GENTRY -- Christian Cain may have had the dirtiest white jersey on Huntsville's offense after generally punishing Gentry's defense on 28 carries Friday. But the Pioneers got the stops when they needed and held off the Eagles 28-20.
The Pioneers (2-4, 2-1 4A-1 Conference) surrendered 158 yards to Cain but kept Huntsville's offense out of the end zone in the second half after taking a 21-14 halftime lead.
The Eagles (2-4, 0-3) got their only points in the second half on a 72-yard interception return by Mackenzie Elsey with 8 minutes, 1 second, left in the third quarter. Huntsville failed on the two-point conversion, leaving Gentry with a 21-20 lead.
Gentry sealed the win on Jon Brown's 1-yard run with 6:43 remaining in the game.
"We got in the red zone about three times in the second half and really couldn't convert them into points," Gentry coach Brian Little said.
Cain fumbled on Huntsville's first play of the second half, giving the Pioneers possession at Huntsville's 29. But Elsey intercepted Kevin Easter's fourth-down pass and returned it for the touchdown.
Gentry never trailed, grabbing a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game after Cole Cripps returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown.
The Eagles answered with a 45-yard touchdown pass from Wil Weaver to Skyler Fowler with 8:30 left in the first quarter, but Weaver threw incomplete on the two-point try.
Dakota Smith blocked a Huntsville punt and Easter passed 28 yards to Stone Faulkenberry on the next play to push Gentry's lead to 14-6 with 2:20 left in the first quarter.
Cain's 10-yard run and two-point run with 9:18 left in the first half led to a 14-14 tie, but Easter put the Pioneers ahead for good on a 74-yard pass to Smith with 4:50 left in the first half.
Huntsville threatened in the closing seconds of the first half, but a series of penalties left the Eagles with a first-and-46 from Gentry's 48 when time expired.
EXTRA POINTS
Weaver was injured on a scramble in the final minute of the first half and didn't return in the second half for the Eagles.
Easter finished 11 of 21 for 233 yards passing for the Pioneers. Dustin Stoufflet had 10 tackles to lead the Gentry defense.
Gentry received nearly four inches of rain Friday. A majority of the plays were run between the 25- and 40-yard lines on the east side of the field, leaving the area a muddy soup by game's end.
The teams split four games from 2006-09 when Huntsville was last a member of the 4A-1 Conference in between stints in Class 5A.
UP NEXT: Huntsville returns home next week to face Lincoln. Gentry visits Shiloh Christian.
Gentry 28,
HuntsVille 20
Huntsville 6 8 6 0 -- 20
Gentry 14 7 0 7 -- 28
FIRST QUARTER GENT -- Cripps 78 punt return (Alex Ellis kick), 10:07 HUNT -- Fowler 45 pass from Weaver (pass failed), 8:30 GENT -- Faulkenberry 28 pass from Easter (Alex Ellis kick), 0:00 SECOND QUARTER HUNT -- Cain 10 run (Christian Cain run), 9:18 GENT -- Smith 74 pass from Easter (Alex Ellis kick), 4:50 THIRD QUARTER HUNT -- Mackenzie Elsey 72 interception return (run failed), 8:01 FOURTH QUARTER GHS -- Jon Brown 1 run (Alex Ellis kick), 6:43
CORRECTION
We've learned that the stats provided us for Gentry's game last week were incorrect. The first touchdown was a pass from Easter to Stoufflet, The second was a defensive scoop and score by Stone Faulkenberry. The last TD was another Easter to Stoufflet connection. The two-point conversion was Easter to Smith after the second TD. Zach Ellis was the defensive player of the game for the Pioneers. Stoufflet was the offensive player.
Sports on 10/15/2014