Sports

TRICK PLAY HELPS GOLDEN LIONS JUMPSTART RALLY

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, November 7, 2009 11:45 PM CST

LITTLE ROCK — Five years ago Mickey Dean stood on the turf at War Memorial Stadium and, from his running back position, threw a touchdown pass that helped Little Rock Central beat West Memphis for a state championship.

Dean was a high school senior then. On Saturday, as a senior for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Dean lofted a similar pass in the same stadium that helped kickstart a rally that has kept UAPB in another title hunt.

Dean’s pass, gloved-hands and all, found Raymond Webber in the back of the south end zone and gave the Golden Lions a 14-10 lead and jumpstarted a string of big plays that pushed that lead to 35-10 just 15 seconds into the third quarter.

It was a play that Dean said has been in the playbook since he arrived at UAPB in 2005. It was ran twice last year, once it went for a 32-yard gain and the other time it was intercepted.

Offensive coordinator Jonathan Cannon actually called it a bit earlier on Saturday, but quarterback Josh Boudreaux checked out of it. But, with 1:56 left in the second quarter, he stuck with the play and it helped grab enough momentum that UAPB rode to a 49-42 win.

“Mickey could play quarterback,” Webber joked.

UAPB coach Monte Coleman included that as one of several big plays his team hit on Saturday that helped them outlast the Tigers.

“Grambling’s defense is aggressive. We had an opportunity to use it (Saturday),” he said. “We decided to throw it and we’re just glad that it did work.”

The play helped keep UAPB in the race for the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division title, and, just maybe, Dean can finish his career with another title.

“We’re back in the hunt,” he said. “You’ve got to win the big ones, and we won a big game (Saturday).”

Howard breaks loose — finally

Just as Dean’s toss jumpstarted the rally, Mareo Howard’s 95-yard kickoff return to start the second half provided the finishing touches.

The sophomore from Fort Valley, Ga., picked up a bouncing kick at his own 5-yard line, sprinted up field, made a cut to the right sideline, cut back in, then back out again, as he waltzed into the end zone.

It gave the Golden Lions a 35-10 lead and, his coach couldn’t have been happier for a player that, at the beginning of the season, looked to be in the hunt to play significant minutes on offense.

“He deserves it,” Coleman said. “He can very easily be upset that he’s not starting as a running back — he’s got that ability to play running back. But he’s so valuable to us returning kicks — punts and kickoffs — that we kind of leave him back there so that he can do what he did (Saturday).

His return was the first one of his career that ended with points, but it wasn’t the first return that has made a difference this season.

For the season, he has returned nine kickoffs for 291 yards, and his 32.3 average per return is tops in the SWAC.

His biggest one to date, though, may have had something to do with a “challenge” from Coleman during halftime.

“Going back out (after halftime), I said ‘You know we need to punch one right now,’” Coleman said. “I’ll be doggone if he doesn’t knock it in and punch one. It was a big booster for us.”

Mix-up at linebacker

The UAPB defense had a bit of a different look as the game started on Saturday. Gone was middle linebacker Michael Witherspoon, who had started six of seven games this season, and gone was Jared Dorn, who has started as many at defensive end.

Witherspoon was on the sideline for the first two series, as UAPB opened with five defensive backs and two linebackers rather than three. But Dorn was positioned alongside Freddie Fairchild at linebacker for the first couple of series, as Coleman and defensive coordinator Alonzo Hampton tried to neutralize a potent Grambling State running game.

“Just trying to change it up,” Coleman said. “(That’s) just for this game. We knew they were the No. 1 rushing offense, we were just trying to put the personnel in there to hopefully stop them.”

Initially, the experiment didn’t seem to work. Grambling marched 70 yards in four plays and a 45-yard pass from Greg Dillon to Larry Donnell gave the Tigers an early 7-0 lead.

Witherspoon, a senior from Little Rock playing in his final game at War Memorial Stadium, did play and had two tackles. Fairchild, also a Little Rock native, led both teams with 16 total tackles.

Dorn, though, liked the change. He began his career at linebacker and said it wasn’t to foreign to him.

“I consider myself an athlete anyway,” he said. “(It) gives me a chance to let me showcase all my many skills.”

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