GRAVETTE — Gravette’s defense will not be told that it didn’t carry its fair share of the load against its biggest rival Friday night.
The Lions intercepted five Gentry passes and returned three of them for touchdowns — all in the first half — and that set the tone for a 47-13 victory over the Pioneers in 4A-1 Conference action at Lion Stadium.
Tristan Kahanek re- turned his interception 47 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, while Tyler Kerley and Jordan Rose each had to go 30 yards to the end zone af- ter their interceptions in the second quarter. Rose did his with less than a minute left in the first half and gave Gravette (2-3, 1- 1) a 40-0 lead, forcing the sportsmanship rule and the running clock to be carried out through the entire second half.
“Those interceptions definitely set the tone,” Gravette coach Bill Harrelson said after the Lions snapped their three-game losing skid. “The defense played great all night. Coach (Duke) Mobley
had a great plan, and they executed it.
“It was a total team effort by everybody. The offense scored four times, and the defense scored three times. Even the spe- cial teams set up a touch- down with a blocked punt.”
Disaster followed Gentry (1-4, 0-1) from the outset at the opening possession as the Pioneers gained nothing on their first three plays. Michael Olvera then broke through the line and partially blocked Gentry’s punt attempt, allowing Gravette to start its opening possession on the Pioneers 16.
Cody Robinson scored
three plays later on a 3- yard run, giving the Lions a 6-0 lead with 9 minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter. Robinson also added a 5-yard run in the second quarter, and Gravette’s other first-half score came on Chase Bro- dy’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Sam Riester in the first quarter.
The mistakes continued to pile on Gentry, which had sophomore Stone Faulkenberry get the start at quarterback for an injured Jarod Cousins. Faulkenberry threw all five interceptions but came back with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Dustin Stouftet and Cole Ellison.