[By Colby Fleet, Special to ETSN.fm]

LONGVIEW -- Two overtime periods and a lot of running the football were on display Thursday night in a Class 2A Division II Region III first-round playoff.

Marcalas Johnson ran for 250 yards, scored three times, and threw the game-winning touchdown on a jump pass to Kalik Hines as Arp defeated Paul Pewitt 34-28 in double OT at Lobo Stadium.

Arp (7-4) will face the winner of the Anderson-Shiro and Crawford game, which will be played Friday night at 7:30 in Buffalo. Paul Pewitt finishes their season at 7-4.

Arp trailed late in the fourth quarter as Paul Pewitt was in control at the Arp 18-yard line. Momentum shifted toward Arp when Thomas Reese picked off a Paul Pewitt pass and outran everyone down the left sideline for a 92-yard touchdown that tied the game 28-28.

Paul Pewitt had three rushers over 60 yards in the game — Zane Mackay (65), Geromey Porter (78), and Isaiah Porter (92) — but Arp was able to hold and force Paul Pewitt to punt on the ensuing possession.

Regulation ended in whirlwind.

Arp took the ball downfield, guided by quarterback Chase Bonner. He connected on a key eight-yard slant to Mykel Frost on third-and-7 from his own 31. One play later Reese again showed off his athletic ability as he was able to come back to the ball and keep a foot in bounds for a 39-yard reception. Arp was unable to close out the game with a field goal and a running into the kicker penalty gave Arp one last pass that fell incomplete to force overtime.

Both teams possessed the ball and both came up empty in the first overtime period. Arp relied heavily on the ground attack all night and the second time the Tigers had the ball in OT was no different.

Johnson carried the ball three times for 12 yards, the Jakeithon Medlock converted a third-and-2 from the 17-yard line for nine yards, but Paul Pewitt defensive lineman Ladarius Hill sacked Bonner to force fourth-and-goal from the 5. Marcalas Johnson took the handoff on the next play, but instead of running, he stopped, looked up, and jumped a pass to Hines, who bobbled the ball but retained control in the end zone for the win, 34-28.

Geromey Porter raced 57-yards for the end zone and Paul Pewitt’s Isaiah Porter found a wide open Drew Cox for the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead early in the contest. Twenty-one seconds later, Johnson found room down the left sideline en route to a 69-yard touchdown and an 8-7 deficit.

Paul Pewitt junior quarterback Isaiah Porter ran 12 times for 92 yards and two scores, while he completed 2 of 12 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.

The signal caller kept the ball on his third carry of the game and made several Arp Tiger defenders miss en route to his 33-yard touchdown scramble. The two-point after attempt pushed the Paul Pewitt lead 16-7 with 10:17 remaining in the first half.

Landon Atchley stabbed a Paul Pewitt pass from the air for a nice one-handed interception that gave Arp the ball at the Paul Pewitt 30. A short five-play drive consisted of 30 yards — 12 came on a pass to Demarcus Mauldin — and Johnson finished it off with a 10-yard dart up the middle to find the end zone. Bonner used a play-action pass on the two-point conversion try and dumped it off to Medlock to close the gap 16-15 at intermission.

Bonner finished the contest 4 of 11 for 76 yards.

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Class 2A Division II Region III
Bi-district Playoff

Arp 34, Paul Pewitt 28 (2 OT)

Lobo Stadium, Longview

 

Arp -- 7 8 6 7 0 6 -- 34
Paul Pewitt -- 8 8 12 0 0 0 -- 28

First Quarter
PP -- Geromey Porter 57 run (Drew Cox pass from Isaiah Porter), 1:01.
ARP -- Marcalas Johnson 69 run (Mykel Frost kick), :40.
Second Quarter
PP -- Isaiah Porter 33 run (Isaiah Porter run), 10:17.
ARP -- Johnson 10 run (Jakeithon Medlock pass from Chase Bonner), 4:29
Third Quarter
ARP -- Johnson 13 run (two-point failed), 9:00.
PP -- Geromey Porter 38 pass from Isaiah Porter (two-point failed), 5:55.
PP -- Isaiah Porter 1 run (two-point failed), 2:24.
Fourth Quarter
ARP -- Thomas Reese 92 Interception Return (Frost kick), 4:59.
Second Overtime
ARP- Kalik Hines 5 pass from Marcalas Johnson (Frost kick blocked), 0:00

ARP         PP
First Downs                 15           17
Total Yards                 350         355
Rushes-Yards           39-269     50-304
Passing Yards              81           51
Comp.-Att.-Int.          5-13-0     2-12-2
Penalties                    3-25         9-54
Fumbles                      4-1          0-0
Punts                         1-32       3-42.3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Arp: Marcalas Johnson 32-250, Isaiah Baker 3-20, Jakeithon Medlock 2-10, Chase Bonner 2-(-11). Paul Pewitt: Zane Mackay 18-65, Isaiah Porter 12-92, Jamal Edwards 9-44, Geromey Porter 5-73, Mitchell Ward 4-18, Bradley Williams 1-6, Kevin Hannah 1-6.
Passing -- Arp: Chase Bonner 4-11-0 76, Marcalas Johnson 1-2-0-5. Paul Pewitt: Isaiah Porter 2-12-2 51.
Receiving -- Arp: Mykel Frost 2-25, Thomas Reese 1-39, Demarcus Mauldin 1-12. Paul Pewitt: Geromey Porter 1-38, Bradley Williams 1-13.

 

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