Road to the Rock begins with 56-13 win over Crossett

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    LUKE REEDER
    Reporter
    Friday the Nashville Scrappers
    opened up the postseason play
    against the Crossett Eagles at home.
    Going into the game it was thought
    that it would be a quarterback battle
    with two of the highest producing
    quarterbacks in 4A about to face off
    against eachother. Yet in the game the
    Scrapper defense was able to shut
    down the arm that had over 2,000
    passing yards this season. Nashville
    was able to make quick work of the
    Eagles and make a statement with
    their first playoff victory 56-13.
    Nashville has been plagued this
    season with sloppy first halves of
    play but the Scrappers came to play
    against Crossett and they scored early
    and often in the first half. It took less
    than two minutes for the Scrappers
    to get their first score of the game.
    With 10:44 on the clock in the first
    quarter Leonard Snell completed a 26
    yard pass to Andrew Hawthorne for
    a touchdown. The Eagles answered
    on their next possession with eight
    minutes left in the quarter they were
    able to drive it down the field and run
    it for a touchdown from seven yards
    away. Crossett attempted a two point
    conversion but Nashville was able to
    thwart the attempt with an interception
    of the pass. Nashville built their
    lead to two scores on their next drive
    as Snell was able to rush for a 14 yard
    touchdown to bring the score to 14-
    6. With thirty seconds left in the first
    quarter running back Darius Hopkins
    was able to get his first score of the
    game on an 11 yard run, this would
    be the first of five touchdowns for
    Hopkins in the game.
    In the second quarter the Scrappers
    started off quick. On the first
    possesion of the quarter for Crossett,
    Hopkins was able to intercept
    a pass and return it for a 50 yard
    touchdown and bringing Nashville’s
    lead to 28-6 less than thirty seconds
    into the second quarter. It would be
    until four minutes left in the half that
    either team was able to score again as
    the Scrapper defense held strong and
    the offense was unable to get a drive
    going. But with 4:04 left in the half
    Hopkins was able to find a hole and
    run it for a one yard touchdown, his
    third touchdown of the game. Just as
    it seemed the Scrappers had a chance
    to Mercy Rule their opponent with
    one more touchdown Crossett was
    able to return the ensuing kickoff 80
    yards for a touchdown. Crossett had
    now cut the lead to 35-13. It took until
    just twenty-five seconds before halftime
    until Hopkins was able to run it
    for another one yard touchdown. This
    marked the end of the first half and the
    Scrappers had a sizeable lead at 42-13.
    After the 55 points from eight
    touchdown in the first half, the second
    half was quite the opposite with
    only fourteen points scored in the
    entire second half of the game. In the
    third quarter Hopkins got his fifth
    touchdown and second interception
    return for a touchdown, this one
    twenty-five yards longer than the last.
    Hopkins was able to start the Mercy
    Rule with a 75 interception return for
    a touchdown. With that score the
    game clock kept running and the only
    other score in the game came from
    Trent Harris with nine minutes left in
    the fourth quarter. Harris was able to
    scamper for a 34 yard touchdown to
    give Nashville the final score of 56-13.
    Snell led the Scrappers in both
    passing and rushing. He passed for
    124 yards on 5/12 attempts and had
    one touchdown, Snell also rushed for
    164 yards on 15 runs and scored one
    touchdown. Harris was able to rush
    for 98 yards on just eight runs and
    score one touchdown. Hopkins only
    rushed for 28 yards on 11 attempts but
    was able to score three touchdowns
    rushing and have two
    interception returns for a
    touchdown. Trey Hughes
    led in receiving with two
    catches for a total of 50
    yards.
    The Scrappers were able
    to score the majority of
    their points in the first half
    of the game which is something
    that has not happened
    often this season, “We talked
    about what this game
    means all week and the
    importance of it. Obviously
    the winner advances another
    round and the loser puts
    their stuff up for the spring
    and we have a group of
    guys who are resilient and
    come out to play when it
    matters,” Head Coach Mike
    Volarvich said. Hopkins was
    able to score on both sides
    of the ball multiple times in
    the game and make a big impact
    on the game, “He has
    worked back there all year
    (defense) and played sparingly
    but we knew they liked
    to throw the ball some and
    he is probably one of our
    best defenders against the
    pass,” Volarvich explained.
    Volarvich ended by saying
    “we’re always going to
    do what it takes to win.”
    The Scrappers may need
    to do a lot as they face off
    against long time foe from
    Shiloh Christian on Friday
    at home.

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