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Page 4—Courier News Thunder, Blytheville, (Ark.)— Sunday, September 22,1991By DON BOWEN CN Staff WriterGOSNELL — Football was all Gosnell here Friday night as the Pirates embarrassed Hayti, Mo., 39-14, in the Pirates' home opener to increase their record to 2-1.With the first quarter starting slow for both teams, the Pirates quickly jumped out to a big lead.After an interception by defensive back Tony Davis on Gosnell’s 32 yard line, the Pirates’ “Rocket” cut loose. On the first play from scrimmage after the interception, tail back A1 Theragood broke for a 68-yard touchdown runwith 3:3? *eft in the first quarter to put GosneM on top. A lead the Pirates never relinquished. The extra-point kick from Jenz Jer-nigan gave the Pirates a 7-0 lead.On the following kick-off, Hayti let Jernigan’s kick hit the ground and roll back to the Indians’ two-yard line. The Indians couldn’t break for good field position much of the night. Keeping the ball on the ground, trying to get some distance between the line of scrimmage and the goal line, Hayti only moved the ball to the three-yard line and was forced to punt.Catching the punt at the Indians’ 30 yard line, Tyrone Wiggins scrambled to get behind a line of Gosnell blockers, swept to the outside of the line, running for the Pirates’ second touchdown of the quarter with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. Jernigan’s kick gave the Pirates a 14-0 lead.Lightning struck again for the Pirates on their next possession. After Hayti was again forced to punt, the Pirates took over on their own 41 yard line.On the first play from scrimmage on the possession, full back Rudy Smith was dropped for aBowenGiving away over Hayti, Mo. Friday night. Theragood led allPirates quarterback Jeff Ellis (3) handsoff to tail rushers with 135 yards on 17 carries, back A! Theragood (33) during the Pirates 39-14 winthree yard loss, but a big play but Gosnell back on track. Pirates’ quarterback Jeff Ellis connected with Wiggins for a 39-yard pass play that put the Pirates on the Inmans’ 23 yard line. Theragood’s number was called in five of the next six plays. Theragood rushed for two and seven yards before Wiggins ran for three, giving the Pirates a first-and-10 at the Indians’ 11 yard line. Theragood ran for seven and one yards before breaking over the goal line on a three-yard rush with 6:50 left in the first half to end an eight play drive. Jernigan’s extra-point kick put the Pirates on top 21-0.Gosnell continued to poundHayti’s defense in the second half.The Pirates started their first possession of the second half on the Indians’ 30 yard line. After two failed attempts to move the football, Theragood gets things rolling with a four-yard gain. On fourth and six, Ellis keeps on an option play, running eight yards to the Indians’ 18 yard line and a first down. Ellis went down on the play and was taken out of the game to give him a rest. Replacing Ellis, reserve quarterback Mike Gentry calls for Theragood to run the next three plays for one, three and 13 yards, respectively, giving the Pirates a first-and-goal at the Hayti one yard line. On the next play Theragood crosses the goal line with 6:29 left in the third quarter. Jernigans extra-point trv was short. The Pirates led 27-0.In the fourth quarter, with Gosnell’s second team defense, Hayti kept from being shut out.After defensive back Cornell Braxton intercepted a pass from Pirates’ third team quarterback Ryan Fowler, the Indians’ heldtheir best field position of the night after Braxton ran the interception back 15 yards to the Pirates’ six yard line.It took all four plays for Hayti to finally cross the goal line. On first down, tail back Mike Thomas failed to move the ball. On the next two plays Braxton and full back Elic Peel combined to move the ball three yards to the Gosnell three yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Thomas put the Indians on the board for the first time on the night with 9:22 left in the game. Thomas took a handoff from Indians’ quarterback Jay Morgan for a two-point conversion. The Pirates lead was cut to 27-8.After the Pirates turned the ball over to Hayti on downs, the Indians began their final drive of the night from their own 30 yard line.After an incomplete pass, Morgan runs the ball eight yards to the Indians’ 38 yard line. After another incomplete pass, Thomas rushes for two yards, giving the Indians a first down by the tip of the football. On first down, Thomas picks up two yards to the Indians 42 yard line. A Morgan pass to receiver Ralph Covington moved the ball up to the Indians 49 yard line. On third-and-one, Pirates’ nose guard Mike Dixon sacks Morgan for a six yard loss back to the Indians’ 43 yard line. On fourth-and-seven, Morgan connects with Braxton, running a cross pattern, who guns down to complete a 57-yard touchdown play with 3:44 left in the game. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the Pirates with a 27-14 lead.But the Pirates weren’t finished yet. After full back Jeremy Jer-nigan rushed for six and eight yards on the next two plays, Gentry, now playing tail back, broke for a 32-yard touchdown run with 2:24 left in the game giving the Pirates a 33-14 lead. The two-point conversion try failed.continued on page 5
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Blytheville Courier News
Blytheville, Arkansas, US
Sun, Sep 22, 1991
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