SENIORS CLOSE OUT CAREER AT WAR MEMORIAL

Head coach Doc Crowley took a time out with 19 seconds to play Saturday night. The outcome decided the stoppage was not favored on the home side of War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Crowley did so merely to get a few seniors, like Gage Broussard, Dezmond Connelly, and Skylar Shelton into the game as it would be their last.

The seniors on the 2022 team are the first to have played the entire career for Crowley and while the last one obviously hurts, the Bearcat seniors were a part of as many or more games than any class in school history.

Saturday’s game, a 41-12 loss to Charleston in the Class 3A state title game, ends a 35-8 career for the seniors.

The 43 games, which includes two forfeits, is matched only by the classes of 2000 and 2001.

The 35 wins ranks sixth behind the 2000 and 2001 classes with 40 and the 1986, 1987, and 2003 classes, who all won 36.

Saturday’s title game was the 10th for the program and came with the help of other seniors like game captains offensive line fixture Brett Welling; Brooks Herrera, another game captain who battled back from a broken leg to play what ended up being more than half of a season; defensive lineman David Hicks, who was credited with three assists and a quarterback hurry Saturday; and Cam Osborne, who logged substantial time on both lines this season.

Senior Johnny Barnes, another game captain, closed out his career by being named the Brandon Burlsworth Player of the Game award winner for the Bearcats.

Quarterback Peyton Tatum, another senior, led the Bearcats with 94 rushing yards on 12 carries Saturday.

Fullback Cody Elliott ran for 89 yards to cap off a 1,502-yard season. Along with the now single season record holder for rushing yardage in Dax Goff, Elliott is now one of just 14 players to cap 1,500 yards.

Goff ran for 79 yards Saturday, which included a pair of fourth quarter touchdown runs of 3 and 60 yards.

Goff was also the defensive leader with 16 total tackles,including nine solo stops.

Senior Dunn Daniel had six total stops and both Brendan Dove and Trace Hall, also seniors, accounted for tackles for a loss on pass plays. Dove also broke up one pass.

Dove and Chase Plymale, another senior, were credited with the fourth-and-1 stop at the Bearcat 11-yard line that kept the game scoreless with 6:09 remaining in the first quarter.

With Elliott accounting for 20 yards, the Bearcats then moved to the Tiger 41 but soon found themselves in a third-and-30 situation after a pair of penalties.

Charleston went 86 yards in eight plays after that led to a punt and led 7-0 with 10:08 left of what would be a miserable second quarter.

It was an especially difficult back half of the quarter as Charleston scored with 5:13 to go in the half and had a PAT try hit the upright but go through for a 14-0 lead.

It was 21-0 21 seconds before halftime and 28-0 with 10 seconds to go in the half after a fumbled kickoff gave the Tigers the ball back.

The Bearcat defense made a stop to start the second half but another short field after a failed fourth down play from the Bearcat 18-yard line gave Charleston an opportunity to make it 35-0 and they did so with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

Goff scored his first touchdown with 11:21 to go to make it 35-6 – the PAT was blocked.

After a Charleston punt into the end zone the Bearcats got a 20-yard run from Tatum, and Goff’s 60-yard run to make it 35-12.

The Tigers answered with a two play drive of their own with a 45-yard touchdown pass that made it 41-12.

The Bearcats kept the ball the remaining 7:06, taking the time out with 19 seconds to go to plug in seniors in their final game.