AMITY, Ar. — Don’t blame Centerpoint’s 35-21 loss to Glen Rose Friday night at Diamond Bank Stadium on injuries.
It’s true the Knights have some key players banged up, but they all played Friday. Glen Rose had four starters out, including senior running back Dalton Taylor.
It’s also true that Centerpoint is not the same team that lost at Prescott three weeks ago.
“Every team is limping a little bit right now; everybody has injured players this part of the season,” said Centerpoint coach Cary Rogers. “As we get well we’ll get better. Still, we’ve got everyone on the field right now, and we’re making it harder and harder on ourselves by losing.
“We just need a win right now. It’s been three tough loses. We were up in two of those games, and this one was tied at halftime. Glen Rose is a good football team. That’s probably the best defense we’ve seen this year. They’ve still got a chance to win the conference championship.”
There was little difference between the two teams in the first half.
Taylor’s five TDs propel Glen Rose
Glen Rose senior Connor Taylor enjoyed a career night with five touchdowns and 117 yards on 19 carries. Sophomore Heath Ballance supported Taylor’s effort with 95 yards on 17 totes. Most of Taylor’s yards and all of his touchdowns had him running from the Wildcat formation.
The Beavers also got a solid performance from sophomore quarterback Rein Bland, who completed 9 of 18 passes for 138 yards. Bland was sacked three times by the Knights’ Jace Clark, who was also Centerpoint’s leading rusher with 60 yards on 13 carries, including a 16-yard TD run with 5:50 left in the first half that put the Knights on top, 14-7.
It only took Glen Rose 60 seconds to answer that score, a 2-yard run by Taylor. Bland completed a 43-yard yard pass to senior Taggart Haynes to set up that score.
Knights’ Harmon, Owens intercept passes
Jaxon Harmon intercepted a pass on the final play of the first half to stop another Beaver threat. Kaden Owens also intercepted a Beaver pass.
Senior quarterback Josh Lawson threw touchdown passes to Dillon Fox and C.J. Fox for Centerpoint’s other touchdowns. Lawson completed 17 of 31 passes for 194 yards.
Centerpoint entered Friday’s game ranked ninth in 3A by Hootens.com, with Glen Rose ranked 11th. The Knights travel to Genoa Central next Friday, ending the regular season the following week at home against Bismarck. The Knights need to win both games for the fourth seed in conference.