Sports

MCGEHEE CLINCHES PLAYOFF SPOT AFTER WIN AGAINST FORDYCE

By Darren Gill/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Friday, November 6, 2009 2:18 AM CST

McGEHEE — As it turned out the McGehee Owls didn’t need Dumas’ help against Hamburg to clinch a playoff spot. T’Cambry Green and Grant Gill handled it between themselves. Green had 23 rushes for 143 yards and three touchdowns as well as four catches for 113 yards, and Gill had six rushes for 91 yards and two touchdowns, completed 11 of 15 passes for 196 yards and had three interceptions on defense as the Owls secured the 8-4A Conference’s No. 4 seed by beating the Redbugs 40-20.

McGehee opened the scoring at the 6:28 mark of the first when fullback Michael Curry bulled in from 3 yards out for a 6-0 lead. Gill’s two-point conversion made it 8-0.

Fordyce answered the Owl score at the 2:45 mark of the first quarter. Dexter Walker’s 16-yard run cut it to 8-6. Braxton Bayird blocked the extra point for McGehee.

The Redbugs took the lead at the 8:30 mark of the second period when Redbug quarterback Dean Adams found Jerrion Sparks on a 54-yard pass following a McGehee fumble. The Owls answered the Redbug quickly following a 54-yard pass from Gill to Green down to the 6. Green went the rest of the way to make it 15-14 with Gills extra point.

The Owls struck once more before the half. Green’s second touchdown, this one from a yard out, made it 21-14 in favor of the Owls. Fordyce cut the Owl lead to 21-20 before the half when Adams found Darrius Matthews from 16 yards out right before the half.

The Owls received the second-half kickoff and quickly went to work. A six-play, 63-yard drive capped off by a 19-yard Gill run around the right end made it 28-20 with Gill’s PAT. That was the way the third quarter ended.

Gill struck again at the 3:05 mark of the fourth. A 66-yard touchdown run extended the lead to 34-20. Green picked up his third score of the night at the 1:30 mark of the fourth on a 10-yard blast through the teeth of the Redbug defense to make it 40-20. Gill’s third interception of the night ended hopes of a Redbug comeback and sent the Owls’ fans into a frenzy.

“It’s been a long season, but our kids fought through the adversity,” McGehee coach Marcus Haddock said. “We feel very fortunate to have beaten a very good Fordyce team. We look forward to the challenges of the playoffs.”

McGehee faces the winner of the De Queen-Malvern game on Friday night.

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