In a contest that could have playoff implications for both teams, the Drew Central Pirates travelled to Barton to face the Bears on Friday, October 24.
Coming into the contest, Barton nor Drew Central had picked up a conference victory on the field of play, however, the Pirates were informed earlier in the week that the Lakeside Beavers had self levied a forfeit in the previous weeks contest that the Pirates lost 33-22 for playing an ineligible player that had been suspended due to being ejected when the Beavers played Barton the previous week before the Drew Central contest.
With the forfeit, that gave the Pirates a win in conference and looked to get their playoff qualifying win on the road at Barton.
Barton would win the coin toss and elected to receive the ball to begin the contest.
Barton’s Javarion Porter would take the opening kickoff from Ja’Corrian Love at their own 20 and would return the ball seven yards to the 27.
The Bears would take 13 plays on the drive, capping off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Conner Willis to BJ Billingsley.
Barton added the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead with 5:12 remaining in the first quarter.
Drew Central’s first drive of the contest did not produce much offense under quarterback Tre’Bennett Fuller, who was having to fill in at the possession due to Drew Central’s starting quarterback having to sit out the contest.
The Pirates would be forced to punt the ball away in four plays, but the Pirate defense would hold on Barton’s next possession to force a Bear punt.
The Pirates would move the ball into Bear territory on the first carry of the drive after Kalani Collins ran down to the Barton 38 from the Pirate 43.
The drive would extend into the second quarter, but would stall with the Pirates turning the ball over on downs with 11:15 remaining in the half.
The Bears drive would stall deep into Pirate territory with Barton turning the ball over on downs at the Pirate 10-yard line with 5:01 remaining in the half.
Drew Central would gain a first down on their drive but would be forced to punt the ball away with the Bears taking over at the Pirate 41.
Barton was also forced to punt with the Porter punt being downed at the one yard line.
Brayden Millett would give Drew Central a couple of yards to breather after gaining to the three-yard line, but on the next play, the snap would get past Fuller and roll out of the back of the endzone for a safety giving Barton a 10-0 lead with 1:15 left in the half.
The Pirates would not get a quality kick on the kickoff giving Barton possession at the Pirate 30 and with 46 seconds remaining in the half, Collins connected with Billingsley for the second time in the contest on a 17-yard touchdown. After the two-point conversion, Barton led 18-0 heading into the half.
Barton would get the first turnover of the contest on the opening kickoff to begin the second half after recovering a Drew Central fumble at the Pirate 30-yard line.
Both teams would give up possession on their drives with Barton turning the ball over on downs and Drew central being forced to punt.
Barton would extend the lead on their second drive of the half on a 41-yard run by Jordan Thomas with 7:08 remaining in the third quarter.
Barton added the two-point conversion to extend the lead to 26-0.
Drew Central was forced to punt the ball away for the second time in the quarter giving Barton possession on the Pirate 39 after the Luke Phillips kick went out of bounds.
On the first play of the drive, Collins would rush to the Pirate 11 and after a gain down to the six, a penalty would move the ball back to the Pirate 21. Collins gained back the penalty yardage plus more down to the four-yard line where the Bears would punch it in on a pitch to Porter. With 4:21 remaining in the quarter, Barton extended the lead to 34-0 after the two-point conversion.
Drew Central got their biggest yardage gain of the contest on the first play of their next possession after Fuller broke free from the Pirate 32, running to the Barton 15 before being tackled from behind.
Barton would stop the drive on the next play after Billingsley intercepted Fuller’s pass at the Barton five, returning it to the Barton 27.
Barton’s Drive would extend into the fourth quarter where the Bears would initiate the Sportsmanship Rule after scoring on a 21-yard run by Ne’Taveus Johnson.
After the two-point conversion, the score was 42-0 to set up the final score of the contest.
With the loss, the Pirates will now have to win on Friday, October 28, at home against Dollarway to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Barton will have three games remaining on their schedule with a road contest against Dollarway, at home against Rison, and on the road at Camden Harmony-Grove.
Barton finished the contest with 381 yards of total offense with the Barton defense holding Drew Central to a total of 88 offensive yards.
