Conway Christian pulls away from Quitman

QUITMAN — After getting tied up early, Conway Christian stuck to its knitting Friday night and pulled away to a 44-19 victory over Quitman that likely secured a postseason berth.

The Eagles (3-2, 3-1) fell behind 13-6 after a quarter.

“We came out flat, but we picked it up, fought through it and managed to pull away,” CCS coach Chuck Speer said. “I was proud of how we responded and stayed patient and won going away on the road.”

The victory puts the Eagles solidly among the top five in 5-2A, and barring any major rips in the form chart, should put them in the Class 2A playoffs for the second straight season. Five teams make the playoffs from the conference and CCS now has victories (thus, the tiebreaker) over Quitman, Cutter Morning Star and Little Rock Lutheran and Hector has forfeited the season.

The combination of running backs Adam Ragland and Bates Isom did Quitman in.

Ragland rushed for 120 yards on 15 carries with touchdown runs of 2 and 51 yards. Isom rushed for 91 yards on 13 carries, romping 32 yards for one touchdown and taking a 56-yard pass from Kirby Powell for another. Mark Harris rushed for 56 yards on nine carries with a 5-yard touchdown.

Powell was 6-of-10 for 146 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Jonathan Watson caught two passes for 18 yards.

“We made some big plays again tonight,” Speer said. “When we fell behind we didn’t panic. We went about our business with our basic stuff and were patient and kept plugging away. You can’t get big plays every time. You have to set this stuff up.”

The Eagles created four turnovers, two fumbles and interceptions by Jeremy Jacobs and Landon Legree. 

Watson, a linebacker, had at least 14 tackles, Speer said, three for loss.

“They spread our defense out and Jonathan was all over the place,” Speer said. “It was the best defensive game I’ve seen him play in a long time.”

The Eagles are on the road again next week traveling to Mountain Pine, one of the conference’s top teams.