IN SHORT: The Jackrabbits annhiliated Southside Batesville Friday night at Abraham Field in Lonoke. The Rabbits won 55-0 to improve their season record to 2-1 in the 4A-2 league.
By RYAN CHRISTENSEN
Special to the Leader
The Lonoke Jackrabbits used the momentum off last week’s victory against Bald Knob to steamroll Batesville Southside 55-0 Friday night at James B Abraham stadium in Lonoke. The Jackrabbits gained another conference victory in their win over Batesville Southside last Friday night as they celebrated Homecoming. The game started slow enough, but once the Jackrabbits got their offense going the Southerners little chance of catching up.
Lonoke was able to put up 283 total offensive yards in the first half alone, and score on six of their eight offensive drives during the first half. The Southerners were never able to get the big stop or capitalize on the turnovers to get into the game.
The Southerners would get the ball to start the first quarter, but were unable to get much going as quarterback Dean Rawlings threw an interception on the third play of the drive.
The Jackrabbits did not take advantage of the outstanding field position as they too turned the ball over through the air on their third play. The pass was a throw by Alex Cash that floated along the left sideline and was picked off by defender Ethan McBride.
Both quarterbacks had trouble passing early. Both defenses put pressure on the quarterbacks and forced them to escape the pocket on nearly every play.
Batesville gained possession from the interception, but was not able to gain any positive yards on its next drive and was forced to punt from its own end zone on fourth down.
Lonoke used the good field position to gain the 24 yards necessary to get over the goal line and put the first points on the board. On the last play of the drive, Cash had room to run from the seven-yard line, but instead chose to pass the ball to Clarence Harris to make a score of 7-0 with 7:04 left to go in the first quarter.
The Southerners came out passing on their next drive going 4 for 4 gaining 47 yards through the air. It looked as though they might get into the red zone, but were stopped short on fourth down and were unable to convert.
Lonoke took over on downs, but had trouble early in the drive with penalties and a quarterback sack on the drive, but was able to hand the ball off to running backs Josh Martin and Wendell Scales and pick up some first downs.
The drive was capped off with a touchdown pass from five yards out to Elam Rollins to make the score 14-0. Batesville Southside could not pick up the Jackrabbits’ blitz on their next drive and would have to the punt the ball after three downs.
Lonoke returned the punt to their 39-yard line and started another impressive offensive drive. The drive was highlighted by a 40-yard completion to Elam on the third play of the drive.
This was followed up by a seven-yard touchdown run that fullback Clarence Harris broke up the middle, increasing the score to 21-0 with 8:30 left in the second quarter. The Lonoke defense again held steady forcing the Southerners to minus four yards on their next drive.
The Jackrabbits rushed the punter on fourth down and blocked the punt and took over at the Southerners’ 25-yard line.
The Jackrabbits didn’t hesitate long before they handed the ball off to Tyler Crow on fourth down and he showed some athletic ability breaking tackles and running behind his blocking linemen to rush for twenty yards and another Jackrabbit touchdown.
The point after was missed so the score stayed at 27-0 with 6:24 left in the first half. The Southerners tried the run and pass in their next two possessions, but were held to eight plays and seven total yards.
The Jackrabbits however continued their offensive charge with five plays in their next two drives and two touchdowns to make the score 41-0 at halftime.
The clock would run steady in the second half, but Batesville Southside did not give up hope. They came out passing the ball trying to lessen the 41-point lead.
The team didn’t give up, but they still were not able to break the Jackrabbits’ defense as they went two for six passing and gave the ball over on downs in their first drive of the second half. Lonoke would keep their offense rolling on their first drive of the second half.
Lonoke used four plays to gain 56 yards and set up backup quarterback Elam Rollins for a 15-yard run for a touchdown, making the score 48-0 with 5:59 left in the third quarter.
Batesville again came out passing, but a fast rushing Lonoke defense didn’t give Rawlings much time to throw. He was able to complete two of four passes and rush for one yard only to give the ball up on downs again.
The last score of the game would come on the next Jackrabbit drive as Boyd Kylon pulled down a Cash pass along the right sideline and showed his speed, outrunning defenders for 40 yards and six points. The point after would give the game its’ final score of 55-0.
The win looked impressive for the Jackrabbits, but coach Jeff Jones said, “We are just trying to get better.”