Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Prescott Uses Strong Fourth Quarter To Sink Bismarck

Fred Hopson scored a third of the six touchdowns for Prescott Friday night as the Curley Wolves cleared the first hurdle of the 7AAA Conference 38-6 against Bismarck.

Hopson was the Wolves leading rusher with 115 yards in 12 plays. The bulk of his yardage came in the last half. He scored one TD in the third period and one in the fourth.

Terry Woodley rushed for 88 yards in seven plays for the Curley Wolves, scoring one touchdown. He fumbled the ball away once.

In all Prescott rushed for 224 yards. The Wolves had a total of 303 yards during the game.

Quarterback Josh Bullock attempted 13 passes, completing four for 79 yards. He threw three interceptions.

Bismarck had four first downs in the first quarter to Prescott's two. However, Bismarck got two of theirs because of penalties against Prescott.

Each team had 11 penalties in the game, but Prescott was penalized for 105 yards while the Lions were penalized for 81. The Curley Wolves were called for grabbing the face mask four times during the game.

The Wolves had a TD the first period that the officials nullified. After a consultation period, they determined the quarterback was down; then they conferred again and called the play an incomplete forward pass. The only thing is the officials did not change downs. Fortunately, Prescott recovered a fumble to end the questionable call.

However, the Curley Wolves ended the first period on a good note. Mark Jones intercepted a pass, giving the ball to the Wolves at their own 33-yard line. Their first TD march began from that point.

Rafael Marlowe picked up four yards on the first down, then Hopson gained three and got four more on third and three for the first down.

Woodley ended the quarter with a two yard gainer. A fumble on the snap on the next play lost a yard for the Wolves as Bullock fell on the ball. Bullock then connected with Keon Sockwell with a pass, setting up a first down at the Lions' 37.

Another fumble on the next play was recovered by the Wolves, but they lost five yards on the play.

Bullock then hit Edward Glenn with a pass around the 32-yard line, with Glenn scoring the first TD. The point after try by Marlowe failed, but Prescott led 6-0 with 10:24 left in the half.

Prescott next got the ball 28 yards away from another touchdown when a punt was blocked.

Hopson got the first call and gained five yards, then Bullock was stopped for no gain. Woodley got the next call and went up the middle, dodging tacklers and scoring with 7:03 left in the half. A 2-point conversion failed as Calvin Flemons was prevented from going across the goal line.

Prescott's next three possession were stopped with turnovers. On the first, Bullock was intercepted by Ryan Mackey; on the second by Robby Hartsell. Woodley fumbled just before the half, but not until he had gained 27 yards.

The Lions gained confidence early in the third period, but all for nought.

They gained three first downs and on fourth and goal from eight yards out, the Curley Wolves held. But not for long.

A fumble on the hand-off between Bullock and Woodley on the second down resulted in a recovery by Bismarck, only 13 yards away.

Hartsell caught the pass for the TD. The point after try was blocked.

The following kick-off went to Glenn at the Prescott 24. Glenn went to the Bismarck 30 before he was dragged down. It was Hopson time.

Hopson was stopped for no gain on the first play, but got the ball on second down and made it to the 12 before he was stopped.

On the next play he gained three more yards and on second down he gained six yards. From the three Hopson went up the middle for the TD. Once more the PAT was missed for the score to remain 18-6.

Bismarck's next possession ended on another short punt with Prescott getting the ball 24 yards away from the goal.

Woodley made it in for the TD, but the play was nullified because of a clip charged against the Wolves.

Hopson gained four yards, then the Wolves were penalized for being offsides. Bullock was sacked on the next play, losing 10 more yards, but on the next play he hit Sockwell with a pass at the 19, where he fell down trying to cut. Hopson got to the one to get a first down on the next play.

Bullock then took it in for the TD. This time T.J. Baker tried to kick the point after. It failed too for the score to remain 24-6 with only :03.7 seconds left in the period.

Hopson got the first call and went to the Bismarck 29 for the first down.

Once more Hopson got the call and out-distanced everyone as he went in for the TD. A pass attempt failed for the point after try with the score remaining 30-6.

Brad Harris got a good punt return later in the period and a personal foul against the Lions coach moved the ball to the Bismarck 38, time for another TD.

Woodley lost a yard on first down, but Marlowe rushed for 25 yards and a first down at the 14. Enter Rico Hopper.

Hopper got the first call, but a holding penalty moved the ball 10 yards behind the original line of scrimmage.

Bullock's pass for Sockwell fell incomplete, but Sockwell gained two yards on the next play. An interference call against the Lions on the next play moved the ball 11 yards, where Hopper got the call and the score from 11 yards out.

This time Prescott scored the point after with Bullock connecting with Sockwell to make the final score 38-6.

There were a total of seven turnovers in the game; Prescott had five and Bismarck two.

Each team finished with 13 first downs, but the Curley Wolves had a lot more yardage than the Lions. The Lions finished with a total of 147; they rushed for 109 and passed for 38.

This week will be the most important game for the Wolves this season. They will host the Nashville Scrappers.

The Scrappers are now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in the 7AAA Conference after running away from Mena, 54-7, last week.

Coach David Bennett will no doubt remind his team of the mistakes this season and how many touchdowns they have cost the Wolves. There cannot be those costly mistakes this week; Nashville will eating wolf meat.

The biggest surprise last week in the conference was the 20-19 defeat by Fountain Lake over De Queen. De Queen will be Prescott's opponent next week in De Queen. The Wolves will host Fountain Lake the following week for homecoming. The conference seems to be getting tougher.

Mena will come to Prescott October 22. The Wolves can't take them lightly just because Nashville made it look easy.

On October 29 Prescott will travel to Fouke. Last Friday Fouke lost to Fordyce, 49-27.

Fordyce will be the Curley Wolves last game this year. The Wolves will travel to Redbug country Thursday, November 4.

Prescott's first opponent this year was Mineral Springs. The Wolves came back in the last half to win 33-18. The Hornets haven't lost a game since and are now ranked seventh in the state in Class AA.

Last week the Hornets defeated Gurdon, 35-7. The week before the Go-Devils had defeated Prescott 19-14. The Wolves got over it, but Gurdon apparently were still thinking about the week before when they went to Mineral Springs.

Hope, after winning over Prescott has lost to Nashville, 24-23, and now to Arkadelphia, 19-15. The Bobcats will have to try harder to accomplish what was predicted before the season: they would win the AAAA Southwest Conference.

Game time Friday night is 7:30. Expect a good halftime show from both bands. Good football; good entertainment.