So far, Pine Bluff High School has not been able to cash in after two visits to “The Bank.”
Pine Bluff held Camden Fairview scoreless on two drives that started in Zebras’ territory, but luck didn’t stay on the their side much. An 89-yard interception return for a touchdown by Zakilan Marks to end the first half proved the highlight of the Cardinals’ 27-0 win at Simmons Bank Field at Golden Lion Stadium.
“We’re going into the bye week, so it’s time for us to get back to getting the small things corrected,” Zebras Coach Micheal Williams said. The Zebras were shut out for the second time this season.
The game was moved to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff venue from Jordan Stadium as the original PBHS site undergoes construction. The Zebras lost to Dallas Kimball last Saturday at Simmons Bank Field.
Pine Bluff (0-3) played an Arkansas opponent for the first time this season and tried to set a tone with its defense despite Fairview’s opening-drive touchdown. The Zebras forced the Cardinals (2-1) to punt on their next two drives and forced a fumble at the Cardinals’ 20, ending a drive that started a play earlier at the Pine Bluff 37.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Fairview forced Pine Bluff to punt and started at the Zebras’ 41. A fourth-down conversion was called back for false start, stalling that drive.
Pine Bluff quarterback Davonte Wallace completed a fourth-and-3 pass to Tristan Helloms for 19 yards in the final minute before the half. He spiked to stop the clock and then completed a 5-yard toss to Jason Jones to the Fairview 36, before his last-second heave was picked off and returned by Marks for a touchdown.
“Big plays started building,” Williams said. “I don’t know that the defense got wore down; they did make a lot of stops. But even then, we still have got to do what we’re supposed to on defense. I don’t care if they score one, but we still should have been able to stop them. They shouldn’t have scored more than 14 points tonight.”
Wallace, a senior, finished 5 for 21 for 64 yards and 2 interceptions. Sophomore Antwone Miller took over for him late in the third quarter and wound up 4 for 7 for 27 yards.
“Right now, we’re so young at quarterback that these two guys never really played before,” Williams said. “They were missing routine throws, and then not to mention we lost our starting running back tonight. Good thing Travis Harden gave us a jolt tonight.”
Senior D’Juan Hayes ran 5 times for 31 yards before sustaining a shoulder injury, according to Williams. Senior Harden had 46 yards on 12 carries.
Fairview scored on Jy’mauri Utsey’s 2-yard catch from Darrell Atkins Jr. with 7:01 left in the first quarter. Atkins finished 12 of 18 for 92 yards.
Fairview extended its lead to 21-0 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter, cashing in on a drive from the Pine Bluff 32. Atkins went 2 for 3 on the short series, completing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Trent Haygood.
The next offensive series for Fairview started at its own 22, but Haygood made it work with a 70-yard touchdown run with 8:43 remaining in the game.
The Cardinals had 291 total yards to the Zebras’ 187.
“Kudos to Pine Bluff; I think their defense is really good,” Fairview Coach Nick Vaughn said. “I think his offense is really, really young, but I tell you what, those kids play really hard, they rally around each other, and they don’t play like an 0-2 team. I would argue their front four is as good as anybody in 5A. They do a good job of playing with a motor, and they didn’t get tired. They kept coming and coming. I thought they played extremely hard, and our guys were resilient.”
NEXT UP …
Pine Bluff will be off next week and will visit Jacksonville on Sept. 27 to begin 5A-Central Conference action. Fairview will have next week before starting 5A-South play at home against Hot Springs Lakeside.
Pine Bluff running back D’Juan Hayes is wrapped up by a Camden Fairview defender Friday night at Simmons Bank Field. (Special to The Commercial/William Harvey)
Pine Bluff running back Tristan Helloms breaks a tackle by Camden Fairview’s Ronald Buckhanan on Friday night at Simmons Bank Field. (Special to The Commercial/William Harvey)