Pine Bluff escapes West Memphis

Pine Bluff escapes West Memphis

WM School District It was the biggest game the West Memphis Blue Devils had played in several years.

The game against the powerful Pine Bluff Zebras featured everything a diehard football fan wants in a game with that much build-up.

It had big plays.

It had do-or-die moments.

And the game wasn't decided until the final two minutes.

Despite checking off all the earmarks needed to win the game, the Blue Devils fell to the Zebras 30-29 last Friday night at Hamilton-Shultz Field.

And for those who are still stinging from the loss, do not overlook the fact that West Memphis did not back down from the challenge.

Head coach Billy Elmore said earlier in the week there was a question in the back of his mind about how his kids would respond to a game of this magnitude.

Pine Bluff, after all, has been playing (and winning) big games for the last three years.

Well, Elmore and the rest of you need not worry.

The moment was not too big for the Blue Devils.

Down 30-23 in the final three minutes, the Blue Devils (6-3 overall, 4-2 in the 6A-East Conference) scored what could have been the tying touchdown when back-up quarterback Michael Troxler fired a 14yard touchdown pass to Steven Stone with 2:53 to play in the game.

Instead of kicking the PAT to tie, Elmore went for the win.

Going for the two points, Troxler was sacked almost immediately after receiving the snap. 'We were going for the win,' Elmore explained.

'We felt like we had a play (set up). But our kids competed all night. They met the challenge.'

The Blue Devils head into this Friday night's regularseason finale at Mountain Home needing a win to wrap up third place in the 6A-East.

Should Marion upset Jonesboro on Thursday night, it would give the Blue Devils the No. 2 seed in the conference heading into the state playoffs by virtue of head-to-head competition.

Regardless, the Blue Devils will host a state playoff game the following week.

It was apparent even from the outset that the WM came to play.

It stopped a charging Pine Bluff offense on its first possession, stopping the Zebras on fourth down from the West Memphis 13.

It set up one of the Blue Devils' most impressive scoring drives of the season as junior quarterback Amaurius Stinnett, who would later be knocked out of the game with a knee injury, engineered a 15play, 87-yard drive in which he completed 2 of 3 passes for 27 yards.

Senior Martavious Thomas capped it with a 2yard touchdown, giving the hosts a 7-0 lead after Dylan Wiggington's PAT.

The game was back and forth the rest of the way, highlighted by a dazzling trick play from Elmore that saw Stinnett, who completed 7 of 12 passes on the night for 70 yards, throw a tackle-eligible pass from 3 yards out to Hasani Adams for a touchdown.

Then on the two-point conversion, Stinnett handed to Jonathan Craig on an apparent end around. But Craig flipped the ball to Stone, who hit Stinnett in the end zone for the two points and a 15-8 West Memphis lead.

Pine Bluff, however, had an ace up its sleeve in senior quarterback Simeon Blair, who accounted for 337 yards and three touchdowns, none bigger than his 79-yard run on a quarterback draw with just 6 seconds left before halftime that gave the Zebras a 16-15 lead at intermission.

'Naturally, we'd like to have that play right before the half back,' Elmore said. 'But overall, we just have to regroup and move on.'

With only 17 seconds left in the half, Pine Bluff head coach Bobby Bolding gave brief thought to just downing the ball and heading into the locker room down 15-8.

'My offensive coordinator looked at me and asked if I wanted to run a play or not,' Bolding said. 'He was thinking Hail Mary, and I said no, let's just run a quarterback draw. I wasn't necessarily looking for us to score, but when I saw (West Memphis') defense backed up I thought maybe if he got a couple of blocks (Blair) could go all the way.'

Still, the Blue Devils didn't back off.

Stinnett hit Stone for a 12yard touchdown in the third quarter to bring the hosts within one at 24-23.

Stinnett's status for this week's game at Mountain Home is yet to be determined, but he went back into the game after banging his knee. That led to Troxler's entrance into the game.

The 5-foot-9 junior didn't let the moment swallow him up. He completed 2 of 3 passes for 40 yards on the the final drive and looked calm and composed the whole time.

By Billy Woods