MHS wins football game, 67-50

By Kevin Black
UCA sportswriting

It was a scoring shootout for most of the first half Friday night at Patrick Stadium when Mayflower hosted England, but the Eagles showed more firepower, winning 67-50.

Seniors Jordan Dycus and Demetris Lasker took over on a muddy Senior Night in Mayflower, combining for nine touchdowns to put the Eagles (4-5, 4-2) one win away from clinching the No. 3 Seed from the 3A-2 Conference for the Class 3A State Playoffs, which begin next week.

This win was big for the Eagles, Dycus said, especially on Senior Night.

“We really wanted to come out with a win in our last game at Patrick Stadium," Dycus said.

He threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more against the winless Lions.

This was Dycus’ second six-touchdown performance this season with the other coming against Riverview.

“They were just playing man defense, and our receivers were catching the ball really well, so anytime they can get separation and catch the ball we’re going to have a good night,” Dycus said.

The Eagles converted on fourth down in Lion territory then Lasker fumbled on the next play which the Lions recovered and returned to the Mayflower 25 yard line before scoring in four plays to get 6-0 lead with 4:17 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles scored less than a minute after that when Dycus found senior Wesley Varnell in the end zone to tie the game at 6-6 with 3:25 left in the first quarter.

After an Eagle interception by sophomore Dalton Campell, Dycus found Lasker cutting across the middle for a 45-yard touchdown pass to make it 12-6 with 10:33 remaining in the second quarter.

The Lions would respond in 13 seconds with a 40-yard touchdown return on a Mayflower onside kick to put England up 12-14 with 10:20 left in the second quarter.

The Eagles drove 49 yards on a combination of runs and passes by Dycus who found sophomore Chris Croson for a touchdown with 8:51 remaining in the first half. Lasker punched in the two-point conversion to make it 20-14 Eagles.

In just 14 seconds the Lions struck back with a 61-yard touchdown pass followed by a successful two-point conversions to take back the lead 22-20.

The Lions picked off Dycus then fumbled on their third play, which senior Preston Hurt recovered for the Eagles on the Lion 4.

Lasker scored in the Eagles first attempt from four yards out and Dycus was successful on the two-point conversion run making it 28-22 Eagles with 6:20 in the first half.

After the Lions tied it up at 28 with a 2-yard touchdown run, Dycus scampered 16 yards for a touchdown then hooked up with Lasker for a successful two-point conversion to put Mayflower up 36-28 with the first half winding down.

The Lions turned the ball over on downs, then after three straight incomplete passes Dycus found senior Lane Mabry for an eight-yard touchdown. The Eagles two-point conversion attempt failed as they took a 48-28 lead into halftime.

The Eagles never looked back in the second half as Lasker broke for a 20-yard touchdown run, a 42-yard touchdown run and a 43-yard gain that set up a two-yard touchdown run by Dycus.

Lasker has been battling a groin injury this season.

[The groin injury] is still not 100 percent, but my team needs me so I’ll play through it,” Lasker said.

The offense was clicking, according to Lasker.

“Our passing game was working for us, our linemen were blocking real good and I was just reading off of them and running hard up-field,” he said.

Dycus said the defense played a big role in ending the scoring shootout that took place in the first half.

“Our defense made some big stops, so we just took it down and scored on them,” Dycus said. “That really changed the momentum of the game.”

Mayflower and Episcopal Collegiate now share 4-2 conference records and will play to establish the third and fourth seeds Friday night in Little Rock at 7 p.m.