Poteau did their best to avoid linebacker Seth Wilson in the final quarter Friday night. While there was a modicum of success, it would not matter.
Wilson had two solo tackles and an assist in the final 12 minutes, the first 6:23 of which were played in Bearcat territory, and finished with 16 total tackles for the night, 11 of which were solo.
In the fourth quarter Wilson and his Bearcat defensive cohorts made two stands and preserved a 14-10 win over Poteau, Okla., in the season opener for both schools.
With 11:13 to play Poteau had the ball at the Bearcat 42-yard line following a punt.
The Pirates earned a first down at the 30 but a holding penalty, and a dead ball penalty on their sideline, forced a punt that was downed at the Bearcat 9 with 8:12 on the clock.
The Pirates got another scoring opportunity when the Bearcats fumbled the ball at their 13-yard line with 7:27 remaining.
Another holding penalty helped the Bearcats. Dylan Todd ran the Pirate quarterback down for a yard loss, Hunter Warren made a stop at the 18 and an incomplete pass, on which, Conner Droemer suffered an injury, brought up fourth down.
On fourth down the Pirates went after Chase Shelton, who came into the game to replace Droemer, with no luck, and the Bearcats took over with 5:37 to play.
Then, the Bearcat offense, limited to just 122 yards and a single second half first down when they took the field, did so to take the game over for good.
The Bearcats would then keep the ball the rest of the night.
Todd (shown) started it with 16 yards and Warren followed with 16 more, which became 21 due to a facemask infraction.
Warren, who led the Bearcats with 15 carries for 67 yards, lost a yard on the next play but Jace Washburn kept for seven yards on consecutive plays to move the chains again.
A pair of 5-yard efforts from Warren and Damari Poole earned another first down and a late hit personal foul moved the ball to the 10, resulting in Poteau calling its final time out with 1:33 to play.
From there Washburn retreated and took a knee three times to run out the clock, wrapping up a win in the first game with an Oklahoma school at Bearcat Stadium, which began its 57th campaign.
The game could not have started much better for the Bearcats. A muffed kickoff was recovered by Droemer at the Pirate 28 and Warren reeled off 21 yards on the first offensive play of 2024.
It was the biggest play of the night for the Bearcats, in terms of yardage.
Three straight 2-yard carries by Warren moved the ball to the 1 and Todd (4-42) scored on fourth down.
The conversion rate on the night was dominated by the Bearcats as they were 6-of-12 on third, and the Todd touchdown would be the only fourth down attempt, while Poteau was 2-of-11 on third and 2-of-5 on fourth downs.
Aided by a pair of Bearcat major infractions, the Pirates then drove into the red zone where Dakota Mattson made a third down stop and an incomplete pass resulted in a turnover on downs at the Bearcat 15 with 4:00 left in the quarter.
An 85-yard, 16-play drive that consumed 7:56 of game clock gave the Bearcats a 14-0 lead.
Along the way Droemer, Todd, and Rhett Nietert all moved the chains on third-and-five or more, and Warren converted a third-and-1 to move the ball to the Pirate 3.
Poole took it from there and Nietert won a race to the pylon for a two-point conversion to make it 14-0.
Conner Lentz rumbled 52 yards for a touchdown one play after a Pirate punt, but a holding flag took it away and the Bearcats ultimately punted with 3:19 to go in the first half.
Poteau strung together three first downs– one on a pass interference penalty that was marked off 18 yards – to reach the Bearcat 8, but Poole and Wilson made a first down stop, and after a spike and an incomplete pass, the Pirates settled for a 27-yard field goal to make it 14-3.
Poteau seemed to take control in the third quarter. After a single first down on the opening possession of the half the Bearcats were forced to punt.
Though Wilson was in on seven tackles on the ensuing drive, six of them solo, the Pirates then marched 67 yards to make it 14-10. The touchdown came on a fourth-and-goal pass from the 8 with 1:10 left in the quarter.
A holding penalty and a fumble – one of seven by the Bearcats – short-circuited the next Bearcat drive and Poteau took over at the Bearcat 42 after a punt with 11:13 left.
The Bearcats will be back at Bearcat Stadium this Friday, taking on Ozark. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
