RISON – Rison quarterback Nathan Wilson passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two more as the Wildcats wore down the scrappy Woodlawn Bears 36-0 in an 8-2A conference clash of Cleveland County rivals at Woodlawn Friday night.
The win was Rison’s first of the year, putting the ‘Cats at 1-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Woodlawn fell to 0-3 overall and 0-2 conference play.
Rison used its trademark running game to catch the Woodlawn defense by suprise, sneaking running back Zuntario Oliver behind the secondary twice for touchdown catches of 32 and 43 yards, and tight end Trevor Ragan for a 40-yarder on the last play of the third quarter.
Wilson, meanwhile, used his legs to scratch out touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards, the last coming with 8:10 left in the game to invoke the mercy rule.
Rison coach Clay Totty said after the game that the shutout extended the Wildcats’ state record streak of consecutive seasons with a shutout victory to 30.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
While the ‘Cats celebrated their first win of the year, it didn’t come without a fight as the Bears, with just 17 healthy players suited out, managed to keep the Rison running game in check for much of the game and carried the game deep into the third quarter.
After Woodlawn’s onside kick to start the game was recovered by Rison at the 50, the ‘Cats would use 16 plays before Wilson snuck in from the 1 to put Rison up 7-0 after Oliver’s extra point with 3:22 left.
The Bears would surprise the Wildcats on their first offensive posssession by lining up in the Spread, a complete 180-degree from the Dead T they ran over the first two games this year.
But it was obvious Woodlawn was struggling getting used to its new offense as the Bears fumbled away their first snap at their own 32.
Rison pounced as Wilson took a couple of steps back from center on the next play and fired downfield to a wide-open Oliver, who took it in for the score. Oliver’s kick to made 14-0 with 3:02 left in the first.
The game would tighten from that point, as the Woodlawn defense forced a punt and then stopped the Wildcats at fourth-and-1 at the Bears’ 43 on Rison’s next two possessions.
Rison would get a safety with 11:07 left in the second when Woodlawn was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, making it 16-0, and would extend it to 22-0 on Wilson’s 43-yards strike to Oliver with 4:08 left before the half. The point-after was no good.
While the Bears’ new offense continued to struggle, it finally hit on its third possession of the second quarter when Blake Erstine connected with Luke Parker on a tunnel screen that went 64 yards for an apparent touchdown. However, a blocking in the back call nullified the score.
Erstine would finish the game hitting just 5 of 22 passes for 42 yards, but he had several passes that were dropped.
The no-huddle spread, however, began to take its toll on the Bears about midway through the third and all the running on offense was starting to wear a bit on the two-way players on defense.
After Wilson hit Ragan for the 40-yard touchdown pass to end the third, Rison would drive 30 yards in four plays for its final score after the Bears came up about an inch short on fourth down. Wilson capped the final scoring drive with a five-yard run.
Woodlawn coach Ray Sessions said after the game that his decision to scrap the T and go with the Spread was something to catch the Wildcats off guard plus let his players have some fun with it. He said was was proud of the way his defensive line managed to keep the Wildcat rushing attack in check for most of the game. Rison had 206 yards of rushing.