NO CONTEST

The Pine Bluff football team was looking to make a statement Friday against Watson Chapel. Mission accomplished.

Pine Bluff took a 13-0 lead in the first two minutes, scored 48 points in the first half and defeated Watson Chapel 48-12 on on Torii Hunter Field at Jordan Stadium.

“We came out wanting to make a statement and I think we made it,” Pine Bluff running back Walter Ashley said after the Zebras beat their crosstown rivals for the third consecutive time. “We wanted to make a statement to the whole state that we can run it down anyone’s throats without any problems.”

The dominating performance didn’t come just from Pine Bluff’s offense, either. The Zebras returned two interceptions for touchdowns and sacked Watson Chapel quarterback Kyle McCullough five times — including two sacks by defensive end Cameron Jackson.

“We knew we had an advantage over their tackles because we knew they didn’t have good footwork,” Jackson said. “This win feels really good. The whole week was building up to this and everyone was talking about it.”

The game got out of hand early, but Pine Bluff coach Bobby Bolding was happy with how his team kept its composure all the way through.

“I am proud of our kids.They showed a lot of character and class,” Bolding said. “I really wanted to play a half as hard as we could and do whatever we needed to do and then we could slow down.”

Watson Chapel’s night got off on the wrong foot right away. The Wildcats (1-1) were penalized 15 yards on the opening kickoff because a player had a colored towel on.

That allowed Pine Bluff (2-0) to return the kick to the Watson Chapel 46. Ashley scored four plays later on a 25-yard run.

On the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage, McCullough threw an interception to Rakeem Leverett, who returned it 23 yards for a touchdown and a 13-0 Pine Bluff lead with 9:51 left in the first quarter.

“Everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Watson Chapel coach George Shelton said. “It was a difficult week for us on the field and off the field and it all culminated (Friday).”

Watson Chapel played without five players, including two starters in the secondary, who were suspended for violating team rules during Watson Chapel’s trip to Fayetteville to play Siloam Springs last week.

Pine Bluff scored again at the 4:13 mark in the first quarter on Kelvin Sergeant’s one-yard run. Sergeant added the 2-point conversion and finished with 48 yards rushing.

Ashley added his second touchdown of the game on an 11-yard run to make it 28-0 early in the second quarter. Ashley finished with 76 yards on 15 carries and had an 18-yard reception.

Austin McGehee added a 34-yard field goal with 9:41 left in the first half and an errant Watson Chapel snap into the end zone led to a safety and the Zebras had a 33-0 lead before the Wildcats scored on an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jordan Stargell.

“It was a big, athletic play,” Shelton said. “He had the speed to leg it out and outrun their football team.”

Pine Bluff responded as Brandon Starks capped a six-play, 51-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Watson Chapel drove to Pine Bluff’s 17-yard line, but Devarious Rice intercepted a McCullough pass in the end zone and returned in the length of the field for a 101-yard touchdown.

Pine Bluff held Watson Chapel to 55 yards of total offense in the first half and had 246 yards of its own.

Watson Chapel’s final score came with 2:15 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats blocked a botched punt and James Collier scored on a 1-yard run.