Bearcats Struggle In Nashville

BY EASTON LEONARD –

Friday night, October 20th, the Mena Bearcats (3-5, 0-5) senior high football team traveled to Nashville to take on the Scrappers (5-3, 3-2), with their top offensive and defensive player, Justin Dean, on the sidelines due to an injury.

Mena won the opening coin toss and deferred to receive the ball to start the second half.

Christian Lua’s opening kickoff for the Bearcats was returned from the five yard line by Nashville’s Ty Pettway to their own twenty yard line, where the Scrappers took over for their first offensive possession.

In a minute and ten seconds, on four plays, the Scrappers drove down to the Mena five yard line, where number twenty, Carmallias Marrison, ran in for a five yard Nashville Touchdown. The Scrappers made their point-after-attempt, to make the score 7-0, with still 10:50 left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats took over on their own eighteen yard line for their first possession, but after just five quick plays, Mena was forced to punt the ball back to the Scrappers.

Just five plays into the Scrappers’ next possession, following the Mena punt, Nashville drove down to the Bearcats’ twelve yard line, where number fourteen, Tyler Hanson, ran in for a twelve yard Scrappers’ touchdown. And after a made point-after-attempt, the Scrappers led 14-0 with 7:25 left in the first quarter of play.

Nashville forced the Bearcats to go three-and-out on their next offensive possession, to get the ball back via a punt on their own forty-five yard line. The Scrappers drove to the Mena thirty-five yard line, where number six, Trent Harris, ran thirty-five yards for another Nashville touchdown. The Scrappers nailed their point-after-attempt, to make the score 21-0 with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Going into the second quarter, both teams stayed scoreless until the 8:04 mark, when number twenty, Carmillias Morrison, ran in seven yards for a Scrappers’ touchdown, to make the score 28-0 after a made point-after-attempt.

Both teams were forced to punt on their next possessions, but on Mena’s sixth, Carson Cannon’s pass was intercepted by the Scrappers, who returned the ball to their own eighteen yard line. A few plays later, Nashville’s Tyler Hanson completed a fifty yard touchdown pass to Ty Pettway, making the score 35-0 after a made point-after-attempt, with 3:12 left in the first half.

The Scrappers forced Mena to punt yet again on their seventh offensive possession, to give Nashville the ball back at the Bearcats’ thirty-six yard line via a punt. On the first play of Nashville’s eight offensive possession, Trent Harris ran thirty-five yards to the Mena one yard line, and one play later ran into the end zone for a one yard touchdown, to make the score 42-0 after a made point-after-attempt, with 1:22 left in the second quarter.

On Mena’s last possession before halftime, another Carson Cannon pass was intercepted by the Scrappers as the second quarter clock expired. Making the score 42-0, in favor of Nashville, at halftime.

With the mercy rule running clock rule in affect, the second half of the game went by fairly quickly. The Bearcats held Nashville to a thirty yard field goal on their first possession of the second half, to make the score 45-0 with a little over a minute left in the third quarter.

On Mena’s next and tenth overall offensive possession, the Bearcats drove from the Nashville forty-nine yard line to the five yard line, where Carson Cannon ran in for a five yard Bearcats touchdown. Christian Lua’s point-after-attempt for Mena split the upright, to make the score 45-7 with 7:00 left in the final quarter of play.

Both Mena and Nashville remained scoreless for the rest of the game, making the final score 45-7 in favor of the Scrappers.

The Bearcats will host Fountain Lake this Friday, October 27th, and take on the Cobras (3-5, 1-4). The Cobras will come into Friday’s game following a week one loss against Pottsville (35-21), a week two win at Harmony Grove (35-7), a week three win at Smackover (29-28), a week four loss against Robinson (49-14), a week five loss at Nashville (65-28), a week six loss at Arkadelphia (70-7), a week seven win against Bauxite (28-27), and a week eight loss against Malvern (42-23). Last season, the Bearcats defeated the Cobras, at Fountain Lake, by a score of 41-20.

Kickoff for this Friday’s matchup against the Cobras at Bearcat Stadium is set for 7:00 p.m. If you can’t make it to the game, make sure to tune in on KQOR 105.3 by downloading the app or catching the stream at MyPulseNews.com.

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