Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

PHS Defense Mauls Mena

Terry Woodley rushed for 205 yards offensively Friday night to lead the Curley Wolves in a 33-7 victory over the Mena Bearcats.

He carried the ball 18 times on offense and only scored one touchdown. But don't let that fool you. Woodley scored twice more on defense both in the fourth period. The first was a 75-yard TD interception and the other was a 25-yard TD fumble recovery.

Fred Hopson also picked off a Shane Frost pass for a 55-yard TD. And look at this: Calvin Flemons scored a 79-yard TD from the line of scrimmage in the second period. But it doesn't stop there. The team got a safety in the third period when a punt was blocked near the goal line by Keon Sockwell; the ball went in the end zone for a safety: two more points.

The Curley Wolves rushed for 282 yards in addition to the 155 TD returns.

On the gloomy side, though, was a 97-yard touchdown kick-off return by Ryan Davis in the second period, immediately following the TD by Hopson. The Curley Wolves, like true soldiers, kept pressing the battle in spite of the temporary letdown.

Perhaps the biggest mistakes the Curley Wolves made Friday night were first downs for the Bearcats. Penalties against the Wolves gave a total of six first downs to the Mean team: three in the first period, one in the second and fourth and two in the third.

Mistakes like these will have to be stopped against Fouke this week and Fordyce next week, unless the Curley Wolves are willing to stay home and not go to the play-offs.

Prescott was penalized 14 times for a total of 155 yards. Eight penalties were 15 yarders, major ones. The Bearcats were penalized a total of eight times for 55 yards.

The first quarter was sluggish on both sides. Prescott kicked off to the Bearcats, who managed two first downs before giving the Wolves the ball on downs at the Prescott 20.

But the Curley Wolves also managed two first downs on their possession before Hopson fumbled the ball. The Bearcats made another first down and then punted with the ball at the Prescott 36. The punt went into the end zone for a touch back. Look out for Woodley.

On first and 10 Woodley got the ball for a play up the middle. He broke through the line and went to the sideline for an 80-yard TD run. The point after try was missed by Sid Giles.

Then the Bearcats got a first down with a pass interference call against the Curley Wolves. But Prescott held and Mena had to punt. This time the officials called a roughing the kicker penalty against the Wolves for another first down. Once more the Prescott defense got tough and once more the Bearcats had to punt, but once more the kicker was hit after he had kicked, once more giving the Bearcats a first down (for the third time) as the quarter was coming to an end.

However, the defense got tougher. The penalty put the ball at the Prescott 34. Flemons sacked Frost for 11-yard loss to bring the period to a close, then Rafael Marlowe and Gabe Morman got to the quarterback for another sack for a six-yard loss, and finally he was sacked again back to his own 35, bring up a fourth and 41. A punt without a Prescott penalty gave the Curley Wolves the ball at their own 34.

The Mena defense tightened up and Prescott had to kick back to the Bearcats after a fumble on a reverse play was recovered by the Wolves at a great loss.

It was now time for Mena to be penalize. They were set back twice on illegal procedures, and on third and 14 Frost went back to pass. Hopson intercepted the pass somewhere around his 45-yard line and showed what determination is about by breaking tackles along the sidelines to the goal. A two-point try after the TD was complete, but an illegal blocking penalty was called against the Curley Wolves to nullify the catch by Andrew Fellows from quarterback Josh Bullock. The Wolves then failed to convert on another pass for the score to remain 12-7.

Kicker Antone Purifoy, who put the first kick-off out of the end zone tried to do it again. Davis caught it on the three, went up the middle and broke through the Prescott specialty team for the big run to the goal line. The extra point kick was good to make the score 12-7 with 7:13 left in the half. The two scores came only 14 seconds apart.

This time Marlowe fumbled to Mena for Prescott's second and last turnover of the night. But the Big D forced another punt by Mena with Brad Harris getting the ball at the seven and running it back to the 21.

On first and 10 Bullock handed off to Flemons, who managed to get to the sideline for a 79-yard score. The two-point conversion pass failed for the score to remain 18-7 with 4:07 left in the half.

Prescott got the ball the second half and managed two first downs before punting to the Bearcats, who took over on their own 16-yard line, thanks to Sockwell stopping a return.

On fourth and nine the Travis Stanley went back to punt, but this time the Wolves were determined to block the kick without getting a penalty. The ball hit Sockwell hard and bounced in the end zone for the safety, making the score 20-7.

Hopson got him another interception during the third quarter, but couldn't get a score out of it. The Curley Wolves ended the period, though, in control of the ball with Flemons getting a first down at his 37-yard line. In spite of a holding penalty, the Wolves got another first down before having to punt. This was do or die time for the Bearcats.

Prescott gave them another first down for unnecessary roughness, then they got one of their own at the Prescott 25-yard line.

Davis was stopped for no gain, then Frost was tackled by Woodley about the same time as he got the snap. On the next play he went into shotgun formation for a pass. Sure enough it was a pass, but Woodley stepped in for the reception, taking the ball the other direction for the score. The point after try was blocked to keep the score at 26-7.

The Bearcats managed to go from their 18-yard line to their 25 before Flemons hit Frost just before he released the ball, causing as fumble with Woodley capturing it and running the distance for another TD. This time the extra point kick by Giles was good for the 33-7 score.

Frost was sacked six times for a loss of 44 yards during the game. He attempted 28 passes, completing 12 for 76 yards. The Bearcats only rushed a net of 57 yards for a total of133 yards. He was intercepted three times.

Prescott had a net of 282 offensive yards and another 21 passing. Bullock attempted seven passes, completing only one.

Mean finished with more first downs (12) than Prescott (11), but you must remember they got six, thanks to penalties by the Wolves.

Prescott doesn't have anymore home games, at least during the regular season. If they have any more it'll have to be in the play-offs. To do that the Curley Wolves will have to win their last two games and Nashville will have to beat De Queen Friday night. Who knows Prescott may have home field advantage.

The Curley Wolves are still tied for first place with De Queen and Fordyce, but the Leopards took a victory over the Curley Wolves, so De Queen is number one while Prescott and Fordyce are tied for second place.

That's the reason the next two games are so crucial for the Curley Wolves. First Prescott will have to ship Fouke at Fouke, then they will have to whip Fordyce at Fordyce. Not an easy task, but nothing has been easy for the Curley Wolves all season. Prescott must win the next two games.

If Nashville should beat De Queen Friday night and the Curley Wolves can get past Fouke and Fordyce, then they will be first in the conference. It is not likely that the Scrappers can make it against the Leopards, but Prescott must beat Fouke.

That's the way coach David Bennet plays them, one game at a time. He wants Fouke this week. Bennet has to have this victory. He is not looking past this game, only people who write stories and surmise.

But it is a nice thought. Nashville already has two losses against Prescott and Fordyce. Now if the Scrappers can do the WHO a favor and win Friday.

While we're wishing we might as well wish that Mena would beat Fordyce this week. Who knows? After all this is Halloween.

Last week Nashville beat Fouke 40-14; De Queen beat Bismarck 48-8; and Fordyce took care of Fountain Lake 28-14.

In other games of interest Foreman beat Gurdon 29-20; Mineral Springs shut out Dierks 45-0; and Hope beat Ashdown 43-32.

The crowd at the PHS field was small Friday night. We need to try to make it to Fouke to support the Curley Wolves and to see the band perform at halftime.