Short-handed Mills slips past Joe T. Robinson

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Big plays lifted Mills (7-1, 5-10 to a 30-21 victory over Joe T. Robinson (6-2, 5-1 at Charlie George Stadium.

Playing their first game since having 12 players suspended for a post-game brawl after a 24-21, double-overtime victory over Pine Bluff, the Comets got a 50-yard interception return from Chauncey Haynes early in the game, a 55-yard touchdown pass from Akyell Madison to Haynes on a broken play at the 9:59 mark of the fourth quarter and a 50-yard fumble return by Ryan White at the 8:31 mark of the fourth quarter. In addition, Madison intercepted a pass by Reece Simpson at the 7:20 mark of the fourth quarter.

Among the missing players for Mills were Arkansas Razorback defensive end commitment Charleston Collins and quarterback Achilles Ringo. One player from each team was ejected after an altercation that occurred during the third quarter but coaches controlled the situation before it got too far out of hand. There was no sportsmanship line following the game and handshakes were limited to the coaches and and a few players as both teams headed to the locker room.

3 Takeaways

1.

The game featured a scuffle after a Robinson punt return at the 4:05 mark of the third quarter. A couple players on both sides came up after the play and were throwing punches resulting in offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Mills offensive lineman Kelan Lindsey was ejected, which according to Arkansas Activities Association rules, means he has to sit out the Comets’ next game with Morrilton. The Robinson bench was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which meant if any player for the Senators got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after that, they would be ejected. (None were flagged after that.) Robinson head coach Todd Eskola sent defensive lineman Elijah Raymond to the locker room when he tried to leave the bench.

“You never catch the culprit in the beginning,” Mills head coach Cortez Lee said. “You still have to show restraint. We had a guy (No. 52) who got ejected, and they had a player who left the bench. Our guys didn’t leave the sideline and responded.”

Eskola said the decision to send Raymond to the locker room was because he stresses to his players not to leave the bench when things have a chance of escalating. “We sent him on our own. We chose to send him because he started to leave the bench and we preach don’t do that. That was self-imposed,” said Eskola.

2

Madison (8-of-15 passes for 135 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception) might not have had eye-popping stats, but his 55-yard touchdown pass to Haynes put the Comets ahead for good. Madison, who is normally a wide receiver, also rushed for 70 yards on 14 carries and had an interception in the fourth quarter which allowed the Comets to run five minutes off the clock.

“That young man works hard and is a big-time athlete,” said Lee. “I’m proud of him. I wanted to plug in another guy and he did a good job.”

3

With the Senators calling up five freshmen because of injuries, their game plan was go to run the ball and control the clock. One of the freshmen was quarterback Simpson, who was filling in for Quentin Murphy, who is a Division I prospect and sitting out with a concussion. For a while, the plan worked. The Senators had 138 yards rushing on 24 carries in the first half. On the Senators’ first drive of the second half, they went on a 7-play, 59-yard drive that resulted in Jaylen Knowlton scoring from 18-yards out to put them up 21-16. However, the Senators’ next three drives ended with a punt and two turnovers that the Comets turned into the go-ahead touchdowns.

“We were able to do that until we fell behind two scores with four minutes left,” said Eskola. “Mills played well. We had the turnovers, and they didn’t”

--Jeff Halpern