RISON - A wild back-andforth shootout boiled down to Rison making one more 2-point conversion than Lake Village, and the Junior Wildcats escaped with a narrow 42-40 victory over the Junior Beavers in a 63A Conference clash Thursday night of last week at George Walker Field of Champions.
The win improved Rison to 52 overall and 3-1 in the conference, as the ‘Cats will close out their 2023 season Thursday night on the road against the Barton Junior Bears in a league battle. Kickoff time at Frank McClellan Field is scheduled for 7 o'clock.
Rebounding from their disappointing loss at Fordyce the week before, Rison found itself in a scoring duel with Lake Village here last Thursday night, each team scoring 6 touchdowns, but the Wildcats with one more 2-point conversion than the Beavers that turned out to be the difference in the game.
Early in the fourth quarter, a 54-yard touchdown pass pulled Lake Village within 36-34. On the 2-point conversion attempt, a tackle by Rison's Darrien Wells and Travis Mitchell stopped the Beavers and the ‘Cats maintained their close lead with 5:19 left in the game.
Then Rison received a long run by quarterback Kyson Walker to advance into Beaver territory. Following a holding penalty against the ‘Cats, Kyson Fletcher's gainer moved the chains for Rison to the 20. With 2:43 to go, Fletcher spun out of a tackle attempt and raced into the end zone for a TD that made it 42-34. With a chance to make it a two-score game, Rison failed to convert its 2-point attempt to keep it an 8-point margin.
Facing third and five at its own 38, the Beavers stunned Rison with a 62-yard touchdown bomb when the receiver raced all alone behind the Wildcats' secondary for the score. On the conversion attempt to tie the score, the Beavers failed to connect on a pass in the end zone that kept the margin at 42-40 with just 1:09 remaining in the game. On the ensuing kick, Rison’s Jakel Richardson picked up th...
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