LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas Class 2A football coaches could be heard groaning when the 2018-20 classification cycle for state high schools was announced.
Junction City became an instant favorite in the state's smallest division when the Arkansas Activities Association decreed the Union County school drop from Class 3A. The early insight into the Class 2A race became reality when the Dragons slew Hazen, 36-22, in the title game Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
With a 16-0 advantage in the fourth quarter, Junction City finished 12-2 and state football champion for the seventh time. This was the first title for second-year coach Steven Jones, whose 2017 squad lost to Rivercrest here in the 3A final. Junction City's previous championship teams, many with future Razorback players, were coached by the retired David Carpenter.
Hazen dropped to 0-for-4 in the championship round, losing to Junction City for the second time in five years. Coach Joe Besancon's Hornets finished 14-1, beating 2016 champion and 2017 finalist Mount Ida, 42-0, in the semifinals.
Hazen scored first and once led, 22-12, but allowed three Junction City touchdowns in 7:34 of the second half.
Junction City senior Dhante Gibson took the game by the throat about the time members of the media were selecting the most valuable player for each team. Gibson gashed for 153 yards and two touchdowns, more than enough to take top honors. For good measure, he starred defensively with five solo and three assisted stops, 1.5 tackles for a loss of 10 yards and a fourth-quarter interception, the latter ending Hazen's last threat.
Junction City put it away after a promising Hazen drive stalled at the Dragons' 31-yard line. The Hornets fumbled twice, recovering both bobbles, before senior defensive end Sema Livingston stopped 6-5 junior Hazen quarterback Blayne Toll for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-21.
Gibson ran for 16 yards on the next play against a tiring Hazen defense and went 30 yards for an insurance touchdown with 1:13 left in the game.
Junction City junior quarterback Brady Hutcheson passed for two touchdowns, 16 yards to senior Kevontae Haynes with 3:56 in the third quarter and 63 yards to junior Jakiron Cook with 8:22 left in the game. Cook's catch padded Junction City's first lead, after Jack Smith, a 275-pound senior, made it 23-22 with a 25-yard field goal in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Hazen took its largest lead on Toll's 58-yard pass to freshman Quincey McAdoo at 7:03 of the third quarter. Hornet junior Tarrall Penn ran for two first-half touchdowns and totaled 109 yards on 17 carries.
Cook went 58 yards for a touchdown on Junction City's first possession and Gibson scored from a yard out with 10 seconds left in the half, the latter following Hutcheson's 38-yard pass to senior D.J. Hill.
The title game was played before 3,118 fans on a 35-degree night with a mixture of rain and sleet and a chilling light breeze from the north. Worsening conditions were expected statewide Saturday, though two games remained on the final playing date of the 2018 Arkansas season. After a Class 3A matinee between Booneville and Osceola, defending champion Arkadelphia and Joe T. Robinson were scheduled in the Class 4A finals under the lights.
State champions last weekend at War Memorial were Bryant in 7A, Greenwood in 6A and Little Rock Christian in 5A.
Sports on 12/09/2018