FORDYCE - With the game atmosphere at a fever pitch, the Fordyce Redbugs stopped a two-point conversion try by Rison with less than 3 minutes to go in the contest, and then held on to edge the Wildcats, 30-28, in a battle for the top of the 8-3A Conference race last Friday night. The hard-fought contest at Paul “Bear” Bryant Stadium was waged before a crowd estimated at upwards of 4,000 fans, who saw three touchdowns scored in the last four minutes of the game.The loss dropped Rison to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in the conference. Although 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference, the Redbugs must still win at McGehee this week to secure the outright league title, while the Wildcats will host Barton on Thursday.Commenting about the atmosphere for the battle between the rivals, Rison head coach Chris Vereen said, “it was electric, beginning to end. Most of the time, in a big game like this one, it will come down to a few big plays that determines the outcome. But I can think of at least 10 different plays that could have made it a different outcome.” And once he thought about it a bit more, Vereen added, “and really, there were probably more than 10 plays that could have made a difference. But now we just have to move on.”As for his team, Vereen said, “they played hard. They had to for us to be in a position to win the game. In the end, I believe a couple of lost fumbles (both at midfield on first down plays) on our part and three big pass plays by them really were keys to the outcome. And, of course, the conversions (four TDs by each team, but the Redbugs with 6 conversion points, the Wildcats, 4). Our defense played outstanding against the run. “As for turnovers on their part, they (Fordyce) didn’t help us there, none. Even when they had two touchdowns called back by penalty, they still went on to score on those possessions. I thought going in we would struggle to run the ball, but I thought we ran the b...
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