Wildcats fall 14-8 at home to Pocahontas

In what turned out to be a defensive struggle, Trumann (5-3, 2-2) lost to Pocahontas (2-5, 2-2) 14-8 in 4A-3 football action Friday at RMC Stadium in Trumann. The loss puts the Wildcats in a three-way tie for third place with the Redskins and Gosnell in the playoff race.

Trumann won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball as Gavin Cubit fair caught the short high kick-off at his own 37-yard line. Trumann got the Redskins to jump offsides on fourth and one to move the ball to the Pocahontas 35-yard with 9:55 left in the opening quarter. A pass interference call on Trumann, would negate a big pass play for the Wildcats and a big loss of yards on a running play moved the ball back to Trumann 33 yard line. where the Wildcats were forced to punt with 7:38 left.

Trumann's punt was downed in Pocahontas territory, but a penalty on Trumann forced them to punt the ball again with a bad punt being downed at their own 32-yard line with 7:06 left. The Redskins gave the ball back to Trumann as they came up short on fourth and four, giving the Wildcats the ball on their own eight-yard line with 4:56 left. The quarter ended with Trumann facing fourth and six at their own 48-yard line after a scoreless first quarter.

Cade Hatton of Trumann stiff-arms the Pocahontas defender during 4A-3 conference football action this past Friday at RMC Stadium. (Photo by Cosmo Cossey)

Trumann went for a first down to start the second quarter only to see Jake Osment's pass fall incomplete, giving the Redskins the ball with 11:54 left.

Pocahontas had a big running play negated by a penalty before turning the ball over on downs at Trumann 38 yard line with 10:48 left. Trumann gave the ball back to Pocahontas when Osment's pass to Efrain Garcia came up short with the Redskins taking over at their own 13-yard line with 5:38 left.

The Redskins couldn't convert on fourth down as Wildcats took over at their own 35 yard line with 58 seconds left. A big run by Cade Hatton, with a face-mask penalty added, moved the ball to the Pocahontas 10 yard line with 46 seconds left. Garcia then looked to have a touchdown catch but couldn't maintain control coming down in the end zone with 32 seconds left. A short pass to Gavin Greenwell moved the ball to the three-yard. Trumann rushed their field goal unit on the field only to see Garcia hook the kick left as time expired, to leave the score 0-0 at halftime.

Wildcat Gavin Greenwell makes the tackle after a short gain during high school football action this past Friday. (Photo by Cosmo Cossey)

Pocahontas got the ball to start the second half with a fair catch at their own 39 yard line. The Redskins put together a 61-yard touchdown drive that ended in a 33-yard touchdown run to make it 6-0 with 10:37 left. The two-point conversion run was good to make it 8-0 Redskins.

Pocahontas got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff as Gavin Cubit mishandled the high short kick and the Redskins recovered the loose ball at the Trumann 47 yard line with 10.33 left. The Redskins had to punt the ball away with Trumann returning the ball to their own 43 yard line for their next series. However, the turnover bug would hit Trumann, as Hatton tried to make a little more happen on his run, and coughed the ball up with Pocahontas recovering at the Trumann 23 yard line with 2:46 left. Hatton redeemed himself with an interception a few plays later to give the Wildcats the ball on Pocahontas 38 yard line with 1:46 left. Trumann was facing second and four on Redskins' 18 yard line as the third quarter ended with Pocahontas leading 8-0.

Trumann finished off their drive from the third quarter with an Osment's five-yard touchdown run with 9:54 left to make the score 8-6. Osment added the two-point conversion to tie it at 8-8. Pocahontas started their next drive on their own 28 yard line after a fair catch on the kickoff. The Trumann defense forced a punt with 7:56 to go taking over at their own 44 yard line with 7:43 left. Osment was stopped for no gain on Trumann's fourth down try and Pocahontas took over at the Wildcats 49 yard line.

The Redskins would capitalize on the turn over on downs with a touchdown run to push their lead to 14-8 with 1.50 left in the game.

Hatton returned the kickoff out to the Wildcats 46 yard line to set Trumann up with good field position. Hatton had a good run to the Pocahontas 38 yard line on the first play, but Trumann's comeback attempt ended a few plays later when Osment's fourth down pass fell incomplete.

Pocahontas took a knee to end the game with a 14-8 win.

“Man, I thought we moved the ball well but we were just not able to punch it in like we have done in the last few weeks,” Trumann head coach Gunner Cook said after the game. “I think our defense played really well tonight, offensively we just couldn't get in the end zone when we had a chance to capitalize,” Cook added. “We know next week we'll have a very athletic opponent in Blytheville. They've ran and passed the ball pretty well this season. We need a better week of practice and to execute next Friday night,” Cook said.

The Wildcats finished the night with 285 yards rushing with Hatton carrying the ball 15 times for 143 yards. Osment finished with 25 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown and completed two of eight passes for 14 yards. Greenwell and Garcia each had one catch for seven yards. Greenwell led the defense with nine tackles, Isaiah Carillo added eight tackles, Cubit finish with seven tackles and Hatton had an interception for the Wildcats.