Bearcats Show No Mercy To Subiaco Academy

Friday was senior night for the Mena Bearcats Football team. Mena continued winning ways as they welcomed Subiaco Academy to Bob Carver Mena Bearcats Stadium in class 4A-4 play. The Trojans came into this matchup as underdogs with a 1-7 win loss record. Subiaco won the toss and elected to receive first. From there things did not go well for the Trojan’s. Subi had to punt from deep in their own territory after a Mena put up a defensive wall. This gave the Bearcats a good position to begin their first drive of the game. It didn’t take long for Mena to start firing away when at the 7:50 mark in the 1st quarter when running back Evan Graves put six on the board with a Touchdown run. A Luiz Pessoa PAT made it 7 and the Bearcats never looked back.

Subiaco’s next possession didn’t fare any better when on 3rd down Mena Linebacker Logan Yang sacked the Subi quarterback which led to another punt in as many possessions for the Trojans. Once again Mena would start with great field position at their own 48. Junior Running Back Jake Wiles showed he still has jets attached to his shoes when ran for a 40 yard gain which set up an Andrew Graves TD run taking the score to 14-0 after the PAT.

On their 4th possession of the game Subiaco put together a strong offensive showing from their own 4 yard line by stringing together some first downs and chewing up yardage to reach the Bearcats red zone. Subiaco took over 7 minutes off the clock but fell short on a 4th down try and the Bearcats took over on downs, and with their backs to their own goal the Bearcats drive down field leading to a Sam Efird TD reception to make the score 21-0 going into the half. This must have had a debilitating effect on the Trojans offense because they couldn’t muster any worthwhile yardage for the remainder of the game.

The third quarter started like the others with the Bearcats adding to the score. Zane Stephens scored on a TD run making the score 27-0 then the Pessoa PAT made it 28. On a Bearcats kickoff after the score, Subi fumbled and Blake Castor came up with the ball. Soon after Evan Graves scored on a run down the left side to make the lead 35-0 to Mena after the PAT. This took the game into the Mercy Rule. According the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) the Mercy Rule kicks in when the score reaches 35 points over the opponent. From that point on the clock runs more than not. The only time the clock is running is when, “An official’s time-out is called a) when a first down is declared b) following a change of team possession c) to dry or change game ball 2) A charged time-out is called 3) At the end of a period 4) A score occurs Note: The clock will continue to run in all other situations.”

Essentially, the clock is going to run most of the time. And with the clock running quickly Mena was able to put one more score on the board on a 25 yard pass to Mason Brotheron. Mena tried a two point conversion and failed making the score line 41-0. Jake Wiles ran for 107 yards on the night. TJ Kiser was everywhere making 10 tackles on the night. Senior Tristen Beck was named the Comfort Center Home Furnishings Player Of The Game. Tristen is in his third year as a lineman for the Bearcats and has been there week in and week out fighting in the trenches. The Bearcats improve to 7-2 overall and hit the road to Dardanelle to face the Sand Lizards. Dardanelle beat Elkins 44-18 last week to improve to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in conference play. You can catch all of the action from kick-off to the final whistle with Phillip Wilson and Todd Aynes on Classic Hits 105.3 FM beginning at 7pm Friday.

About Author

Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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