By Kevin Black
UCA sportswriting
Mayflower—Mayflower was 0-3 on the season heading into Friday's 2-3A conference opener against the Riverview Raiders, but they won when it counted, 37-26, at Patrick Stadium.
Eagle senior tailback and defensive back Demetris Lasker (6-2, 210) scored three times to lead Mayflower to a big win.
Eagles coach Jed Davis said he was proud of Lasker’s performance.
“He had a really good game,” Davis said.
Lasker broke for a 50-yard run on the second play of the game to give the Eagles an early lead.
After junior Tyler Ravlin converted the extra point to make it 7-0, the Eagles were successful on an onside kick when senior Wesley Varnell recovered on the Mayflower 49.
“We actually have about 13 or 14 onside kicks that we use,” Davis said. “Normally I want to take a shot at getting the ball back because it’s demoralizing to the other team if we score and get it right back.”
Davis said the onside kicks force teams to prepare for that instead of what they would normally practice the week of games.
The Eagles stormed toward their goal line, making three consecutive first downs before Lasker punched through the line from four yards out to give Mayflower a 13-0 lead only six minutes into the game.
Despite going up early, the Eagles were down 26-19 heading into the second half because the Raiders scored 18 unanswered points with the help of Mayflower turnovers.
“I really challenged him [Lasker] in the second quarter, because they scored 18 unanswered points, and he had fumbled the football twice for me,” Davis said. “I could tell it was really affecting him, and I told him, ‘all the great players, they just forget about it and they keep executing,’ and that’s what he did for us the rest of that game.”
Lasker scored from the 2 to get the Eagles within five points of the Raiders.
Mayflower senior Jordan Dycus connected with junior Chris Hale for a 31-yard touchdown pass that gave the Eagles a 1-point lead.
Dycus said he saw the coverage and made the adjustment.
“I saw it was man coverage, and I knew he [Hale] had a guy beat,” Dycus said. “To get that momentum swinger, I was pretty excited.”
Eagles senior Dominique Simpson returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that proved to be enough to ensure a Mayflower victory. The Eagle defense held the Raiders to only eight points in the second half.
“Our defense has given up a lot of points this season so far, and to come out in the second half and hold a good Riverview team to only eight points really made a statement,” Davis said.
The second half performance was an excellent experience for a young Eagle team, according to Davis.
“[The second half] was huge, because we’ve got a lot of young guys and we were down 13 points in the second half, and we responded,” Davis said. “It told me a lot about our guys, and about their attitudes. They are not going to quit on us, and they’re going to keep fighting."
Mayflower plays host to Brinkley at 7 p.m. Friday.
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