Sports

NASHVILLE BOMBS STUTTGART WITH AERIAL SHOW

By Josh Troy/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Saturday, November 22, 2008 1:51 AM CST

NASHVILLE — Nashville quarterback Pierre Vaughn threw for more than 500 yards and accounted for six touchdowns in leading the host Scrappers to a 63-35 aerial assault of the Stuttgart Ricebirds in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs Friday night.

Vaughn tossed TD passes of 29, 52 and 19 yards and also ran for three scores and even recovered an onside kickoff.

The defeat ended the season for the 10-2 Ricebirds, who amassed almost 500 yards themselves. Coach Todd Barnes was nonetheless proud of his team’s effort against one of the state’s most explosive teams, the only unbeaten team in Class 4A.

“We had a heck of a season,” Barnes said, really praising his own offense. “I just can’t say enough about these young men. They’ve done everything we asked. It’s tough to say goodbye to the senior class.”

Zach Boleware ran for two of Stuttgart’s TDs, and passed for another.

Vaughn got Nashville (11-0) on the board early with a 29-yard pass to Paul Morrow with 11:25 on the clock. Bolware came back on the Ricebirds’ second play from scrimmage with a 48-yard scoring strike to Cody Burnett. A bad snap on the PAT try cost Stuttgart a chance at the tie, leaving the score at 7-6.

The Scrappers went ahead for good on a 52-yard pass from Vaughn to Brandon Marshall with 9:28 left in the quarter. Stuttgart had a chance to keep it close, but fumbled the ball with 5:34 left in the quarter.

That’s when Vaughn and company took over, engineering a 16-play drive to set up Derrick Graham’s 1-yard run. The PAT left the first-quarter score at 21-6.

Stuttgart came back early in the second quarter on a 20-yard pass from Boleware to Anthony Wilson. Brock Sullivan kicked the PAT to cut the gap to 21-13.

Vaughn used his legs to ramble to a 37-yard TD, and the successful PAT made it 28-13. The game’s first punt then set up Nashville for a 10-play drive capped by Graham’s 7-yard TD run with 5:56 left in the half.

Two face-mask penalties helped the Ricebirds drive to a 23-yard TD run by Boleware, and it was back down to 35-20.

Nashville wasn’t through yet. Vaughn scored on a run of 12 yards with 2:22 to go in the half, and the PAT set up the 42-20 margin at intermission.

The Scrappers opened the second half with a surprise onside kick, and Vaughn recovered. That set up his 27-yard TD run for 49-20.

Stuttgart didn’t give up, and two Bolware tosses of 23 and 42 yards set up Corey Racy’s short TD run. Tyler Henderson hit Reid Counce on a 2-point pass to bring the score to 49-28 at the end of the third quarter. The Ricebirds inched closer with Bolware’s 3-yard TD with 10:17 left in the game.

That was as close as they got. Nashville added two more scores in the last eight minutes on a a 19-yard pass from Vaughn to Marshall, and a 2-yard run by Anthony Smelser to just 35 seconds left.

“Stuttgart’s a good football team, and we knew that coming in,” said Nashville coach Billy Dawson, whose Scrappers now host Dollarway next week. “It was very well-coached and well-disciplined. I was very impressed with the offensive scheme. We had to get it in the end zone. It was a scoring test.”

Print this story   |   Email this story