Last week’s 3A state high school quarterfinal in Fordyce didn’t exactly go the same way last season’s did, but two of the same heroes from 2024 made key plays again.
When Zavier Jones tied the 2024 semifinal with a 68-yard touchdown carry and Micah Gamble ran 31 yards for the game-winning touchdown, the Redbugs eliminated Booneville to make its first state semifinal in three years. Fordyce (12-1), looking for its fifth state championship in Arkansas’ modern playoff era (since 1968), will host Booneville (9-4) in this year’s semifinal, and it’s largely because of the two playmakers.
“Now that we got (sophomore Andreal Ellison) back at QB1, I think it’s going to be a lot different ballgame,” said Jones, who filled in at quarterback after Ellison was injured in the second round of the 2024 playoffs. “We’ve just got to play Fordyce football. They’re going to come and play physical. We’ve just got to match their physicality. We know they’re ready and we just have to be ready. It’s just who wants it more at the end of the game.”
The Redbugs and Bearcats will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday at Paul “Bear” Bryant Stadium in Fordyce, with a spot in the Dec. 13 title game at stake. Fordyce won back-to-back 2A championships in 2019 and 2020 but was denied a three-peat in the 2021 final by McCrory.
Booneville last won the 3A championship in 2023, holding off Prescott.
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Jones, a senior, intercepted two passes in the fourth quarter against Mayflower last Friday, not long after he caught a 48-yard pass from Ellison over the shoulder that set up a go-ahead drive. One of his picks set up the insurance drive, capped by junior Gamble’s 48-yard touchdown run with 2:39 to go.
“Micah’s just one of those kids you can count on when things get tough,” 16th-year Redbugs Coach Tim Rodgers said.
“Zay Jones, it seems like he may make some mistakes and do some things every now and then, but it seems like he always makes big plays when they count. That’s what we’ve been leaning on all year with those two.”
A bit of advice from former University of Alabama Coach Nick Saban has gone a long way with Rodgers as well, fitting for a man who coaches in the stadium named after another Crimson Tide great.
“I’m not the smartest or best coach in America, but I listen to other coaches, what they say and what they do and stuff,” Rodgers said.
“I listened to Nick Saban say something like, ‘It doesn’t matter what play you call. It’s who you get the ball to.’ We’re going to get the ball to Micah Gamble and (fellow junior Jamartez Stroud) on Friday night.”
Fordyce outgained Mayflower in total yards, 390-184, but the Redbugs will likely need another strong defensive effort to contain a Booneville offense that ran for 515 yards in beating Conference 3A-4 champion Glen Rose 40-14 last Friday.
Senior fullback Hunter Warren, who scored four touchdowns against Fordyce last year, ran for 144 yards and three TDs against Glen Rose, according to the River Valley Democrat-Gazette.
Conner Droemer went for 141 yards and two TDs; Hayden Daniel 105 yards and one TD; and Rhett Nietert 102 yards and a TD.
“I think on all the films we watched, they had thrown the ball four times over seven or eight games,” Rodgers said.
“They’re not going to throw the ball. We’ve got to make sure up front, we’ve got to be able to stop the run, especially the fullback.”
Booneville, the No. 3 seed from Conference 3A-1, is looking for its third win over a No. 1 seed to make it to Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium next Saturday. The Bearcats blew out 3A-2 No. 4 seed Quitman 69-27 and 3A-3 champion Rivercrest 41-13 before dispatching Glen Rose.
The Bearcats have won four straight games after back-to-back losses to Mansfield and Charleston. Fordyce defeated Charleston 36-35 in overtime in the second round, and Mansfield will play Salem in the other state semifinal.
Southeast Arkansas history
Rodgers, who has worked at Fordyce since 1985, was an assistant under Jim Cox when Fordyce won the last state championship game involving two Southeast Arkansas teams, defeating Dollarway 12-8 in the 1991 AA final to end the Cardinals’ 51-game winning streak. If Stuttgart and Warren win their 4A semifinals Friday, they’ll meet in the first All-SEARK title game since then.
Fordyce also defeated McGehee 20-16 in the 1990 AA championship game, the same year Southeast Arkansas swept the state finals (Pine Bluff won in AAAA, Dollarway in AAA and Rison in A).