East Webster football coach Ron Price has seen just about everything in his 16 years of coaching.
But Friday night’s 34-33 loss to Leflore County was one of the toughest of his coaching career.
The Wolverines finish the regular season with a 5-6 record and a 1-2 record in 2-2A play, finishing in a three-way tie with Leflore and Eupora. But the tiebreaker gave Eupora the No. 2 seed and Leflore the No. 3 seed. East Webster will travel to Greenville O’Bannon for the first round of the Class 2A playoffs this week.
Price said the reason the loss was so tough was how hard his team played.
“In my 16 years of coaching, that’s probably the toughest loss I have had as a coach,” Price said. “We just ask our kids to give us 48 minutes of football. Our kids gave all they had. When you go back and look at it, there were six or eight plays that determined the outscore. But our kids never quit. It was devastating that it came down to an extra point. They competed for all 48 minutes and that’s all that you can ask for.”
East Webster got off to a quick start as it went 43 yards on three plays as Sloan Hillhouse scored on a 22-yard run. Parker Burleson booted the PAT and the Wolverines led 7-0.
But Leflore answered right back with a 12-play, 40 yard drive and scored on a 15-yard run. The try for two failed and East led 7-6.
The Wolverines punted on their next two possessions but put together a scoring drive right before the half as Betts hit Keevon Patterson on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Burleson’s PAT was good and East led 14-6.
Leflore scored right before the half with a 41-yard touchdown pass and didn’t convert the two-point try as East led 14-12 at the half.
“We could just never get any separation from them,” Price said. “Every time we scored they came back with a score. I felt like if we could have ever gotten up a couple of scores, they might have laid down on us.”
East got the ball to start the second half and drove 41 yards in nine plays as Hillhouse scored on a 7-yard run. Burleson’s PAT was good and East led 21-12.
But that’s where things started turning in Leflore’s favor.
The Panthers scored two straight touchdowns with a 44-yard run an da 13-yard run to go up 26-21.
After trading turnovers, East got back in the end zone as Hillhouse scored on a 3-yard run but Burleson’s PAT was blocked as the Wolverines led 27-26.
Leflore answered right back with a 36-yard touchdown pass and converted the two point conversion to take a 34-27 lead.
East Webster’s defense held after Leflore recovered an onside kick. East scored with less than a minute in the game as Betts hit Patterson on a 24-yard touchdown pass. The Wolverines went for two but Betts was stopped short as Leflore held on for the win.
On offense, the Wolverines had 308 yards of total offense with 188 rushing and 120 passing. Betts was 9-of-12 passing for 120 yards and two TDs and he also rushed for 63 yards on 12 carries. Hillhouse had 102 yards on 18 carries and two TDS while Tyreke Pittman had 23 yards on eight carries. Patterson had six catches for 108 yards and two TDs.
On defense, Hunter Dendy had a huge night with seven tackles, including five for loss.
Hillhouse also had seven tackles while Patterson had six tackles and one interception. Daniel Rogers, Cason Pate and Pittman each had five tackles apiece while Noah Hatcher had four. Shurden also had four tackles and one interception while Betts had two stops.
The Wolverines will travel to Greenville to take on O’Bannon, the No. 1 seed and champion of Region 3-2A.
The Green Wave is 10-1 on the season with their lone loss coming in week 2 in a 16-6 setback to Ray Brooks. They have wins over Northside (14-6), Amanda Elzy (30-6), Ruleville Central (22-14), South Delta (20-14, OT), Riverside (22-16), Coahoma County (28-8), Leland (24-18), West Bolivar (37-14), West Tallahatchie (35-0) and Gentry (30-6).
“They are 10-1 on the season and their lone loss was to Ray Brooks, which is kind of encouraging,” Price said. “All of their district games were close and their district seems pretty balanced. They have about 22 seniors and it seems like those seniors are making the plays it takes to win. Their senior leadership is helping them win some close games.
“Right now, we are happy to be in the playoffs. If we can win this 48 minutes, it will help elevate the pain of Friday night. I think it comes down to how much fight we have left in us. I believe we will win if we come out with some fight in us.”
