RISON - In a game which served up a large platter of big plays, the final outcome was determined by conversion points, as the Rison Wildcats rallied from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to edge the Bismarck Lions, 34-31, in a hardfought battle at George Walker Field of Champions last Friday night. While each team scored 5 touchdowns, Rison came away with 4 points on a pair of successful 2-point conversions, with Bismarck getting just 1 point on its lone PAT kick after the Lions' first TD.
“All around, I thought our special teams were great, and our kids trusted in what we had told them in preparation work,” Rison head coach Clay Totty said. “We did a good job on covering kick returns, we got one kick return ourselves for a touchdown, we blocked two extra point tries, we covered a fumble on a muffed punt, and we executed a fake PAT kick for a 2-point pass,” as Totty eluded to the “little things,” such as special teams, playing a big part in the outcome of the physical non-conference contest which sent the Wildcats to 2-0. Bismarck slipped to 0-2, their other loss the previous week to topranked Prescott, 47-28.
As for the game itself, when Ri‐son rallied from a 31-20 deficit in the fourth quarter to snatch vic‐tory from defeat, Totty said, “when you hold up the four fin‐gers at the start of the fourth quar‐ter, it’s got to mean something, and not just for show. It’s not quitting, it’s not getting rattled, I’'s trusting the guys in your own huddle, and it’s having faith in your lockerroom. All of that’s tough to develop. Last year, I be‐lieve we had some games (Fordyce and Harmony Grove) that were winnable in the fourth quarter, but we didn’t get it done. Those four fingers you hold up have to mean something. I hope this game shows us that it can be done, and it was accomplished against a good (Bismarck) team.”
Late in the third quarter, when Rison was unable to take advantage of Ryan Hyatt?...
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