Pirates snap Colts' 17-game winning streak

GOSNELL -- Reminiscent of those old conference battles with so much at stake, Gosnell snapped defending 3A state champion Rivercrest's 17-game winning streak Friday night with a 21-7 victory at J.W. Rea Field.

With a big size advantage up front, the Pirates (2-1) went to their traditional bread-and-butter double-wing to control the clock, and they took advantage of four Colts' turnovers to hand Rivercrest its first loss since the 2009 3A semifinals.

"That's big,"Gosnell head coach Brian Sims said. "They had the 17-game winning streak. We knew if we didn't make mistakes, with our size, we could take advantage of pounding that football. We did. Of course we're going to get back to the spread."

After the game, Rivercrest head coach Kelly Chandler was consoling players, seemingly upset the streak was over.

"I don't think they were thinking about the streak as much as they were wanting to win (games during) their year," Chandler said. "They wanted to do what we did last year (go 15-0), themselves. A lot of them played last year, of course. They (Gosnell) manhandled us, basically. They exposed some weaknesses that we've got to shore up. I knew we were going into a hornet's nest here. It's a tough game."

Teams with the Pirates' size give the Colts trouble, the Colts coach said. Gosnell used its advantage in the trenches to hold the ball for 33:08 of the 48-minute game.

"We've got to learn from it and get better," Chandler said. "We had a lot of mistakes. The turnovers, we already know that's going to kill us if we've got turnovers. It always does. We had way too many tonight on simple stuff. It wasn't forced turnovers."

The game had a little bit of everything.

The Colts had a 42-yard touchdown on a reverse pass to start the game. Later, during a six-play span, the two teams combined for four lost fumbles, all inside the Rivercrest 11-yard line, before Gosnell punched in its first touchdown. And of course, the game went down to the wire as it normally does when the Pirates and Colts clash.

Leading 14-7 midway through the third quarter, Gosnell switched from the spread to the double-wing, following another key defensive stop, a turnover on downs at the GHS 20.

Gosnell went 80 yards in eight plays, including converting a fourth down on a gutsy call to go for it.

Facing fourth and half a yard at the Gosnell 29, big Donyell Scott plowed up the middle for a five-yard run and key first down.

"That's us," said Sims, whose team was 5 of 6 on fourth-down conversions. "We're going for it on fourth down. We don't like to punt."

Four plays later, double-wing quarterback Jacob Westmoreland hit a wide-open Farontae Royster with a beautiful pass up the left sideline. Royster trotted in for a 41-yard TD at the 3:39 mark of the third. The PAT made it a two-score game.

On the ensuing drive, Rivercrest stalled on downs at the Pirate 40 with 12.3 seconds left in the third. The Colts would not touch the ball again until 3:41 to play.

Gosnell drained the playclock, picking up four- and five-yard chunks to keep the sticks and clock moving.

The Pirates drove from their 40 to inside the Rivercrest 12 in 14 plays, getting another key fourth-down conversion late in the drive to help chew up 8:31 on the series.

"That was maybe fatigue on our part," Chandler said of the long drive. "I think our head was down a little bit then. We had a chance to almost turn them over there, to scoop and score, and we just didn't do it. We did stop them. We didn't give up and let them in. That's a credit to our defense, but we've got a lot of things we can learn from this game."

Chandler was referring to the second-and-7 play from the Rivercrest 11, where Royster couldn't handle the pitch from Westmoreland. The Colts had a chance to scoop it up but the Pirates pounced on the ball to get two more plays before turning it over on downs at the RHS 6 with 3:41 to go.

"That was a flashback," Sims said. "We were driving to win the game two years ago out here. We fumbled the ball and they ran it 96 yards back with about three minutes left. Then we drove right back down and fumbled again. We just got lucky and tackled them."

The Colts kept battling, driving from their 35 to the Gosnell 8 on the ensuing series. But Scott's eight-yard sack of QB Robert Cooney on first-and-goal, was followed by Royster's interception in the end zone three plays later. The pick, coming with 55.4 seconds left, iced the game and finished off the 17-game winning streak.

" Fudge (Royster) is finally healthy and you can see the difference in our offense with him healthy," Sims said of running back/corner, who had 19 carries for 90 yards and touchdown and caught three balls for 48 yards and a touchdown. "And (linebacker) Ethan Ballard being back helped. We haven't had him all season, since the Blue-Gold game (because of a concussion). Tonight he filled the hole, stuck things, played on the offensive line for us. If we can stay healthy and keep improving, we're going to have a good football team."

Things didn't start well for the Pirates.

After a short opening kickoff gave the Colts great field position, Rivercrest dipped into its bag of tricks.

Running back Tay Baber took a reverse left, then stopped and fired a strike to receiver German Vasquez up the right side for a 42-yard touchdown on the game's opening play.

"We run stuff like that all the time because people play up on us some much on the run," Chandler said. "We try to keep them honest and we hit a big play on them. We had chances to do things later on, we just misfired. We had a lot of bad mistakes."

After the two teams traded punts, Gosnell drove from its 20 to deep in Rivercrest territory. Then, the fumbles began.

Gosnell's Gavin Sullivan, who rushed for 134 yards on 29 carries, coughed it up at the Rivercrest 11 with 2:35 left in the first quarter. Three plays later Rivercrest gave it back on a Cooney fumble. After a false start Sullivan lost another fumble and Ty Barber pounced on it at the RHS 9. On the next play, Tay Baber fumbled and the Pirates came out of the pile with it at the Colts 3. Two plays later Westmoreland stuck it in on a one-yard quarterback sneak with 42.3 seconds left in the first quarter. Baudel Arreola, 3 of 3 on PATs, booted the extra point to tie the game, 7-7.

"We've got to get our fumbles shored up," Sims said. "We've got to get two hands on the ball in piles. Even when kids think they're down, they can't let the ball go. They do a good job of stripping the ball. They get their hands in there."

The Pirates took advantage of another Rivercrest fumble mid-way through the second quarter. Clayton Carlton coughed it up at the RHS 36. On the 10th play of the ensuing series, Royster burst up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown, helping Gosnell to a 14-7 lead with 1:40 left in the half.

Neither team would score again until Gosnell's touchdown late in the third.

Led by Sullivan and Royster, Gosnell rushed 61 times for 249 of its 317 total yards.

Westmoreland was 2 of 3 passing for 46 yards and a touchdown, while Sullivan, quarterbacking when Gosnell went to the spread, connected on 3 of 6 passes for 22 yards and an interception.

Meanwhile, the Colts finished with 209 total yards, including just 72 on 28 rushes. Baber led the rushing attack with 11 carries for 32 yards, while Cooney had nine totes for 23. Cooney was 8 of 15 passing for 137 yards and an interception.

Gosnell will travel to Poplar Bluff Friday night for its final nonconference game, while the Colts jump into 3-3A league action by hosting Corning. Defending league champion Rivercrest has won 10 straight conference games.

mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com