ran a reverse to Butler, who pulled up and threw the ball toward Lewis, only to have it picked off.

De Queen took over on its 45, with Williams hitting Eric Bennett, who rambled to the Prescott 18 before being brought down.

This served to irritate the Wolf defense, as it shut the Leopards down cold, forcing De Queen to turn the ball over on downs.

Unfortunately, Prescott did nothing with the ball offensively, and punted as well.

Once again, the Leopards were stymied by Prescott's defense and lined up to punt as period one ended.

The punt, which started the second quarter, rolled dead at Prescott's 10.

Martin found Vanhook with a step on a defender for a 90-yard touchdown pass. Fufa's point after made it 14-0, Prescott, with 11:46 left in the half.

De Queen started at its 27, ran three plays and punted. A holding call on the punt moved Prescott from its 30 to the Wolf 20.

Lewis stepped in under center, optioned the ball to Vanhook, who fought to the Leopard 38. Prescott made it to De Queen's nine, before penalties pushed the Wolves the wrong direction.

After having a first and goal at the nine, Prescott went backwards, ending up at the Leopard 38, where the drive ended as the Wolves turned the ball over on downs.

It must have been laundry day for the officials, as the hankies were aired regularly. On the first play, Williams winged an incomplete pass, but De Queen profited from an interference call, moving the ball to the Prescott 46.

The Leopards ended the scoring drive with Williams hitting Bennett with a 10-yard pass. The point after made it 14-7 at the 6:31 point.

Starting at the Prescott 29, the Wolves marched downfield, overcoming a holding call, with Vanhook scoring on a 10-yard run with 3:32 showing. The point after made it 21-7.

De Queen was hit with an unnecessary roughness call following a late hit on Fufa after the PAT. This moved the kickoff to the Leopard 40. The ball was booted into the endzone for a touchback.

It was three and out for the Leopards, but Prescott did nothing in the last 2:30 and turned the ball over on downs with 32 ticks left in the half at the De Queen 48.

On the next snap, Williams found out how Luther Stueart earned the nickname "Lethal". Williams dropped back to pass, with Stueart putting his helmet in the middle of Williams's back. The ball flew up, landing in Butler's hands. Butler raced to the endzone for Prescott's final touchdown of the game. Fufa's PAT made it 28-7.

Williams took a knee to end the first half.

The Wolves took the second half kickoff at the 41, marched to the Leopard 44 and began going backwards because of penalties and were forced to punt. The kick died on the Leopard six.

The facemask call was a killer as it wiped out a 44-yard touchdown run by Vanhook, which could have put the game on ice.