Berryville bounced in 1-4A outing against Gentry

The Bobcats (1-6, 0-5 in 1-3A Conference) led the entire game against the Pioneers, who improved to 1-6 and 1-4, until Jon Brown went untouched for a 13-yard touchdown with 1:29 left in the affair. Berryville's attempt to answer fell short when Gentry's Montana McFerron intercepted a Cody Powell pass with 16 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

"I thought we came out an executed well," Berryville coach Eric Daniel said. "That first drive we did everything but score."

The Bobcats did everything right on multiple occasions throughout the conference affair, putting together a pair of 13-play drives in the opening quarter, a 12-play drive to open the second frame and an 8-play drive that concluded the first half. But Berryville failed to produce points on two drives that stalled inside the red zone. The first, and possibly most important, being the opening drive that was stopped at the Gentry 1-yard line.

After cashing in on 12 straight running plays that resulted in 66 yards, the Cats put the ball in Deonte Payton's hands for the final three feet. But Gentry turned Payton away at the goal line. Daniel said kicking a field goal in that situation wasn't an option.

"We had been getting four or five yards on every play up to that point," he said. "They had only stopped us one time for a 1-yard gain. We felt good about getting that yard. Even if we didn't score we had them pinned deep in their own territory."

When Payton failed to cross the goal line, the Pioneers took over and gained just five yards on the first two plays, including an incomplete pass. But Gentry struck gold on third-and-5 from the 6-yard line, springing a middle screen pass for 60 yards to the Berryville 36-yard line. The drive eventually stalled, giving the Bobcats the ball at their own 12.

Once again, Berryville took command of the offense and drove the ball down to the Gentry 14-yard line, where faced with another fourth down, Daniel elected to put points on the board.

Selvin Reyes gave Berryville a 3-0 lead with 8:21 left in the second quarter on the 31-yard effort and the Bobcats extended the lead to 9-0 when Ethan Chapin rumbled in from 3-yards out with 2:03 left in the half.

It was all Gentry after that as the Pioneers cut the lead to 9-8 with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 9:21 left in the third and capped the scoring with Brown's touchdown scamper in the fourth.

The third-quarter score was on a fourth down quarterback draw that Berryville had defended but failed to get a firm grip on Gentry's Stone Faulkenberry as he escaped and raced 59 yards for the score. Brown then put the finishing touches on the scoreboard, capping a nine-play scoring drive.

Berryville rolled up 294 yards of offense, including 200 on the ground, led by Chapin with 87 yards on 25 carries. Deonte Payton finished with 61 yards on 15 carries, Garrett Stone rushed four times for 39 yards, Tyler Coatney added 10 yards on four carries and Richard Webb contributed 10 yards on four carries.

Stone was 5-of-8 through the air for 61 yards and an interception. Cody Powell competed 3 of 7 passes for 23 yards.

Gentry amassed 246 total yards of offense with 118 on the ground and 138 through the air.

Berryville continues the 2012 campaign at Gravette this Friday night.