Jakori Lumsey had 10 tackles to lead El Dorado’s defense in Friday’s 84-49 win over Sheridan. Bretavion Brown had eight tackles with one tackle for loss. Josiah Crosby had six tackles and a blocked kick. Spencer Poole had five tackles, two fumbles recoveries and a defensive touchdown. Jarondy Williams had 3.5 tackles, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
AJ Gilmore had 8.5 tackles with an interception. Offensively, he had two receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown. He ran the ball four times with a touchdown and returned two kickoffs for 10 yards.
El Dorado’s defense was on the field for 22 straight plays, not including special teams, after Sheridan recovered consecutive onside kicks in the opening half.
El Dorado coach Chris Hill said he was concerned about the Wildcats’ defense wearing down against the Yellowjackets, who had 53 pass attempts.
“Plus, you throw in covering routes on every play, that is fatiguing,” said Hill. “I told ‘em, guys it’s been a long time since I’ve even called a play. But our defense hung in there and played, got us some turnovers.”
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El Dorado took a 42-36 lead on Gilmore’s 5-yard touchdown run with 42 seconds left in the second quarter. Two plays later, Williams intercepted a pass at the 19-yard line, setting up the Wildcats to go up by two scores with the ball and 36 seconds left until halftime.
Jeremy Samuel ran for five before an incomplete pass. On third down, Cannon Jacobs connected with Paxton Strong for 13 yards to the 1-yard line and 13 seconds remaining.
Jacobs’ quarterback sneak was stuffed, leaving the Wildcats with time for another play or a short field goal attempt. Jacobs ran off left guard but the ball was knocked loose as he tried to reach over the goalline and the Yellowjackets recovered to end the half.
“Not scoring right before halftime, I thought that might come back to bite us,” said Hill. “We knew they would get the ball to start the second half. But we were able to get the ball back. You’re trying to score, trying to reach the ball in and they did a great job of punching it out.”
Sheridan received the ball to start the second half but Williams knocked the ball loose with Poole recovering for the Wildcats at the 13-yard line.
Three plays later, Jacobs scored on an 11-yard option keeper to put El Dorado up 49-36.
It was at least a two-score margin the rest of the way.
“They’re going to score points. They’ve scored points all year and they’re going to score points,” Hill said of Sheridan’s offense. “Our defense had several turnovers. We got a scoop and score. That was big. The start of the second half, we come down and knocked the ball loose on a kickoff. We recovered it and got a score. Our defense bent a lot but you’ve got to make them snap it again. You get five turnovers against a team that’s hard to defend as they are.”
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Senior Cooper Henry was 12-of-12 on extra points in Friday’s win. The All-State kicker had connected on 50-of-50 PATs on the season.
His lone 33-yard punt from the El Dorado 13 booted the Yellowjackets back to near midfield late in the fourth quarter.
“He had a really good punt. He has not missed a PAT this season. He was 12-out 12 tonight. He’s been perfect through 10 games. That doesn’t happen very often. I was proud for him,” said Hill.
“Somebody started complaining about the kickoffs. We’re just trying to kick it to a certain spot. You don’t want to kick it to the fastest guy on the field and let him have a chance to return it. We’re trying to put the ball in certain spots.”
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Offensively, the Wildcats rushed for 319 yards, including 173 yards on 30 attempts by Samuel. Hill pointed to the six-man rotation on the offensive line, led by seniors Dantavis Dunlap and Isaac Stell and underclassmen Christaveon Meadows, Blake Deal, Cayden King and Monte’ Levingston.
“Our offensive line is getting better every game,” said Hill. “They’re gaining confidence. They’re having fun. It’s a neat group. All five like each other. It’s actually six. They’ve come out of their shell. They’re having fun. The good thing is four of them are juniors. You don’t score that many points and rush the ball like we do with a bad offensive line.”