STUTTGART – Falling behind early didn’t stop Stuttgart from cruising to the state semifinals for the first time in five years Friday night.
The Ricebirds defeated Bauxite 49-21 in a third round Class 4A playoff game at Ned Mosely Stadium in Stuttgart, keeping their undefeated season alive.
Stuttgart quarterback Cain Price said the Ricebirds have been working hard to reach this point after missing the playoffs last season.
“It’s something that doesn’t come around a lot, and I think that’s something that this group, we’re really cherishing,” the junior said. “Not many people get to play for a state championship, and we get the opportunity to do that.”
Stuttgart (12-0) punted on its first drive of each half but scored on each of its other seven possessions. The Ricebirds finished with 386 yards of offense.
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Price completed 9 of 20 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore running back Tyquan Hall rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns while catching two passes for 81 yards.
Bauxite (9-4) scored on each of its first two drives after forcing a quick Stuttgart punt after the opening kickoff. Freshman quarterback Wyatt Foremen scored a pair of 1-yard touchdowns to give the Miners leads of 7-0 and 14-7.
Stuttgart answered quickly each time. The Ricebirds needed three plays to tie the game at 7 and two plays to tie it at 14.
Head coach Josh Price said it was great to see his players respond so quickly to the Miners’ scores.
“We have a very explosive offense,” Price said. “We do a really good job of getting our playmakers where they need to go, and for the most part, do a good job of executing. We struggled a little bit tonight. They got us some blitzes. They were just guessing, and they guessed right a couple time, and then they guess wrong a couple times, and we scored.”
Cain Price set up the first Stuttgart touchdown with a 65-yard run to the 1-yard line, then started the second scoring drive with a 55-yard pass to senior Quarterion Johnson. Hall scored rushing touchdowns on the following play each time.
The Miners converted their first three fourth down attempts before tackles for loss by Stuttgart defenders Knox Hillman, Kiptyn Carey and Cordaro Berry forced a Bauxite punt, which got caught up in the wind and went out of bounds at Bauxite’s 30-yard line. That set up a 33-yard go-ahead field goal by Stuttgart senior Dawson McKelvey.
Brilon Hogan, a sophomore, broke up a fourth down pass in the end zone to get Stuttgart the ball back with 1:38 remaining in the first half. A perfectly executed 2-minute drill ended 15 seconds before halftime when Price hit Keaton Byers for a touchdown to make it 24-14 at halftime.
Byers broke the game open in the third quarter with a 56-yard punt return to extend the Ricebird lead to 34-14.
Coach Price said the Ricebirds blocked well on the return.
“You catch the ball on punt return, you never know what you can do with it,” Price said. “So, he did a great job on that. We had some other players make some big plays on long yardage situations on screen plays. Tayquan Hall and Bray Covington Minor did a great job of getting us all the way down to the 2-yard line when it was third and 30.”
Cain Price scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter after his defense got a pair of turnovers. Senior defensive lineman Carmelo Minter intercepted a screen pass, and sophomore linebacker Knox Hillman recovered a fumble.
Stuttgart will host Elkins next Friday in the semifinals.