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Published Dec 11, 2015

McCrory defeats Rison for the 2A state title

Luke Matheson

ArkansasVarsity.com Publisher

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The McCrory Jaguars held off a second half surge from the Rison Wildcats to earn their first state championship in school history, 26-22 over the Wildcats.

Turnovers would ultimately doom Rison as Seth Crouse was intercepted three times. The Jags would score points off of two of the turnovers.

"We knew it was going to be won up front, and early they punched us in the mouth," said McCrory head coach Chris Kennon. "We had some blown coverages and some miscues, but our kids were able to come back. Our linemen did a great job of keeping them off of our linebackers and that allowed our linebackers to just go make tackles. Overall it's just a great effort by our team."

McCrory would score first in the game with 9:20 remaining in the first quarter on a 17-yard pass from Cade Campbell to Trevor Williams. The PAT was no good, giving McCrory the 6-0 advantage.

Rison would answer just 10 seconds later as Bryson Marks scored from 78-yards out on Rison's first play from scrimmage. Jaquan Henry would add the two-point conversion to put Rison up 8-6.

Ty Alumbaugh would land on a loose football in the end zone with 5:12 remaining in the opening quarter to put the Jags up 12-8 after a failed two-point conversion.

Rison would drive the ball into McCrory territory on the next drive, but Crouse was intercepted by Cade Campbell at the 23-yard line. Kaigen Rogo would score on the next play from 77 yards out, then Campbell would add the two-point conversion to put McCrory up 20-8.

Crouse would be intercepted again on the next drive by Rogo, then the Jags would score five plays later on a one-yard run by Rogo. The two-point try was no good, giving McCrory the 26-8 advantage.

Rison would score with 29 seconds remaining in the half on a 23-yard pass from Crouse to Gage Roberts, and Spencer Trail would add the two-point conversion to make the score 26-16 at the half.

Rison's final score would come with 1:53 remaining in the third quarter on a two-yard run by Marks. Rison would go for two once again, but failed to covert, giving McCrory the 26-22 advantage.

Rison would have one final opportunity with 1:31 left, but Crouse was intercepted for the third time as he underthrew Chris Leaks, and Rogo came down with the interception.

"We didn't do a very good job of establishing the line of scrimmage," said Rison head coach Clay Totty. "I thought they did a great job up front against us, then we had the big plays we gave up defensively. We came out in the second half and got right back in it, but we never could really get clicking."

Kaigon Rogo was named the MVP of the game after running the ball 21 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He also had two receptions for 43 yards, and two interceptions on defense for the Jags.