AMITY, Ar. — Centerpoint didn’t look like the same football team that led Class 3A’s top-ranked Prescott 35-12 last week in the third quarter.
Jessieville dominated the line of scrimmage, and the scoreboard clock with four touchdown drives of 80 or more yards to upset the fifth-ranked Knights, 28-27.
With all that said, Centerpoint missed a 29-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game. The Knights also missed a 32-yard attempt with 3:52 left in the game.
“We’ll just have to regroup and get after Glen Rose next week,” said Centerpoint coach Cary Rogers. “I think we were a little flat after last week, but that’s on me. I’ve got to get them up. Still, we went up two scores twice. We had some injuries this week, but Jessieville just outplayed us.”
Hair, Huff propel Jessieville to win
It was the the 1-2 punch of senior quarterback Carson Hair and senior tailback Matthew Huff that led to the Knights’ two-game losing streak. Hair played a role in all four of the Lions’ touchdowns. He scored twice on runs of 12 and 2 yards. Junior Brentenn Johnson was on the receiving end of two TD passes thrown by Hair.
Hair rushed for 132 yards, while completing 6 of 11 passes for 61 yards. Huff was the game’s leading runner with 150 yards on 29 carries.
“Jessieville ran it, ran it, and ran it, and we couldn’t get it stopped,” said Rogers. “Last week we were playing for first place. Now we’re in fourth place and fighting for any kind of seed.”
There was some good news Friday night for Centerpoint (5-2, 2-2). Senior quarterback Josh Lawson was able to play after suffering a knee injury last week at Prescott.
Lawson not 100 percent against Lions
Lawson could not run the ball, but he completed 13 of 21 passes for 215 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Owens with 2:21 left in the third quarter. The PAT attempt was blocked, but Centerpoint led 27-14.
Johnson capped an 80-yard drive with 8:46 left in the fourth period, and the PAT was good to make it 27-21.
Hair plowed over from two yards with 22 seconds left, and the Lions’ kicker converted for the game’s final point.
Incredibly, the game was far from being over. The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, and an unsportsman like penalty of the Lions gave Centerpoint possession at midfield.
Lawson completed a 20-yard pass to C.J. Fox, and then a short pass to Owens. Jessieville players charged on to the field thinking the game was over, but Owens was still struggling for yardage. The Lions were penalized twice for unsportsman like behavior that gave the Knights a first down at the 12 with no time showing on the clock.
A 29-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, and Jessieville players charged the field again.