Wildcats end 2015 season with 41-13 win over Benton last Friday night
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School football team ended the regular season with a convincing 41-13 win over visiting Benton on Senior Night at The Pit Friday night, Oct. 23.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I was really pleased how we played on both sides of the ball,” A-J football coach Brett Detering said. “I was extremely pleased with our kids, especially the seniors.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats closed out their regular season with a 4-5 record and the Rangers fell to 2-7.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After Benton was forced to punt on its first possession to open the game, the Wildcats took over the game.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Caleb Clover capped a 4-play drive with a 24-yard touchdown run.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Quarterback Jake Stark, who was kicking extra points for Dakota Earnhart, who was playing in a sectional championship soccer game, booted the extra point. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats pulled ahead 7-0 with 8:41 remaining in the first quarter. They would not relinquish the lead. The Rangers appeared to score on the ensuing kickoff; however, a blocking below the waist penalty nullified the TD.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Trenton Turner then sacked quarterback Hamilton Page for a big loss and A-J’s Alec Gold knocked a Page pass down on third down. Page then punted on fourth down in the end zone for a touchback.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Fourteen plays later, A-J’s Collin Prather scored on a 1-yard plunge. Stark’s extra point kick gave A-J a 14-0 lead with 2:01 remaining in the opening quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Forcing another Ranger punt, the Wildcats were on the move again.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After a three-play drive, Stark scored on a 3-yard plunge. His extra point kick boosted the Wildcats to a 21-0 advantage with 11:05 left in the first half.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Ranger offense then finally began clicking.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Page connected with Cole Richardson for a 7-yard TD pass at the end of a 10-play drive. Ian McMahon made the extra point kick and Benton pulled to 21-7 with 8:05 remaining in the first half.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats were on the move again. Prather scored on an 8-yard run following a 12-play drive.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stark’s extra point kick closed out the scoring in the first half with A-J on top 28-7 with 1:51 remaining.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Prather intercepted a pass from Page to end the Ranger’s final drive of the half.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats’ Brayden Benefield then caught his first reception of the year, a 10-yard pass from quarterback Stark to close out the first half.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After Trenton Turner made a nifty return of the opening kick off in the second half, Stark found an opening in the line and scampered 58-yards for a score.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Jake played really well,” Detering said. “He did a good job of reading the option then and was able to run in untouched.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stark added the extra point kick and A-J pulled ahead 35-7 with 11:49 remaining in the third quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Benton’s next drive stalled on an incompleted pass on fourth down.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After a 9-play drive, Clinton Clover scored on a 1-yard run with 3:10 remaining in the third quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The conversion attempt failed and the Wildcats pulled ahead 41-7 with 3:10 left in the third quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Clover knocked down a Page pass to thwart the Ranger’s next drive.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">A lost fumble ended A-J’s final offensive drive.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After a lengthy drive, Page connected with Richardson for a 2-yard TD pass. The extra point attempt failed and Benton closed out the scoring with 1:48 remaining in the game.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stark then dropped to his knee several times to run the clock out to end the game.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We got out of the box early and our defense stopped them,” Detering said. “We only gave up 13 points.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Benton rushed for 158 yards and had 106 yards passing.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“ It was a defensive challenge for us,” Detering said. “We gave up a little bit of yardage. Sometimes our linemen go unnoticed, but they did a good job and we did a good job with our coverage.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats ground out 368 yards rushing on 50 carries.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stark led the way with 106 yards rushing on 14 carries. Gold added 72 yards on 15 carries. Clover had 69 yards on 4 carries. Prather had 60 yards on 7 carries. Trenton Turner had 38 yards on 6 carries. Dylan Fox added 33 yards on 4 carries.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stark was 3 of 7 passing for 42 yards, with Fox leading the way with a 20 yard pass reception.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We would have had enough points to get in (the playoffs) with a 5-4 record. That’s the way it goes. We just ended up one win shy. Turning the ball over was our Achilles heel early in the season. We just didn’t play well enough early (in the season) to get in the playoffs.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“But they’ve been an exceptional bunch to coach. They’ve practiced and played hard all season, even when we were 2-5 (and out of the playoffs).” </span></p>