Gaines, EPC rally, punch their ticket to title game

LEPANTO – Workhorse Dennis Gaines carried the ball 10 times on East Poinsett County’s game-winning drive. The senior’s final carry measured one yard and that three feet equaled six points and a 26-21 win over Carlisle in the 2A State Semifinals Friday.

That short distance also equates to the program’s first trip to Little Rock where the Warriors (12-1) will face Bigelow in the 2A State Championship at 12 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1.

“We knew we had a good football team and there’s never been a team here to make it a state championship before,” said EPC head coach Brandon Powell. “So that’s always been the goal – break through. We were capable of a deep run in the playoffs but this year it’s been about getting further down the road.

EPC sophomore offensive lineman Landon Nichols prepares to take on a Carlisle defender in Friday’s 2A state semifinal game.

“Yeah, we got some favorable draws against teams we stacked up well against and I have to credit our conference. All those teams are so good. We were battle-tested by the time we got to the playoffs.”

And the Warriors were put to the test when only four and one-half minutes remained after the visiting Bison (11-2) scored the go-ahead touchdown to lead 21-20. It was their 14th unanswered point since trailing 20-7 late in the third quarter.

“We try to play fast,” explained Powell, “We know with four minutes we can run our normal offense at our normal pace.

Dennis Gaines was just as active defensively for the Warriors as he was on offense. Here he smashes Carlisle quarterback Holden Jones in the mouth on a pass attempt.

“That helped out a ton knowing we didn’t have to rush,” he continued. “We knew we could run the football and still have time. Plus, we got number 24 (Gaines) in the backfield. We were going to feed him that drive and see if he could move it for us.”

And Gaines responded, toting the ball 10 times for 44 yards on the 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

The Warriors opened the possession with a pass which fell incomplete. Then Gaines, who had carried 26 times prior scoring all of the team’s touchdowns, bullied his way for five yards and followed with a six-yard tote.

Michael Collins prepares to scoop up a Carlisle fumble and return it to near midfield. The turnover thwarted a Bison scoring drive late in the first half.

Quarterback Cooper Argo mixed things up a bit with a three-yard keeper but Gaines was back at it again on the next play. However, Carlisle responded, stopping the EPC back for a short gain.

Faced with a 3rd-and-6 from their own 35, Argo completed a play action pass over the middle to Omar McCuiston for an 11-yard gain and  a first down.

“We thought we could throw a pass to our best receiver,” said Powell,. “(Omar) has been out a couple of weeks and we were going to give him a shot to go make a play and he went up and made a great catch that extended the drive.

Dennis Gaines splits two Carlisle defenders on his way to a big gain for East Poinsett County. The senior rushed for all four Warrior touchdowns, including the game-winner with 19 seconds left on the clock.

“It was a big play on that drive. There were a lot of them,” he added.

Gaines carried the ball three straight times as the clock drifted under two minutes of play. All three totaled 19 yards and set the host team up with 2nd-and-1 at the Carlisle 35-yard line with 1:44 to play.

Coming out of a timeout, Argo called his own number and dashed for a five-yard gain. Gaines then had back-to-back carries for 12 yards. Then from the 18-yard line, EPC executed a double handoff to Dee Buchanan who ran right and nearly reached the end zone but was tackled at the 1-yard line with :36 left in the game.

“(Buchanan) ripped off that big, big run,” said Powell, “and that was another big play for us. The clock was still on our side and we knew we could give it to (Gaines) until he punched it in.”

Gaines was stuffed on his first attempt from the Wildcat formation. The Bison’s 6-3, 260 lb. defensive end Luke Petrus met Gaines head on stopping him for no gain.

But Gaines wasn’t to be denied on the second try, forcing his way into the end zone and giving the Warriors the lead again at 26-21 with 19 ticks left on the clock.

“I’d bet on us 100 times out of 100 in that situation,” said Carlisle first-year head coach Gary Wilson, “but they made some plays and we didn’t at the end of the game.

“In my opinion, these were the two best football teams in the state playing tonight,” he added. “Hard fought game and we just wanted a chance to win it in the fourth quarter.”

It was the Bison’s game to lose as they scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to take the lead. One on a Holden Jones keeper and the second on a Jones pass to Gabe Boyle for the go-ahead score.

“That’s our kids,” said Wilson of his team’s resiliency, “They’ve done it all year. They’ve been down three touchdowns before and they just won’t quit.

“They don’t flinch and there’s not an ounce of back down in them,” he added. “There wasn’t a time when they didn’t think they were going to win the football game.”

The Bison had been held scoreless for nearly 34 minutes following a touchdown on their opening drive of the game.

That score was the result of an EPC miscue deep in its own territory. Jones accounted for the touchdown on seven-yard run on a 4th-and-1 play five minutes into the game. Tayvion Metcalf booted the first of three extra points to stake Carlisle to the early 7-0 lead.

But the EPC defense responded, blanking their opponent for almost three quarters.

“We played a lot of Cover 0,” explained Powell of his defensive scheme. “We put a lot of men in the box and really concentrated on stopping the run and making them throw the football. We hoped we could get stops through the air and it worked out for us tonight. We stopped the run and (Carlisle) really didn’t make big plays in the passing game.”

Powell was correct in his assessment. Carlisle tallied just 84 yards passing – the longest a 31-yard completion on the Bison’s second scoring drive.

All in all, the visitors managed just 198 yards total with the Warrior ‘D’ accounting for five tackles for loss and three stops for no gain. Michael Collins recorded a sack and a forced fumble which thwarted a Carlisle scoring drive late in the first half.  

Meanwhile, Gaines carried the load offensively rushing 36 times for 186 yards and all four touchdowns – a 3-yarder in the second quarter, a one-yard run with four minutes left in the second period and six-yard run in the fourth quarter which preceded his game-winner.

His output combined with his teammates’ equaled 384 total yards – 330 coming on the ground in the win.

Ironically, it was EPC’s first victory over the Bison in the postseason. Carlisle had ousted the Warriors in consecutive years from 2010-12.

“These kids don’t know much about the history between these two schools,” Powell said, “but these folks in the community do. I know it means a lot for this team to beat Carlisle for the first time but I know they’re more excited about us going to play for a state championship.”

On deck is undefeated Bigelow which downed Marked Tree, 36-20, in the other 2A semifinal.