texasjeremy
09-05-2006, 12:43 PM
Trick play, defense helps Wildcats rally over Hallsville
The Palestine Herald
The Palestine Wildcats were not doing much on offense in the middle of the third quarter against Hallsville.
The Wildcats had turned the ball over three times and were trailing by 27 points when first-year offensive starter Ben Beckworth took what looked to be an end-around handoff. But then he stopped in the backfield and cocked the left arm back as he heaved a pass down field to Adorian Arthur, who caught the 38-yard strike, Palestine’s longest play of the game.
That play got the Wildcats started back on their comeback as Palestine scored on the next play and then posted 22 unanswered fourth-quarter points to defeat Hallsville 28-27 Friday night at Hallsville Stadium.
“When Ben completed that pass to Adorian, you could see the sideline got a lift,” Palestine offensive coordinator Tommy Allison said. “We worked on that play during the week and at that point in the game, we felt we needed something special to happen.”
The trick play was the start of something special as Palestine had one of the biggest comebacks in school history.
“This is my eighth year as a coach and I played here for four years and this is the best comeback I have been a part of at Palestine,” Wildcat head coach Glen Tunstall said. “It has to be in the top three of all time comebacks at Palestine.”
Palestine seemed to have everything go wrong in the first half.
The Wildcats turned the ball over three times, including two taken back for touchdowns.
The Wildcats gave up a long touchdown pass on Hallsville’s first play of the game and then after another Palestine turnover late in the first half, the Bobcats marched down the field to score and take a 27-0 halftime lead.
“At halftime I told the kids I was not mad, I just wanted them to come out and win the second half,” Tunstall said. “I wanted to see what kind of character we were made of and we found out.”
The third quarter did not get off to a good start for Palestine as Hallsville had its second interception of the game and took the ball down inside the Wildcat 30-yard line. But the Palestine defense held strong and Hallsville missed a 32-yard field goal.
Then the momentum started to change as the combination of Beckworth’s pass and Kevin Swanson’s 25-yard touchdown run got Palestine on the board. Swanson would cut the lead to 27-14 at the start of the fourth quarter on an 8-yard score and Tunstall said that is when he started to see the momentum come Palestine’s way.
“When we scored the first touchdown, I was glad we got a score,” Tunstall said. “But when we scored the second one, I could see a fire in our team and I could see it took a little out of Hallsville’s sail.”
While the offense scored the 28 unanswered points in the second half, it was the Palestine defense that made it possible.
The Wildcat defense only allowed 81 yards in the second half and Hallsville got 62 of those yards on one run leading up to the missed field goal.
“I was really excited with our kids’ effort and the way they pursued the football,” Palestine defensive coordinator Booker Bowie said. “At halftime we told them to keep working hard and keep their heads up.
“It was an awesome second half.”
Three straight times, the Palestine defense held Hallsville three and out. In those three possessions, the Wildcats stopped the Bobcats for minus-8 yards. And after each stop, Palestine went down the field and scored.
“We know we are going to hang our hats on our defense and this defense has the potential to be one of the best at Palestine,” Tunstall said. “I can talk all day about each one that played on defense and coach Bowie and his staff did an outstanding job.”
Palestine held Hallsville to 38 rushing yards on 13 carries and the Bobcat quarterback was 10-of-25 passing for 141 yards.
“Our goal is to stop the run and make them pass the ball,” Bowie said. “Anytime you can hold a team under 50 percent passing, you have a chance to be successful.”
The Palestine secondary, which got burned early in the game for a 61-yard touchdown pass, settled down afterwards, only allowing 80 more yards as the Wildcats got the receiver each time after a catch was made.
“We did a good job getting to the ball and gang tackling,” Bowie said.
Swanson gave Palestine a lift on offense as he was moved into the backfield to try to get him more touches. Swanson responded with 14 carries for a team-high 96 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
“We could not get Kevin involved in the passing game and we knew we had to find a way to get him the ball,” Allison said. “He reminded us a lot of his brother (Cameron Jones). He runs so effortless and he is a great competitor.”
Palestine also got a lift from Beckworth, who started on defense the last two years but became a two-way starter for the first time this season.
“Ben had a great game both ways,” Tunstall said. “Ben is a true team player and last spring he went to coach Allison and said he wanted to be on the field on offense to contribute. He is such an unselfish player.”
Beckworth had four catches for 59 yards, including a diving 25-yard catch on the sideline.
“Ben did everything we asked of him,” Allison said. “He made some huge catches for us and his blocking on the edge was big.”
The Palestine Herald
The Palestine Wildcats were not doing much on offense in the middle of the third quarter against Hallsville.
The Wildcats had turned the ball over three times and were trailing by 27 points when first-year offensive starter Ben Beckworth took what looked to be an end-around handoff. But then he stopped in the backfield and cocked the left arm back as he heaved a pass down field to Adorian Arthur, who caught the 38-yard strike, Palestine’s longest play of the game.
That play got the Wildcats started back on their comeback as Palestine scored on the next play and then posted 22 unanswered fourth-quarter points to defeat Hallsville 28-27 Friday night at Hallsville Stadium.
“When Ben completed that pass to Adorian, you could see the sideline got a lift,” Palestine offensive coordinator Tommy Allison said. “We worked on that play during the week and at that point in the game, we felt we needed something special to happen.”
The trick play was the start of something special as Palestine had one of the biggest comebacks in school history.
“This is my eighth year as a coach and I played here for four years and this is the best comeback I have been a part of at Palestine,” Wildcat head coach Glen Tunstall said. “It has to be in the top three of all time comebacks at Palestine.”
Palestine seemed to have everything go wrong in the first half.
The Wildcats turned the ball over three times, including two taken back for touchdowns.
The Wildcats gave up a long touchdown pass on Hallsville’s first play of the game and then after another Palestine turnover late in the first half, the Bobcats marched down the field to score and take a 27-0 halftime lead.
“At halftime I told the kids I was not mad, I just wanted them to come out and win the second half,” Tunstall said. “I wanted to see what kind of character we were made of and we found out.”
The third quarter did not get off to a good start for Palestine as Hallsville had its second interception of the game and took the ball down inside the Wildcat 30-yard line. But the Palestine defense held strong and Hallsville missed a 32-yard field goal.
Then the momentum started to change as the combination of Beckworth’s pass and Kevin Swanson’s 25-yard touchdown run got Palestine on the board. Swanson would cut the lead to 27-14 at the start of the fourth quarter on an 8-yard score and Tunstall said that is when he started to see the momentum come Palestine’s way.
“When we scored the first touchdown, I was glad we got a score,” Tunstall said. “But when we scored the second one, I could see a fire in our team and I could see it took a little out of Hallsville’s sail.”
While the offense scored the 28 unanswered points in the second half, it was the Palestine defense that made it possible.
The Wildcat defense only allowed 81 yards in the second half and Hallsville got 62 of those yards on one run leading up to the missed field goal.
“I was really excited with our kids’ effort and the way they pursued the football,” Palestine defensive coordinator Booker Bowie said. “At halftime we told them to keep working hard and keep their heads up.
“It was an awesome second half.”
Three straight times, the Palestine defense held Hallsville three and out. In those three possessions, the Wildcats stopped the Bobcats for minus-8 yards. And after each stop, Palestine went down the field and scored.
“We know we are going to hang our hats on our defense and this defense has the potential to be one of the best at Palestine,” Tunstall said. “I can talk all day about each one that played on defense and coach Bowie and his staff did an outstanding job.”
Palestine held Hallsville to 38 rushing yards on 13 carries and the Bobcat quarterback was 10-of-25 passing for 141 yards.
“Our goal is to stop the run and make them pass the ball,” Bowie said. “Anytime you can hold a team under 50 percent passing, you have a chance to be successful.”
The Palestine secondary, which got burned early in the game for a 61-yard touchdown pass, settled down afterwards, only allowing 80 more yards as the Wildcats got the receiver each time after a catch was made.
“We did a good job getting to the ball and gang tackling,” Bowie said.
Swanson gave Palestine a lift on offense as he was moved into the backfield to try to get him more touches. Swanson responded with 14 carries for a team-high 96 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
“We could not get Kevin involved in the passing game and we knew we had to find a way to get him the ball,” Allison said. “He reminded us a lot of his brother (Cameron Jones). He runs so effortless and he is a great competitor.”
Palestine also got a lift from Beckworth, who started on defense the last two years but became a two-way starter for the first time this season.
“Ben had a great game both ways,” Tunstall said. “Ben is a true team player and last spring he went to coach Allison and said he wanted to be on the field on offense to contribute. He is such an unselfish player.”
Beckworth had four catches for 59 yards, including a diving 25-yard catch on the sideline.
“Ben did everything we asked of him,” Allison said. “He made some huge catches for us and his blocking on the edge was big.”