Playing a football game on Friday, the 13th can be a bit disconcerting. When that same game doesn’t end until Saturday, the 14th, well, that’s a real horror story.
A horror story with a happy ending, of course, after El Dorado won at Texarkana 42-20 Friday night. The game had a 2-hour delay due to a power outage and didn’t end until 11 minutes before midnight.
The Wildcats (2-1) led 7-0 when the game was halted with 20 seconds left in the first quarter. The 0-3 Razorbacks tied the game when it was resumed two hours later but El Dorado then scored 28 unanswered points.
“We’ve had delays before waiting on the weather. But, waiting on the lights to come on, I don’t know what it was, hour-and-a-half, two-hour delay? I told our kids, I said the team that will handle adversity or handle change or handle the unexpected, the team with the most character is going to rise to the top. I just challenged them that way,” said El Dorado coach Chris Hill.
“We come out and let them go down and score, which was the exact opposite of what we needed to do. But then we kind of got going and started playing better from there on out.”
Jeremy Samuel had 22 carries for 155 yards and a touchdown. He also hauled in a 29-yard TD reception.
“He had another good game,” said Hill. “He’s been really good. He did a good job of putting his foot in the ground, getting north and south and getting positive yards. I thought he played really well again.”
Cannon Jacobs threw three touchdown passes, including two to AJ Gilmore. Gilmore also returned an interception for a touchdown.
“He had a good night, had a good kickoff return. He had a pick-6. He was on the field a lot, made a lot of contributions,” Hill said.
Junior Marcevious Ishmeal also had an interception.
Gavin Jacobs rushed for El Dorado’s final touchdown.
Cooper Henry was perfect on six extra points to help the Wildcats win their first road adventure of the season.
“We’re still young. We’re a young football team on its first road trip,” said Hill. “We came out a bit flat. I don’t know if we were flat or nervous or what. Not a lot of juice during pregame, which, that’s fine. Sometimes you’re getting ready to play. We get the first one out of the way on the road. Young guys will know now what to expect when we travel. I thought the kids did a good job on the trip. It’s just good to get out of Texarkana with a win.”