Sports

WATSON CHAPEL SENIORS SHOW OUT FOR SEASON ENDER

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, November 6, 2009 2:18 AM CST

By the time Nick Vanderbilt reached the Benton 30-yard line, he had already sprinted more than 50 yards and he began to think, “Do something memorable.”

Friday night was Senior Night at Wildcat Stadium and, just a few minutes prior, the running back’s classmate Kevin Johnson had raced 46 yards to give Watson Chapel an early lead.

Vanderbilt felt the need to put an exclamation point on his longest run of the season and, when he reached the Benton 2-yard line with not a defender close by, he jumped and flipped into the end zone.

The run was just the second play from scrimmage for Watson Chapel and, like Johnson on the drive before, Vanderbilt scored without being touched.

“I was thinking, ‘Okay, what am I going to do?’” Vanderbilt said. “I didn’t see anybody around me and it was Senior Night.”

Vanderbilt admits that he caught some flak from coach George Shelton when he returned to the sideline — not to mention a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct — but the coach wasn’t upset for too long.

Despite committing five turnovers, the Wildcats rushed for 354 yards and closed out their most successful regular season in more than 10 years with a 48-7 drubbing of the Panthers.

‘Thunder and lighting’

Vanderbilt and Johnson, the two backs who have carried most of the load for Watson Chapel this season, split 295 yards rushing almost equally. Johnson had three runs of at least 23 yards to gain 150 and score two touchdowns, while Vanderbilt gained 145 on just 5 carries and scored twice.

“I can’t say enough about my two senior running backs,” Shelton said. “They’re kind of like a thunder and lightning combo situation there.

“It’s a blessing to have those guys.”

After cornerback Mitch Lane intercepted an Ashton Roberts pass along the sideline on the game’s third play, C.J. Branch pitched to Johnson around the right end and he went 46 yards without having to make a move to avoid a defender.

The extra point was blocked, but the Wildcats had already made it evident they were going to enjoy their usual success in the running game.

“They just do a great job,” said Johnson of his offensive line that opened the huge holes. “It just opened up. That’s what we can do.”

Watson Chapel scored one more time in the first half on a 1-yard sneak from Branch, which was set up by a 58-yard pass from Branch to Lane, to make it 20-0 at halftime.

But, if it weren’t for a few uncharacteristic mistakes from an offense that has made few this season, that score could have been even wider.

On the Wildcats’ possession immediately following Vanderbilt’s score, Branch’s long pass to Sam Bass was intercepted by Benton’s Greg Pryor and Bass fumbled while heading into the end zone on the following possession.

Later, after seven plays had moved the Wildcats to the Benton 17-yard line, a Branch pass to Kyle Coleman looked to be another score, but the junior wide receiver fumbled while heading into the end zone and Benton’s Cody English recovered for a touchback.

Branch threw another interception in the third quarter, which was also intended for Bass, and the Wildcats lost another fumble in the second half when Antonio Jenkins muffed a punt.

They were mistakes that, if the defense and running game hadn’t been as effective as they were, the Wildcats could have found themselves in a tighter fight.

“I don’t know if we created those turnovers or we just made them,” said Benton coach Steve Quinn, who completed his first season on Friday. “They got ahead of us and they got a little lacks and they dropped the ball a little bit.”

Shelton credited the dropped balls and missed passes to a lack of focus.

“That’s all it was,” he said. “You know, that’s in the game. It happens on Friday night, it happens on Saturday.”

Once Watson Chapel was able to contain their mistakes, the team pulled away from the Panthers and eventually began the running-clock midway through the fourth quarter.

A 17-yard run by Johnson and a 50-yard pass from Branch to Coleman made it 34-0 at the end of the third quarter and Vanderbilt’s score from 25 yards out made it 41-0 to kickstart the mercy-rule.

The Wildcats scored one last time when Coleman found Nick Webster on a fade route that covered 65 yards to make it 48-0. Benton’s only score followed when Roberts connected with Luke Brasuell for a 53-yard pass.

Because of what his team was able to accomplish when they weren’t turning the ball over, the mistakes didn’t bother Shelton so much on Friday.

He would certainly rather have such a performance on the final game of the regular season than next week, when the Class 6A state playoffs begin. Five turnovers in a playoff game can end a team’s season rather quickly.

The Wildcats will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed from the 6A-South and will play the No. 6 seed from the 6A-East, which will be the loser of tonight’s Searcy-Mountain Home game.

“We know, and our kids know,” Shelton said. “We know the competition is going to stiffen every week starting next week and hopefully we can keep pace with a couple of teams.”

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