Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Curley Wolves Humble Scrappers

The Prescott Curley Wolves scrambled the Nashville Scrappers good Friday night, taking one of the sweetest victories since the championship game in Little Rock in 1995. In the end Who won 32-7.

Who won. Not a question, but a statement. Who, or WHO, is taken from Nashville's own propaganda, which began several years ago. It was an attempt to give the Scrappers fighting power and to belittle the Curley Wolves enough to discourage them. It never worked. Prescott won some years and Nashville won when they were stronger. The words don't mean a thing to Prescott.

Just as Wolf Pride Week was celebrated last week in Prescott, Nashville has its own funall clean. The Nashville schoolnay, the entire townstill call Prescott WHO. They can't stand to even whisper the names "Prescott" or "Curley Wolves." We are the WHO to them. Last week was BEAT WHO' WEEK in Nashville. So, WHO beat whomever.

Folks in Nashville think Prescott fans would stoop so low as to call them Pumpkin Heads. It never entered our minds, 'tis said with tongue in cheek and fingers crossed. However, there were a few pumpkins around town.

The number one Class AAA team couldn't keep up with Prescott's offense and its offensive line couldn't keep Prescott's defense from penetrating the backfield. Ten times Nashville quarterbacks were sacked for lossestrice for turnovers. In addition, two pass interceptions by the Wolves were touchdowns for the Curley Wolves.

Looking back, if the Wolves had prevented the mistakes they made at Hope and Gurdon, those would have been wins, giving Prescott a perfect season. Those games cannot be replayed, however, and the losses will count. The mistakes must now stop, for Prescott has a very good opportunity to make the play-offs and maybe conference champions. And why not? WHO.

But the win Friday, no matter how big it was and how exciting it was, must now be put aside as well. The team must now concentrate on De Queen. The Leopards shut out Mena last week, 27-0. This Friday the Curley Wolves must travel to Leopard country to put another win under their belt. It's needed badly.

Prescott quarterback Josh Bullock threw for two touchdowns against Nashville. The offensive line kept the Scrappers from getting to Bullock as other teams had this season. They looked good, but they must keep it up.

Coach David Bennett did a good job of changing his offense and it worked against Nashville. Maybe it will Friday at De Queen.

The Wolf Pack defense looked good, too. They were determined to take out the Scrappers and that's what it takes. They looked like teams of old. But they must continue to penetrate, getting behind the line of scrimmage and stopping their opponents in their backfield is a plus for any team and they should be commended. It must be done again and again and again. WHO.

Things looked good for the Curley Wolves on their first possession, when they made a first down on second and 10. But three plays later Nashville intercepted a pass, giving everyone in Prescott a sinking feeling. Was it going to be another Nashville year? Another test came and the defense passed it when Nashville tried to pull a fast one with a fake punt; the Wolves took over on downs. They, too, attempted to make a fourth down and failed, giving Nashville the ball at their 24-yard line.

Then came a Nashville turnover Terry Woodley intercepted a pass which lifted the spirits of the hometown crew. However, the Wolves had to punt on fourth down. Good defensive playing was still ahead, though, and Arnold was sacked on second down with Gabe Morman falling on the ball only 32 yards away from the goal line.

Woodley managed one yard on first down, then Bullock failed to connect with Rafael Marlowe on a pass, bringing up third and nine. On the next play, however, Bullock found Andrew Fellows going into the end zone and hit him with a pass for the score. The point after try was missed.

During the quarter Prescott had only rushed offensively for 12 yards and Bullock had completed two passes for 45 yards. More important, however, was that they had scored. Important also was the fact that the Curley Wolves had held Nashville to a minus 12 yards rushing. Arnold, who had to leave the game for a few plays during the period because of an injury, had only completed one pass for a three-yard loss. His replacement, Brian Pope, had thrown two passes, completing one for 40 yards, but also throwing the interception to Woodley. Prescott's defense had proved itself.

Neither team scored in the second period, but both teams were even on offense. Prescott rushed for only seven yards and Bullock only threw one pass for 19 yards. Nashville rushed for 12 yards and Arnold threw six times, completing twoone for a 16 -yard pickup, but the other for a two-yard loss. Each team had four first downs during the half.

Prescott gave them the old one-two punch in the third period, scoring once offensively and once on defense and at the same time holding Nashville to only four yards rushing and no passes completed.

Offensively, Prescott scored on its first possession in the third period. The half began with the Wolves kicking off to Nashville. Coach Bennett had chosen Fred Hopson to do most of the kicking Friday night. His kick-offs skimmed the ground and were hard to handle by the Scrappers. However, Nashville was able to move the ball out to the 48-yard line after beginning at the 35. On second and eight, Arnold was sacked for an eight-yard loss. The Scrappers punted from that spot two plays later with the Wolves getting the ball at their 33.

Hopson went left and gained four yards. On the next play, he gained 16 for a first down at the Nashville 47-yard line.

Woodley got the next call and gained three yards. His gain on the next play was nullified with an illegal block by a Curley Wolf, moving the ball back to the Prescott 39. Bullock attempted a pass to Woodley next, but it fell incomplete. On the next play Bullock connected with Marlowe for the first down at the Nashville 27.

On first down, Hopson went right on a sweep that netted four yards. Bullock then went aerial again and hit Fellows with a TD pass to make the score 20-0. A two-point conversion attempt failed.

Prescott went after the receiver on the kick-off and collected a fumble at the Nashville 39. However, the Wolves had to punt on fourth and nine. Nashville was all butter fingers now. The Wolves almost recovered another fumble from the receiver, but the Scrappers retained possession, but not for long.

On second and eight from the 17, Arnold went for another pass. This time Prescott's Mark Jones stepped in and took the pass, sprinting to the goal line for the Wolves' third TD. This time the two-point conversion play worked as Woodley went over to make the score 20-0.

The Scrappers went to work on their next possession, making two first downs and getting to the Prescott 37-yard line. The first down was at the 32, but Arnold was sacked with a pass attempt to moved the ball back five yards. Two more pass attempts were incomplete. On fourth and 15, with nothing to lose, the Scrappers went for the down. They failed miserably as once more the quarterback was taken down behind the line of scrimmage. The Wolves took over on their 42.

Calvin Flemons gained eight yards on first down and he got the first down on the next down with the quarter coming to an end.

On the first play of the fourth, Flemons picked up one yard. On the next Hopson went 12 yards for the first down at the Nashville 35.

Hopson received the ball on the next play, but he was stopped for no gain. However, there was no stopping him on the next as he ran between, around and through the defenders for the Wolves fourth touchdown of the night. With the PAT blocked the Wolves were ahead 26-0.

Once more the Wolves got to the quarterback, causing a fumble with Fellows getting the ball and going into the end zone for what appeared to be a TD. However, the officials called it an incomplete pass, nullifying the TD and bringing the ball back to the 33. Enter Bennett.

The coach proceeded to tell the officials what he thought about their ability to call the game. After one play he was still on their case and they threw the flag, giving the Scrappers a first down at the Prescott 48.

Now it was time for Nashville coach Billy Laird. The Scrappers were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, moving the ball back to their 41.

A screen pass to Travell Green worked and Nashville was back in Prescott territory, but not for long. On the next play, the quarterback was once more sacked, causing another fumble and Brian Woodley getting the ball for the Wolves. However, two plays later Hopson fumbled the ball back to Nashville at the Prescott 41.

Another screen pass worked for Nashville as Arnold connected with Willie Scott, who went all the way in for a touchdown. The point after was good to make the score 26-7.

Prescott punted on its next possession with the Scrappers getting the ball at their 38-yard line.

Once more the quarterback went back to pass and once more Prescott defenders were there. This time Fellows recovered the fumble and gained a few yards before being put on the ground. On fourth and six, the Wolves failed to convert and Nashville took over again, this time on their 14-yard line.

Jamone Johnson gained 12 on the first play and picked up a first down at the 26, but that was as far as the Scrappers were gong. There was a fumble on the hand off on the next play, but a Scrapper fell on the ball. A new quarterback, Brad Gordon, was in for Nashville and on third and 11 he was intercepted by Marlowe, who managed to get into the end zone for Prescott's fifth TD of the night. Once more the point after try failed for the score to remain 32-7 in favor of WHO.

Fred Hopson was the game's leading rusher with 77 yards.

Prescott had a total of 104 yards on the ground and 99 more in the air for a total of 203 yards.

Nashville only netted 12 yards on the ground, after subtracting all those sacks. The three quarterbacks combined for a total of 109 yards passing.

Each team, however, finished with 10 first downs.

Prescott finished the game with six penalties for 50 yards. Nashville had three for 35 yards

Nashville had six turnovers, resulting in two Prescott TD's. The Scrappers fumbled three times and there were three interceptions thrown. Prescott fumbled once to Nashville and Bullock threw one interception.

The Nashville loss moved them to sixth in the state in Class AAA. Fordyce remained in the top 10 in the ninth spot with three wins, one tie and one loss. Prescott has three wins and two losses. Where will the Wolves be in five more weeks? That will be determined by the players, beginning this week as they take on De Queen.

Each victory now is a championship victory. It cannot be spoiled by mistakes if the Wolves want to remain in that position. They are 2-0 in the conference and must add one more victory each week. The rest is simple.

But simply knocking off De Queen, then Fountain Lake (which upset De Queen the preceding week), then Mena, Fouke and Fordyce is easier said than done. Any one team in this conference is capable of preventing a solid block of wins. For example only two teams Prescott and Fordycehave 2-0 conference records, which proves nothing. Nashville, DeQueen, Fouke and Fountain Lake are all 1-1. That will all change in the next five weeks. Prescott doesn't want to be one of the teams taking a loss, but... The Leopards will be prepared for the Curley Wolves. One must remember, also, the game will be played in De Queen. It will be left to the players to overcome that liability.

For homecoming next week the Wolves will host the Fountain Lake Cobras, who were defeated by Fouke last week, 20-14.

Mena will come to town October 22, and on October 29 Prescott will travel to Fouke.

The last game of the regular season will be Thursday, Nov. 4, when the Wolves will travel to Fordyce to take on the Redbugs. Fordyce beat Bismarck, 42-6, last week.

In other games of interest to Prescott fans, Mineral Springs is now 4-1 for the season. The Hornets' only loss was to Prescott in the opening game. They are now fifth in the state in Class AA.

Hope managed a 28-6 win over Hot Springs and Gurdon had a 34-14 victory over Dierks.

More fans need to attend Prescott games. Remember WHO you are. This week the game will begin at 7:30.