By GRAHAM POWELL
Special to The Leader
The weather was not the only problem that the Sylvan Hills Bears ran into Friday night at Bill Blackwell Field, there was the Little Rock Parkview Patriots.
The two teams entered the game appearing to be evenly matched on paper, but Parkview proved to be the dominant team, leaving Sherwood with a 31-0 victory over the Class 5A Bears.
Both teams were strong defensively, fast on both sides of the ball, and were similar in numbers. However, the Bears couldn’t match up to the Patriots, both offensively and defensively, once the teams took the field.
The Bears (1-2) and Patriots (3-0) started out slow offensively, as many would expect considering the teams’ respected defenses. It was the Sylvan Hills offense however, that made the first big mistake, fumbling a handoff that the Patriots defense recovered at the Sylvan Hills 32-yard-line.
After two big runs for 10 and 12 yards from junior Patriots running back Rashaad Earls, quarterback Caelon Harden took the quarterback keeper 10 yards to the end zone to put the first points on the board with 3:38 left in the first quarter. Jonathan Davis kicked the extra point to make the score 7-0 Patriots.
The Bears special teams showed promise on the following kickoff when Jalen West returned the kick to the Patriot 49-yard-line.
The offense managed to move the ball inside the 10, but turned the ball over on downs when a group of Patriots took down senior Trey Bone in the backfield.
The Patriots’ defense provided the offense with momentum. After a few big plays on offense from Harden and Earls, Earls maneuvered his way through defenders to march 28 yards into the end zone with 10:32 left in the second quarter. Davis’s extra point attempt was no good, leaving the score 13-0 Patriots.
The Patriots followed the successful scoring drive by trying to keep the Bears in the game with a bad onside kick attempt that didn’t make the 10-yard bounce, giving the Bears excellent field positioning yet again at the Patriots’ 48-yard-line.
After a facemask penalty pushed the Bears closer to the red zone, the Bears offense found no luck in the run game. On fourth down, the Bears took a chance and went for it, but junior quarterback John David Miller’s pass was picked off by Patriots junior Alex Cottrell and was returned to the Parkview 16-yard-line.
After an offensive series for both teams, the Patriots added to their lead when Harden hit Cottrell for a 47-yard-touchdown-pass with just 30 seconds left in the half. The Patriots’ special teams took a chance and went for two on a fake extra point attempt, but failed as the Bears’ defense sniffed it out, making it 19-0 going into halftime.
The Bears’ offense was able to adjust and move the football in the second half, but was unable to find the end zone. The running game appeared to have promise at times in the second half from the hard running of Bone, but the lack of balance in the passing game and penalties hurt the Bears’ offense.
“I made a lot of bad decisions myself,” Bears Head Coach Jim Withrow said about the outcome of the game. “We just weren’t used to playing under center and a lot of that’s my fault. They’re a really talented team and we knew what to expect.”
The Patriots’ athletic Harden finished off the Bears late in the fourth quarter with another 9-yard-touchdown-run with 5:32 left in the game, making the score 25-0. After a quick three-and-out from the Bears’ offense, the Patriots field position was too good.
On a third and long pass play, Harden hit senior tight end Lionel Davis for a 24-yard-touchdown-pass with 3:39 left to play. The extra point was good to make what would be the final.
“I just don’t think we have ever had that much offense and couldn’t punch it in,” Withrow said about his team’s offensive play. “We could’ve tackled better, but I don’t blame our defense. Our offense needs to score points to help out the defense and to help us win.”
Sylvan Hills will try to rebound next week as they travel to White Hall to kick off conference play in the 5A Southeast. Kickoff starts at 7 p.m.
