Ashdown’s Goal-Line Stand Holds Off Hope
Ashdown 14, Hope 7
ASHDOWN — A blocked field goal, a fourth-down stop at the 2-yard line and two late plays by Cordae Baker carried Ashdown past Hope on Friday night at Dick Hays Stadium.
The teams went scoreless in the first quarter, though each had a chance to change that. Ashdown’s Holden Hillisrecovered a muffed Hope punt, but the Panthers did not score on the possession. Hope drove into field-goal range after a long screen pass to Jaiden Brown. Sam Scroggins sacked quarterback Austin Courtney near the goal line, and Cayden White blocked the ensuing 32-yard attempt to keep the game tied.
Ashdown broke through with 7:59 left in the second quarter. On third-and-long, quarterback Shooter Johnson found Bryson French for a 31-yard touchdown. The extra point missed, leaving the Panthers ahead 6-0.
Johnson struck again with 3:52 remaining before halftime. He stepped up in the pocket and connected with Tyler Smithfor a 42-yard touchdown. Logan Erwin ran in the two-point conversion, giving Ashdown a 14-0 lead. At halftime, Johnson had completed 7 of 14 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Brown had five catches for 85 yards for Hope in the first half, while Jeremiah Warner had four receptions for about 40 yards.
Hope controlled much of the field position after halftime. Warner and Deshun Keener helped the Bobcats drive to first-and-goal at the Ashdown 3 in the third quarter. The Panthers held Warner near the goal line, Courtney’s third-down pass fell incomplete, and Mario Lewis and Scroggins stopped Warner on fourth down at the 2.
The Bobcats kept pressing. With less than three minutes left in the fourth, a pass-interference penalty extended a Hope drive. J’Kari “JJ” Gulley scored on a 4-yard run with 2:17 remaining, and the extra point cut Ashdown’s lead to 14-7.
Hope kicked deep, leaving the Panthers needing a first down. On third down, a snap sailed over Johnson’s head. He recovered, gathered himself and completed a pass to Baker for about 20 yards. Baker followed with a run of about 30 yards into Hope territory. Ashdown ran out the remaining time to secure the conference-opening win.
Scoring summary
1st Quarter
- No scoring. Ashdown 0, Hope 0.
2nd Quarter
- Ashdown — Shooter Johnson 31-yard pass to Bryson French (kick failed), 6-0.
- Ashdown — Johnson 42-yard pass to Tyler Smith (Logan Erwin run), 14-0.
3rd Quarter
- No scoring. Ashdown 14, Hope 0.
4th Quarter
- Hope — J’Kari Gulley 4-yard run (kick good), 14-7.
Players who stood out
- Shooter Johnson, Ashdown: Threw touchdown passes of 31 and 42 yards, then completed a roughly 20-yard third-down pass after recovering a high snap late in the fourth.
- Cordae Baker, Ashdown: Made that late third-down catch and followed it with a run of about 30 yards that helped Ashdown run out the clock.
- Cayden White, Ashdown: Blocked Hope’s 32-yard field-goal attempt in a scoreless first quarter.
- Mario Lewis, Ashdown: Joined Sam Scroggins on the third-quarter fourth-and-goal stop at the 2.
- Jaiden Brown, Hope: Had five catches for 85 yards in the first half and helped set up Hope’s first-quarter field-goal attempt.