Wampus Cats Still Ecstatic After ‘Huge’ Playoff Win

Monday, November 16, 2009

“Huge” is the only way Conway coach Clint Ashcraft could describe the Wampus Cats’ 45-42 win over Fayetteville on Friday night.

The win, the first for the Cats in postseason play since 2003, sets up a meeting with 7A-Central Conference foe Cabot in next week’s second-round action of the Class 7A state playoffs. There will be a big difference when the two teams square off this time around, especially after the victory over the Bulldogs.

“This is a huge step in the right direction for us,” Ashcraft said. “The kids have a ton of confidence right now and think we have a good chance of more success.”

The success came in bunches Friday night, as Conway rallied from a 21-7 deficit to a 38-21 lead. The victory was as exciting as it was improbable, but that is something Ashcraft credits to the resiliency of the players, none of whom had ever been in a playoff game before.

“The biggest surprise is their refusal to give up,” Ashcraft said. “Battling back from being down is probably the best thing, looking back at things.”

In a way, though, it was nothing new.

Conway (5-6) had road wins over Little Rock Central, Van Buren and Little Rock Catholic heading into their playoff game. Defeating the Rockets last week at War Memorial Stadium was no doubt the biggest of those, and it served as a solid springboard into postseason play.

“That game against Catholic showed us we could win a close one on the road,” Ashcraft said.

So close that a field goal made the difference. That came in the form of Ben Riner’s 42-yarder that gave the Cats their 17-point lead.

Little did Ashcraft or the rest of the Conway staff or team know that would be as pivotal a play.

“That field goal ended up being big,” Ashcraft said. “You don’t realize it at the time, but any play can be the difference.”

Facing fourth down at the Fayetteville 25, Ashcraft didn’t have to hesitate to bring on the kicking unit.

“He (Riner) makes those all the time in practice,” Ashcraft said. “I feel pretty confident with him. That wasn’t much of a stretch. The only thing that made me a little nervous was he was kicking into the wind.”

But it’s been hard to take the wind out of the Cats’ sails of late. The resurgent Conway team has shrugged off a rough start to the season with some strong play. As that continues, the stronger the play gets.

“The kids are gaining more and more confidence every week,” Ashcraft said. “They’re making an effort to get better, and it’s really showing.”

The play, though, that will go down as one of the biggest in recent history for the Cats is the game-winning 52-yard touchdown pass from Xavier Acklin to Tristan Eddings. The score came with just six seconds left and was another case of the strong-willed mindset of the team.

“It was huge,” Ashcraft said of the pass and catch. “The kids just didn’t give up. ... It would have been really easy to cash in when we were down, so their continuing to fight is a strong testament to them.”

The game was full of big plays, including a touchdown reception by Troy Underwood on a fourth-and-7 play after Ben Tusson, who was playing with a cast, tipped the pass.

“If Ben doesn’t have that cast on, he picks that off, and the game’s over there,” Ashcraft said. “That was just a fluke play for them (Bulldogs).”

It also allowed Fayetteville to erase that 17-point deficit. That feat wasn’t as surprising.

“They went on a scoring flurry in the first quarter, and you knew had the ability to do that again,” Ashcraft said. “They did, but our kids continued to fight, and we made the last big play.”

Now the attention turns to the Panthers, who won the conference title.

Again, a lot has changed since the Week 4 meeting. The Cats have put together several complete-game performances since then, something that didn’t happen the first time in Cabot.

“We learned a lot the first time we played them,” Ashcraft said. “We saw some of our weaknesses, and we saw some of our strengths. We’ve got to play well for four quarters.”

That will no doubt be a little easier after seeing what the fruits of the labor in that regard bring.

“It gives you a sense of satisfaction to see how all your hard work is paying off,” Ashcraft said


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