Trumann beats Harrisburg in county clash

By COSMO COSSEY

Sports Connection Team

Trumann (1-2) got four touchdowns from Tony Postell, Jr. as Trumann beat Harrisburg (0-3) 36-14 this past Friday to retain the Battle for the Ridge trophy in a clash of Poinsett County football teams.

Harrisburg’s Andrew England runs behind the blocking of Trenton Fitzgerald for a nice gain during game action this past Friday in Trumann.

Harrisburg got the ball first as Remington Rapert gave the Hornets good field position with a kick return out to the Harrisburg 43-yard line. The Hornets went three and out, with Max Tracy punting the ball away. The Hornets Andrew England tackled the Wildcats Brandon Dohm as he caught the ball at the Trumann 25-yard line. Bradon Whitsett then broke loose for a 36 yard run to put the Wildcats in Harrisburg territory with 10:17 left. Brayden Dunavin got Trumann on the board first with a roll out keeper running 31 yards for the score to make it 6-0. Postell, Jr. added the two-point conversion run to make it 8-0 Trumann with 9:10 left. Grayson Harkey returned the ensuing kick-off to his own 39-yard line to set up Harrisburg’s second possession.

However, the Hornets were forced to punt the ball away with Tracy’ punt being fielded by Dohm and returned 13 yards to the Wildcats’ 45-yard line with 7:46 left. The Wildcats put together a 55-yard drive which was capped off with a Postell, Jr. one yard run to make it 14-0 Trumann with 1:07 left. The two-point conversion play was no good.

The Wildcats tried an onside kick only to see Jackson Brazile fall on the ball at his own 45-yard line. Brodie Popejoy came up big for the Wildcats’ defense as he stepped in front of a Tracy pass and returned the ball to the Harrisburg 21-yard line with 39 seconds left.

Bryar Jones of Harrisburg makes a nice tackle to deny Trumann's Brayden Dunavin the end zone during a battle of Poinsett County teams this past Friday at RMC Stadium in Trumann.

Trumann capitalized on the turnover when Postell, Jr. scored from 13 yards out to make it 20-0 Wildcats with 11 seconds left in the quarter. Dunavin found Dohm all alone in the end zone for the two-point pass to push Trumann’s lead to 22-0.

Jayvin Thompson set the Hornets up with good field position returning the ball his own 41-yard line. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Trumann tacked on 15 yards to move the ball to the Wildcats’ 44-yard line. The first quarter ended during the Hornets’ possession.

Harrisburg couldn’t take advantage of the good field position and punted the ball away with just over 11 minutes left. Dohm’s fair caught the ball at his own 19-yard line with 10:56 left. Following a change of possession, the Hornets faced fourth down and elected to go for the first down. But Trumann’s Isaiah Carillo blitzed and dropped Andrew England for a loss to give Trumann ball on their own 29-yard line with 5:14 left. Trumann had to punt the ball away on their series only to get it right back as Thompson tried to field the punt and fumbled it before Trumann fell on it at their own 49-yard line with 3:37 left.

Trumann's Gabe Sifuentes blocks Harrisburg's Wyatt Smith during football action this past Friday in Trumann.

The officiating crew then had a conference and determined an inadvertent whistle had blown, so the Hornets kept possession of the ball at the Truman 41-yard line with 3:37 left.

Trumann’s defense came up big again as Azari Thigpen intercepted a pass returning it for a touchdown only to see a penalty take away the score. Trumann took the ball on the 37-yard line with 3:13 left. The Wildcats gave ball back with a turnover on downs with nine seconds left before Harrisburg’s Tracy took a knee to send the game to halftime with Trumann leading 22-0.

The Wildcats got the ball to start the second half only to Dohm mishandle the kick-off with England picking up the ball for Harrisburg and returning it to the Trumann two-yard line with 11:46 left. The Hornets capitalized when Tracy found Braden Brock with a four yard touchdown pass to make 22-6 with 10:57 left.

Tracy’s extra-point was good to make it 22-7. Tracy’s kick-off went out of bounds and with the five yard penalty Trumann’s next possession started at the Harrisburg 47-yard line. Postell, Jr. ran the ball to Harrisburg 28-yard line on the first play before scoring from 17 yards out, two plays later, to make it 28-7 Wildcats. Gavin Cubit was stopped on the two-point run with 8:57 left.

Harrisburg turned the ball over on downs with 4:29 left on their own 40-yard line. Postell, Jr. found the end zone again from 59 yards out to push the Wildcats’ lead to 34-7 with 3:10 left. Dunavin tossed a shovel pass to Carillo for the two-point conversion to make it 36-7 Trumann. Hayden Anderson returned the kick-off to the Trumann 45-yard line to set the Hornets up with good position for their next possession. The third quarter ended during the Hornets’ drive.

Thigpen came up with another interception for the Wildcats early in the fourth quarter and returned the ball out to his own 37-yard line with 11:45 left. The Wildcats would turn the ball over on downs and the Hornets took over at their own 42-yard line with 8:56 left. Trumann got the ball right back as Brayden McClaughlin intercepted a Tracy pass on the first play to give the Wildcats the ball at their own 49-yard line.

Trumann was forced the punt the ball back to Harrisburg with 6:47 left. Harrisburg put a drive together that ended with Tracy to Evan Henley 10 yard touchdown pass to make it 36-13 with 1:42 left. Tracy’s point-after made the score 36-14.

Trumann would run the clock out on their possession to take the win and keep the Battle for the Ridge trophy.

“Obviously glad to get the win but I didn’t think we played very well tonight. We didn’t play the same caliber of ball we did the first two weeks,” Trumann head coach Gunner Cook said. “Postell, Jr. had a big night and Dunavin had some good runs. Lots of good plays by several of our guys tonight,” Cook added. “We looked good at time and we did look bad at times, didn’t control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball at times. We are eight points away from being 3-0. Those first two games will be similar to the competition we’ll see in conference play so they helped to get us ready,” Cook said.

Postell, Jr. led Trumann with 19 carries for 188 yards with four touchdowns and a two-point conversion. Dunavin finished with 15 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown. Whitsett added six carries for 69 yards as Carillo and Dohm each had a two-point conversion. Postell, Jr. had 12 tackles for the Trumann defense with Carillo finishing with eight tackles. Thigpen had two interceptions as Brodie Popejoy and Brayden McClaughlin each had an interception.

“This is a team that we played last year and I think they turbo-clocked us by halftime. We made a ton of mistakes early and our defense didn’t play every good early. Once they figured things out, we were much better the rest of the game,” Harrisburg head coach Austin Jarett said after the game. “We dropped a big pass that could have added another score and it seemed we were always in long yard situations on offense. I like the way we played on both sides in the second half, we just have to work on those small mistakes,” Jarrett added.

England led the Hornets with 14 carries for 42 yards. Evan Henley caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown while Brock had two catches for 15 yards and a touchdown. Tracy completed 11 of 28 passes for 104 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Brock led the Hornets defense with 14 tackles with Trenton Fitzgerald and England adding 11 tackles each, with England also recovering a fumble.