Conway, Fimple win a wild one

CONWAY -- Keith Fimple will have no trouble remembering his first game as Conway's head football coach. Senior quarterback JoVoni Johnson scored on a 10-yard run on the first play of the second overtime, and the Wampus Cats held on for a 48-41 victory over the El Dorado Wildcats on Friday night at John McConnell Stadium. After a lackluster first half in which he completed only 1 of 6 passes for 13 yards, Johnson finished 10-of-20 passing for 185 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a 12-yard fourth-down TD strike to senior Will McKenna on the final play of the first overtime. "I thought offensively the little things you see in first games hurt us," Fimple said. "We just had too many mistakes. Defensively, we let them drive on us, and that's not my philosophy. Those are things we've got to fix." Conway rolled up 435 yards of total offense; El Dorado had 359. The game was tied at 34-34 at the end of regulation. On the first play of the first overtime, El Dorado junior quarterback Alex Hicks connected with senior tight end Alex Boone for a 10-yard touchdown over the middle. Conway's first overtime possession was much more suspenseful. [HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Click here for more scores, recaps and photos] Johnson ran for 6 yards on the first play, but a bad snap on second down pushed the Wampus Cats back to the 12. Johnson had his third-down pass batted down. Johnson, who had hit McKenna for a 30-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, found the 6-2 senior in the left corner of the end zone on the fourth-down attempt. "He's done things like that all summer long," Fimple said of McKenna. "We've seen him go one-on-one with people. He made a great catch, and it was a great throw by JoVoni." El Dorado also came up with some fourth-down magic on its final scoring possession of regulation. Facing a fourth and 6, Hicks hit junior Steven Tollette for a 14-yard TD pass with 1:49 left. Greysen Hubbard's extra point failed, leaving the score tied at 34-34. Conway advanced to the El Dorado 10 with 20 seconds left, but a fumble kept the Wampus Cats from attempting a game-winning field goal. "We made enough plays to win the game," El Dorado Coach Scott Reed said. "I like my team. They played hard, and I think we'll get better. We're really young." Conway senior Cary McClain broke off a 59-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and led all rushers with 169 yards on 20 carries. El Dorado senior Keontae Larry ran 13 times for 136 yards, including an 82-yard run on the first play of the third quarter. Hicks completed 10 of 20 passes for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns, including a 74-yard touchdown to senior Shun Levingston and two touchdowns to Tollette. Hicks also ran for a touchdown and for 101 yards on 16 carries. Conway's Shane Smith returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown; senior Bryce Bohannon ran for a 6-yard TD; and senior Nick Richmond hauled in a 44-yard TD.

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CONWAY, FIMPLE WIN A WILD ONE

TIM COOPER

Arkansas Democrat | 8/27/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Thomas Metthe AR Democrat