THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
El Dorado High School Athletics

A dominant second half performance vaulted the El Dorado Wildcats past Sheridan for a 49-14 road win Friday evening. “I’m glad to be 5-1,” said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. “We now have Benton coming up. We get them at home. So that’s a really big game for us. But I am very happy about how we played against Sheridan.” The Wildcats not only got back on track after a road loss to Greenwood last week, but they also remained perfect all-time against Sheridan. El Dorado has faced the Yellowjackets 17 times. And the Wildcats have yet to lose. Nonetheless, to Sheridan’s credit, it didn’t allow El Dorado to claim an easy win. For at least a half, the Yellowjackets – who have yet to earn a win this season – fought tooth-and-nail with El Dorado. The Wildcats led this 6A-West tilt 28-14 at the intermission. However, Sheridan would run into problems in the second half. The Wildcats did nothing special to reverse the tide of the game. They simply maximized their potential, Reed said. “In the second half we were good in all phases of the game. The offense actually performed well all night. But in the second half the defense began to play at the level we expect,” he stated. “The defense knocked the ball loose, we made some heads-up plays to get interceptions, and we just played faster. It looked like we were just kind of going through the motions in the first half. So the second half for our whole team, was much better.” The Wildcats had the opening possession of the third quarter, and they quickly increased their advantage. Quarterback Darius Holly, just before he was hit by a Sheridan lineman, released a perfect pass to the middle of the end zone. The ball fell right into the hands of receiver Derek Jobe who secured the pass for a beautiful 27-yard TD reception. Greysen Hubbard – who successfully kicked seven extra points in this game – made the point-after to increase El Dorado’s lead to 35-14 with 10:26 on the clock. El Dorado later added to its lead after Mon-Tre Marshall intercepted a pass from Sheridan quarterback Justin Pruitt with 6:34 remaining in the third. “I was really pleased with Mon-Tre. He played well throughout the game,” Reed stated. “He led us. “Finally, in the second half, we got everybody to playing hard just as Mon-Tre was.” Eventually, Alex Hicks scored from seven yards out using a Barry Sanders-like run in which he eluded several Yellowjacket defenders and amazingly turned what should have been a minimal gain into a TD. The PAT increased El Dorado’s cushion to 42-14 with just over four minutes remaining in the third. Suddenly, the confidence Sheridan carried into halftime was gone. And just before the third quarter came to an end, El Dorado made sure any hopes the home team had of climbing back into this game were quelled. With 3:24 left until the fourth, Jamerious Junior intercepted a pass from Pruitt and returned it to the 48. Moments later, Hicks ran four yards to pay-dirt. When El Dorado went up 49-14 the Sportsmanship Rule went into effect. Neither team would score in the final moments of the game. “After last week’s loss, you have to put that behind you,” Reed said. “I thought finally, we began to play intelligently later in the game. For the defense especially, we played well in the second half.” El Dorado never trailed in this contest. However, the first half was highly competitive. With the first possession of the game, Sheridan drove down to the El Dorado 23. But, the drive stalled out when – on a fourth-and-3 – Marshall and Donovan Walter combined to sack Pruitt, forcing a turnover on downs. The Wildcats grabbed the lead when Taliq Ellis caught a short pass, trucked a Sheridan defensive back, and raced to the end zone for 25-yard TD. The PAT made the score 7-0 with 6:28 left in the first. Sheridan then used its Spread Option offense to slowly move down the field deep into El Dorado territory. But once again, on a fourth down, Marshall and Walter converged on Pruitt for a sack. El Dorado capitalized on the turnover on downs when Holly scored on an impressive 20-yard TD run up the gut of Sheridan’s defense. Following the extra point, El Dorado led 14-0. But, Sheridan responded – and with 11:01 left in the second quarter – Pruitt scored on a 1-yard QB keeper. The kick by Brayden Veuleman pulled Sheridan to within seven of its visitor. El Dorado regained the momentum when Shun Levingston caught a short pass from Holly, busted through a series of Sheridan arm-tackles, cut back to the middle of the field and cruised to the end zone. The PAT gave El Dorado a 21-7 advantage. With 2:33 left until the half, Pruitt pushed his way past the goal-line for a 1-yard TD. The PAT made the score 21-14. However, El Dorado quickly responded. With 1:13 remaining in the second quarter, Holly scampered untouched through the middle of the Yellowjacket defense en-route to a 42-yard touchdown. Following the PAT, the Wildcats led 28-14. El Dorado was led offensively by Holly who completed 10-of-18 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Levingston had five receptions for 101 yards and one touchdown.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
El Dorado High School Athletics

EL DORADO ROLLS PAST SHERIDAN 49-14

KEV MOYE

El Dorado News-Times | 10/7/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: El Dorado High School Athletics