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The Drew Central Pirates completed the first step towards the 3A State Championship Football Tournament a week ago, having to defeat Paestine-Wheatley to get into the playoff picture.
Fast Forward a week later, and the Pirates would travel to Dumas for what would be the most important football contest in Drew Central Pirate history.
A loss at Dumas would send the Pirates to the tournament as a fifth seed, which is a familiar seeding for the Pirates, meaning a long drive to Charleston. A 219 mile three plus hour drive to face a number one seed.
A win over Dumas would change the playoff picture entirely for the Pirates.
A win at Dumas would not only give the Pirates their first win over the Bobcats in the regular season in school history, but would also give the Pirates their highest seeding for the playoffs in school history, a third seed.
If the Pirates became the third seed in the playoffs, they would then face Magnet Cove, who is also a third seed, with a shorter travel distance, 94 miles for a two hour road trip.
However, a win over Dumas to earn the third seed would not be the only scenario that the Pirates would have as there would also be another game on Friday night that would have significant implications on where the Pirates would land in the playoff seeding.
The first order of business for the Pirates would have to be played out on the field on the road against the Dumas Bobcats on Thursday night.
After Dumas’ Senior Night activities concluded, the team captains met at mid-field for the coin toss which the Pirates would win and would elect to defer to the second half.
Dumas would receive the kick and would start their first drive from their own 45 yard line to begin the contest.
After moving the ball into Pirate territory on their first play, the Pirates would get the first turnover of the contest after Dumas would fumble the ball at the Pirate 15 with Zae Bullard coming up with the ball for Drew Central.
On the Pirates first play from scrimmage, Tyviance Wormley would make one initial cut and break free for an 85-yard touchdown run.
Hunter Griffin added the extra point to give the Pirates a 7-0 lead.
Dumas would begin their next drive at their own 41. The Bobcats would move the ball into Pirate territory on their first carry of the drive with an 11-yard carry by Kentz Brown.
The Bobcats would begin to move deeper into Pirate territory, however penalties would move them back.
Kyle Young would drop back to pass from the Pirate 43 when Drew Central’s Alex Pitts stepped in front of the pass for the Drew central interception.
Starting from their own 48, Tre’Bennett Fuller would gain positive yards but the play would be called back due to a block in the back penalty against the Pirates.
After a gain of two yards by Wormley, Fuller would advance the ball to the Dumas 31 and would get an extra five yards after a facemask penalty against Dumas.
A combination of runs by Wormley and Fuller would advance the ball to the Bobcat three where Fuller would finish the drive with the Pirate score.
Hunter Griffin added the extra point for a 14-0 lead.
The Bobcats would get on the board in the second quarter on a four-yard run by Rashaad more and an extra point to cut the lead to 14-7.
The score would remain for the remainder of the half.
Drew Central would receive the ball to begin the second half and on the drive, after advancing into Bobcat territory, Fuller would be intercepted by Jordan Kinney at the Bobcat 35, however, 11 yards into the return Kinney would be hit and would fumble the football with the Pirates regaining possession at the 46.
The Pirates would score on the drive with Fuller taking the ball in from one-yard out.
After the extra point by Giffin, the Pirates led 21-7.
Dumas would have one more possession in the third quarter, turning the ball over on downs on the Pirate nine.
After a three-yard run by Wormley the teams would swap ends of the field for the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Pirates would control the football earning first downs when needed to maintain possession for the entire 12 minute quarter to take the 21-7 victory over the Dumas Bobcats and securing at least a third seed in the conference with a higher seeding depending on the outcome of Friday’s contest between Fordyce and McGehee.
With the win over Dumas, the Pirates would finish the regular season with the most conference wins in school history, going 4-3 in conference play as well as the best overall record in history at 5-5.
The Pirates' seeding for the postseason is also the highest seeding in the history of the football program, especially after the Fordyce Redbugs travelled to McGehee and defeated the Owls.
The Pirates had defeated McGehee earlier in the season, also a first in school history, and with that win along with the win over Dumas, the Drew Central Pirates finished the season as the 8-3A Conference runner-up.
WIth the McGehee loss, it moved Drew Central from a third seed to the two seed and will now host a 3A State Championship Tournament game at home for the first time in the history of the program.
The Pirates will now face the fourth seed out of the fourth seed from the 4-3A Conference, the Paris Eagles.
Parris will enter Friday’s contest with a 7-3 overall record and a conference record of 5-2 with their losses coming to the number one seed Glen Rose, 56-14, and to the number three seed, Magnet Cove in a 28-20 loss.
If successful, the Pirates will have to travel for the remainder of the tournament with the second round being played at the winner of Magnet Cove and Osceola.
With this being the first time to host a playoff contest, the Pirates will begin the festivities on the Drew Central campus between the Pirate Softball and Baseball fields with Pirates Sail to Victory Walk at 4:30, followed by a pep rally at 4:45, and tailgating beginning at 5 pm through 6 pm.
There will be free burgers and hotdogs at the Union Bank sponsored event.
Fans will be able to congratulate the Pirates during the Victory Walk which includes a meet and greet.
All tickets to the game must be purchased online
Kickoff is at 7 pm
