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On a night when they were not clicking on all cylinders, the Bastrop Rams turned to an unlikely source to vanquish Helen Cox 36-22 here on a cold Friday night in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Bastrop (10-1) will travel to Zachary on Friday night in the quarterfinals.
Clinging to a 22-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Rams unleashed a smashmouth running attack to advance into the quarterfinal round for the seventh consecutive season.
With Dwight Hawkins and Jermario (Bull) Tate basically taking turns taking handoffs, the offensive line of Willie Graham, Richard Blocker, Trevor Rodgers, Goldmon Moore and DeMaoria Harlston responded. As a result, the Rams were able to put the game out of reach midway through the fourth quarter.
“I was proud of the way our offense was able to run the ball and get us out of there,” said Bastrop coach Brad Bradshaw.
Overall, it was a sluggish performance by the Rams, who committed 12 penalties for 97 yards, fumbled five times, dropped several passes and, for the most part, played uninspired football.
Still, the news was better on the field than off as International Paper, Morehouse Parish’s largest public employer, announced that it was closing its doors indefinitely on Friday morning.
“Certainly, the mill is bigger than our football team,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a sad day for Bastrop and Morehouse Parish to see this happen. A lot of people have been concerned about this happening for a long time.”
For whatever reason, the Rams appeared to be distracted Friday night.
“We had too many mistakes — the penalties, the fumbles, the interceptions, not covering well on special teams and not defending the option well.”
As early as Monday, Bradshaw had detected a lack of focus.
“All we ask is that you be on time, pay attention and do the best you can,” Bradshaw said. “We’re not getting that done in practice right now. The injuries can’t be helped, but the suspensions and missing practice can be.
“When the season is over and all is said and done, we’ll be able to say one of two things — we have what we want or a reason that we don’t.”
Bastrop started well enough.
Keldrick Anderson returned a squib kick 24 yards and the Rams opened the game in Helen Cox territory at the 46.
Four plays later, Jevante Watson gathered in a 30-yard pass from Rueben Randle to open the scoring. Watson also ran the 2-point conversion and the Rams were up 8-0 just over a minute and a half into the contest.
On a night when they were not clicking on all cylinders, the Bastrop Rams turned to an unlikely source to vanquish Helen Cox 36-22 here on a cold Friday night in the second round of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Bastrop (10-1) will travel to Zachary on Friday night in the quarterfinals.
Clinging to a 22-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Rams unleashed a smashmouth running attack to advance into the quarterfinal round for the seventh consecutive season.
With Dwight Hawkins and Jermario (Bull) Tate basically taking turns taking handoffs, the offensive line of Willie Graham, Richard Blocker, Trevor Rodgers, Goldmon Moore and DeMaoria Harlston responded. As a result, the Rams were able to put the game out of reach midway through the fourth quarter.
“I was proud of the way our offense was able to run the ball and get us out of there,” said Bastrop coach Brad Bradshaw.
Overall, it was a sluggish performance by the Rams, who committed 12 penalties for 97 yards, fumbled five times, dropped several passes and, for the most part, played uninspired football.
Still, the news was better on the field than off as International Paper, Morehouse Parish’s largest public employer, announced that it was closing its doors indefinitely on Friday morning.
“Certainly, the mill is bigger than our football team,” Bradshaw said. “It’s a sad day for Bastrop and Morehouse Parish to see this happen. A lot of people have been concerned about this happening for a long time.”
For whatever reason, the Rams appeared to be distracted Friday night.
“We had too many mistakes — the penalties, the fumbles, the interceptions, not covering well on special teams and not defending the option well.”
As early as Monday, Bradshaw had detected a lack of focus.
“All we ask is that you be on time, pay attention and do the best you can,” Bradshaw said. “We’re not getting that done in practice right now. The injuries can’t be helped, but the suspensions and missing practice can be.
“When the season is over and all is said and done, we’ll be able to say one of two things — we have what we want or a reason that we don’t.”
Bastrop started well enough.
Keldrick Anderson returned a squib kick 24 yards and the Rams opened the game in Helen Cox territory at the 46.
Four plays later, Jevante Watson gathered in a 30-yard pass from Rueben Randle to open the scoring. Watson also ran the 2-point conversion and the Rams were up 8-0 just over a minute and a half into the contest.
Kelvin Perry pounced on a fumble on the ensuing kickoff at the Cougars’ 38 and Bastrop appeared poised to strike again.
Despite picking up a first down at the 20, the Rams soon turned the ball over on downs.
After an exchange of punts, the Cougars threatened on their second possession. On fourth-and-nine from the 25, Anderson made an acrobatic interception at the 3.
Bastrop denied the Cougars again midway through the second quarter.
Daniel Henry returned an interception 36 yards, before Hunter Freeland made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 4.
A false start on first down backed the Cougars up to the 9, before Anderson made his second pick at the 1.
From the shadows of their own endzone, the Rams drove to the Helen Cox 36 where they eventually turned the ball over on downs with just under two minutes remaining in the half.
On the Cougars’ first play from scrimmage, linebacker Tai (Speedy) Alford nabbed the Rams’ third interception of the half, eluded an offensive lineman near the 20 and hit the left sideline. Alford’s 36-yard TD return and Randle’s 2-point toss to Rodney Heard enabled the Rams to carry a 16-0 lead into the break.
“They ran a hitch and I was on top of it,” Alford said. “It seemed like he threw it right to me.”
On shaking the final tackler, Alford joked, “I was going to run him over if he got in my way.”
Refusing to go away, the Cougars opened the second half with a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive.
Lined up in punt formation on fourth-and-four from the 39, Helen Cox received an assist when the Rams jumped offsides to give the drive new life.
Five plays later, Toni Cobbs flipped a 16-yard touchdown pass to Javone Lawson. The try for 2 failed, but the Cougars had closed within 16-6 at 6:31 in the third period.
Filling in for the injured Darius Carey, the Cougars’ regular quarterback, Cobbs rushed for 80 yards on 21 carries and threw for 134 stripes on 15-of-23 passing.
“We were tackling air all night,” Bradshaw said.
The normally elusive Randle was battling injury issues of his own. Hampered by an injured hamstring suffered in last week’s 47-6 first round victory over LaGrange, Randle was far from his normal mobile self. In fact, the Rams’ leading rusher carried only twice for two yards.
Following Mikhail Garrett’s 16-yard kickoff return, the Rams responded with a seven-play, 54-yard drive.
Converting a third-and-10, Randle connected with Stanley Moore for 20 yards and a first down at the 20. On the ensuing snap, Watson shot through a huge hole on the right side to put the Rams up 22-6.
Continuing to battle, the Cougars stormed right back.
Justin Wheeler returned the ensuing kickoff 57 yards, before being brought down by Anderson at the 26.
Four plays later, on third-and-goal from the 4, Cobbs hit Lawson on a halfback pass. Wheeler threw to Lawson on the conversion, trimming the deficit to 22-14 with 1:00 to play in quarter number three.
“The kids heard all the talk about who we were going to be playing next week,” Bradshaw said. “You can’t tell me Helen Cox doesn’t have good football players. Helen Cox came to play tonight. They weren’t going to fold.”
To their credit, the Rams were up to the challenge.
Taking over at their own 33, the Rams embarked on an eight-play, 67-yard drive.
Freeland’s 15-yard reception — the only pass play of the series — was good for a first down at the Helen Cox 47.
From there, Hawkins carried twice for 11 yards to move the chains. Bull Tate then picked up seven yards, before bowling through the Cougars’ interior for 21 stripes and another first down at the 8.
Two plays later, Hawkins powered into the endzone from 8 yards out. Watson’s conversion upped the margin to 30-14 with 9:31 on the clock.
Bastrop’s defense asserted itself as the Cougars began their next possession from the own 38.
Romalis Whitmore sacked Cobbs for a loss of six on first down. On second down, Garrett delivered a vicious hit to blow up a screen pass for negative seven yards to bring up third-and-23.
After the Helen Cox punt, the Rams’ offense trotted back onto the field at their own 40.
Two plays later, on third-and-15 from the 35, Moore made an over-the-shoulder catch on a Randle pass for 57 yards and a first down at the 8. Picking up a block from Graham, Hawkins took it to the house from there.
Hawkins’ second touchdown put the Rams in control 36-14 with 5:25 to play.
“The offensive line did a good job of blocking tonight,” said Hawkins, who rushed for a season-high 74 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. “We’ve been working to run the ball like this all year and it all came together tonight.”
Helen Cox (7-4) needed just 59 seconds to get back into the endzone.
Lawson’s 48-yard reception off of a deflected pass set up Kevin Williams’ 1-yard TD burst. Lawson also came up with a tipped pass on the conversion to wrap up the scoring with 4:26 remaining.
Regaining possession following the inevitable onside kick attempt, the Rams eventually fumbled the ball away at the Helen Cox 6. But with only 2:28 remaining, time had run out on the Cougars.
