LUKE REEDER
Reporter
Friday the Nashville Scrappers
opened up the postseason play
against the Crossett Eagles at home.
Going into the game it was thought
that it would be a quarterback battle
with two of the highest producing
quarterbacks in 4A about to face off
against eachother. Yet in the game the
Scrapper defense was able to shut
down the arm that had over 2,000
passing yards this season. Nashville
was able to make quick work of the
Eagles and make a statement with
their first playoff victory 56-13.
Nashville has been plagued this
season with sloppy first halves of
play but the Scrappers came to play
against Crossett and they scored early
and often in the first half. It took less
than two minutes for the Scrappers
to get their first score of the game.
With 10:44 on the clock in the first
quarter Leonard Snell completed a 26
yard pass to Andrew Hawthorne for
a touchdown. The Eagles answered
on their next possession with eight
minutes left in the quarter they were
able to drive it down the field and run
it for a touchdown from seven yards
away. Crossett attempted a two point
conversion but Nashville was able to
thwart the attempt with an interception
of the pass. Nashville built their
lead to two scores on their next drive
as Snell was able to rush for a 14 yard
touchdown to bring the score to 14-
6. With thirty seconds left in the first
quarter running back Darius Hopkins
was able to get his first score of the
game on an 11 yard run, this would
be the first of five touchdowns for
Hopkins in the game.
In the second quarter the Scrappers
started off quick. On the first
possesion of the quarter for Crossett,
Hopkins was able to intercept
a pass and return it for a 50 yard
touchdown and bringing Nashville’s
lead to 28-6 less than thirty seconds
into the second quarter. It would be
until four minutes left in the half that
either team was able to score again as
the Scrapper defense held strong and
the offense was unable to get a drive
going. But with 4:04 left in the half
Hopkins was able to find a hole and
run it for a one yard touchdown, his
third touchdown of the game. Just as
it seemed the Scrappers had a chance
to Mercy Rule their opponent with
one more touchdown Crossett was
able to return the ensuing kickoff 80
yards for a touchdown. Crossett had
now cut the lead to 35-13. It took until
just twenty-five seconds before halftime
until Hopkins was able to run it
for another one yard touchdown. This
marked the end of the first half and the
Scrappers had a sizeable lead at 42-13.
After the 55 points from eight
touchdown in the first half, the second
half was quite the opposite with
only fourteen points scored in the
entire second half of the game. In the
third quarter Hopkins got his fifth
touchdown and second interception
return for a touchdown, this one
twenty-five yards longer than the last.
Hopkins was able to start the Mercy
Rule with a 75 interception return for
a touchdown. With that score the
game clock kept running and the only
other score in the game came from
Trent Harris with nine minutes left in
the fourth quarter. Harris was able to
scamper for a 34 yard touchdown to
give Nashville the final score of 56-13.
Snell led the Scrappers in both
passing and rushing. He passed for
124 yards on 5/12 attempts and had
one touchdown, Snell also rushed for
164 yards on 15 runs and scored one
touchdown. Harris was able to rush
for 98 yards on just eight runs and
score one touchdown. Hopkins only
rushed for 28 yards on 11 attempts but
was able to score three touchdowns
rushing and have two
interception returns for a
touchdown. Trey Hughes
led in receiving with two
catches for a total of 50
yards.
The Scrappers were able
to score the majority of
their points in the first half
of the game which is something
that has not happened
often this season, “We talked
about what this game
means all week and the
importance of it. Obviously
the winner advances another
round and the loser puts
their stuff up for the spring
and we have a group of
guys who are resilient and
come out to play when it
matters,” Head Coach Mike
Volarvich said. Hopkins was
able to score on both sides
of the ball multiple times in
the game and make a big impact
on the game, “He has
worked back there all year
(defense) and played sparingly
but we knew they liked
to throw the ball some and
he is probably one of our
best defenders against the
pass,” Volarvich explained.
Volarvich ended by saying
“we’re always going to
do what it takes to win.”
The Scrappers may need
to do a lot as they face off
against long time foe from
Shiloh Christian on Friday
at home.
