'Cats Refuse to Lose, Upset Top-Ranked Prescott, 34-29

RISON - Top-ranked Prescott arrived at George Walker Field of Champions last Friday night much deeper, bigger, faster and more athletic, and certainly a heavy favorite to beat Rison. But sometimes the intangibles get involved in a game, things that just can't be seen, such as a strong will and heart to survive. For the Wildcats, they just refused to go away, having assumed long ago the role of an unglamorous, underdog bunch that just grinds away. So, using a go-ahead touchdown with just a few minutes left, followed by a pass interception with only 14 seconds remaining in the game, the Rison Wildcats found themselves taking another step in the Class 3A state playoffs by knocking off the Prescott Curley Wolves, 34-29, before an overflow mass that encircled the gridiron for the quarterfinal battle. The upset ran Rison's record to 11-0, while Prescott suffered its first loss and finished 11-1. The Wildcats now lead the series, 3-2, no game being decided by more than 7 points against the Wolves. Both schools have 13 state championships between them, and the buzz in the atmosphere certainly indicated all of the tradition on both sides, which led to one of the most exciting games ever at the 85-year-old stadium. There were six lead changes in the game; four in the second half. For the Wildcats, a group that wasn't earmarked for a post-Thanksgiving Day game, and absolutely given no chance of playing in December, head coach Clay Totty said about his squad, "I thought our effort was phenomenal. And the effort overcame some things that exposed us, on both offense and defense. There were times we got whipped, but we battled every single play. That tells you what kind of effort we had. I know they (Prescott) didn't have very many players going both ways. We had at least five guys who didn't come off the field for a single play. In a game like that, it says something, because we faced a much more athletic team, a good football team. But we had so many diffe...