Colts down Warren, seek 4A state crown Saturday

WILSON – The Rivercrest Colts sent Warren packing Friday, jettisoning the previously unbeaten Lumberjacks from the 4A State Playoffs with a 24-14 semifinal win.

The victory earned the Colts (12-2) a spot in the state championship game against familiar foe Harding Academy and the Wildcats will be the second straight undefeated team Rivercrest faces. The two teams have met twice in the finals – 2010 and 2015 – with each holding a win in the series. Game time in Little Rock Saturday is 6:30 p.m.

“I’m floating right now,” said a normally subdued Rivercrest head coach Johnny Fleming, drenched from a Gatorade shower from his jubilant players. “This is a good kind of wet. I don’t mind it at all.”

Marcus Slayton (3) and Andrew Lomack combine to sack Warren quarterback Jackson Denton for a safety late in Friday’s state semifinal matchup. The Colt defense wreaked havoc on the Lumberjacks limiting them to just 175 total yards.

The 10-point margin isn’t indicative of how dominant the Colt victory was, especially on the defensive side of the football. Rivercrest limited a Warren offense scoring at a 42.5 point-per-game clip to just two touchdowns – one with the outcome already decided with :43 to go.

“What about them!” exclaimed Fleming excited to discuss the defense’s play, especially within the last 11 games where it has allowed only 10 ppg. That includes two shutouts. “We got both our linebackers back after that Pocahontas game and when you put Marcus (Slayton) and Koby (Turner) out there together playing, that helps a whole lot. Our front defensive guys have been doing a great job. Coach (Greg) Griffin does a great job with those guys up front and they’ve been playing their butts off.

“We’ve got enough depth now from when those guys missed early, that we can rotate guys on the offensive line and the defensive line. That keeps them fresh and makes a big difference,” he continued. “Plus, our back end played really, really well. Got those interceptions, couple of deflections and we hit the quarterback a few times. Overall, great game from the defense. Coach Murph (Smith) called a good game.”

Marcus Slayton breaks through the line on his way to a 12-yard gain during Friday’s win over Warren. The Colt rushing attack totaled 393 yards on the ground led by Koby Turner’s 261. (Game photos By David Pierce)

Warren (13-1) never really threatened the Colts offensively, running just 13 plays on its first five possessions – two which ended in interceptions. Keiran Morris and Jayden Young each picked off a Jackson Denton pass.

With Rivercrest leading 14-0 thanks in part to touchdowns from Slayton and Turner, the Lumberjacks moved to within striking distance on their final possession of the half. Rivercrest repelled the visitors after Warren was set up with a 1st-and-goal at the host team’s nine-yard line.

After a five-yard gain on first down, the Colts Marcus Clark burst through the line and rushed toward a retreating Denton. He sacked the quarterback for an 11-yard loss.

Quinshunn Perry chases down Warren quarterback Jackson Denton early in the semifinal matchup with the Lumberjacks. Perry and the Colt defense have limited opponents to an average of just 10.5 points since Week 3 of the 2023 season.

On 3rd-and-goal from the 16, Denton connected with 6-7 receiver Antonio Jordan, who made a shoestring catch in the corner of the end zone. However, Jordan was whistled for an offensive pass interference call prior to the reception, negating the touchdown.

Warren’s sideline was livid, especially head coach Bo Hembree, a 1991 graduate of Osceola High School.

“I thought that was a bad call,” said Hembree, who was in the ear of the head linesman for the next few minutes. “That’s just part of it though. It is what it is.”

Colt senior Marcus Slayton flexed his muscle Friday after bullying his way into the end zone for Rivercrest’s first score. Slayton and his teammates led from start on their way to a 10-point win over Warren.

Two straight incompletions followed with the Lumberjacks coming away empty as the first half wound to a close.

Meanwhile, Rivercrest had its way offensively too, the score wasn’t indicative of how the team performed. It put up nearly 500 yards of offense which included 261 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Turner. He has nearly rushed for 1,900 yards, while scoring 28 touchdowns this season

“Offensively, defensively, we just came to play,” said Turner after emerging from a post-game celebration on the field. “My teammates worked really hard to get some openings and I just looked for the gaps.”

Rivercrest quarterback Cavonta Washington sprints for yardage Friday in the team’s 24-14 win. The junior rushed an uncharacteristic 18 times as the Colts coaching staff felt it could exploit the Warren defense’s aggressiveness.

Turner, known for his knack to break tackles, posted nines rushes of more than 10 yards, including runs of 47 and 56 yards where he bounced off defenders and slipped tackles on his way to the big gainers.

“It goes back to the offseason,” the senior said of his tackle-breaking ability. “Took those workouts seriously and really worked hard to improve my strength and agility. I’m going to get all I can get when I have the ball and I don’t try to let that first hit stop me.”

And both Fleming and Hembree were complimentary of his performance.

The Colts Buddah Harris and Warren’s Neondre Thomas leap for the football in the end zone. Neither could come up with the catch but Harris did finish the evening with four catches for 42 yards.

“(Koby) is just a heckuva player,” said Fleming. “That’s not a career-high for him but it’s a season-high. We haven’t been feeding him the ball as much until the last couple of games and he just put together a really, really good game; defensively, too.”

“You expect players like him to perform in big games,” added Hembree. “I don’t think we played bad defensively. We just missed some tackles and didn’t defend too well on some of their gadget plays.”

Rivercrest actually left points on the field, driving inside Warren’s 10-yard line twice but couldn’t punch it in.

Warren High School head football coach Bo Hembree, an Osceola High School alum, returned to Mississippi County Friday as his Lumberjack squad faced off with Rivercrest. Friends and former Seminole teammates joined Hembree on the sidelines to watch the matchup between the two football powerhouses.

“Won’t be able to do that next week,” commented Fleming of the upcoming match up with Harding Academy. “Hopefully, we can get it together before next Saturday cause we’ll need all the points we can get.”

Those two stands by the Lumberjacks opened the door for a comeback as Warren finally got on the board with 8:18 left in the game.

Denton hooked up on a 20-yard pass play with Tramond Miller to complete a 3-play, 56-yard drive highlighted by a 36-yard completion to Jordan. A bad snap on the ensuing point-after attempt left the visitors trailing, 14-6.

But Rivercrest had the answer though behind four runs by Turner. His 56-yard run on a 3rd-and-1 play set up 1st-and-10 at the Warren 15-yard line. Two plays later, Turner reached the end zone for his second score. The Colts added two points on a shovel pass to Slayton that extended the home team’s lead to 22-6 with 5:49 left.

And the Colt defense sealed the deal on Warren’s next possession.

First, Wyatt Lancaster sacked Denton for a seven-yard loss, then Slayton and Andrew Lomack chased Denton back to his end zone where they dropped the freshman for a safety. With 5:02 left, Rivercrest had an 18-point lead.

Denton, who had thrown for more than 3,000 yards entering the game, struggled mightily against Rivercrest completing just 15-of-38 passes for 195 yards with the two interceptions.

“Yeah,” agreed Hembree of his freshman quarterback, “he was a little wide-eyed, had some overthrows but we dropped some balls, too. That’s uncharacteristic how we’ve played all season. Things like that happen, but it came at a bad time.”

The time has come again for the Colts, who are seeking their first state title since 2017. Harding Academy has totaled nine state titles, its last in 2021.

“Oh, they’re really, really good,” said Fleming of the Wildcats. “There won’t be any weaknesses. You just have to hope you can defend, tackle and hope they miss some balls and make mistakes.”

For the game, Rivercrest rushed for 393 yards and quarterback Cavonta Washington threw for another 71. Washington also had 47 rushing yards as the Colts ran their quarterback 18 times trying to take advantage of the Lumberjacks aggressiveness.

Slayton totaled 46 yards on 10 carries, while Buddah Harris had four receptions for 42 yards.

In addition to their defensive effort against the Warren passing game, the Colts were relentless with their rush defense. The Lumberjacks had a -20 yards rushing. Warren had just three positive gains on nine carries with its longest rush from scrimmage being five yards.