By KEV MOYE´ For the Sunday News The Smackover Buckaroos simply ran into a buzz saw Friday evening against Glen Rose. In a game that took place at Sykes Stadium in Benton Harmony Grove, the Buckaroos’ dream season reached a nightmarish conclusion as the Beavers never trailed en route to a 54-24 mercy rule victory in a Class 3A state semifinal game. Prior to this affair, Smackover (12-2) was confident in its chances to attain a road triumph. But, Glen Rose made sure coach Brian Strickland’s team was unable to get on track. With just under 10 minutes left in the first period, Smackover had fallen behind 20-0 and was unable to stage a serious rally. A major reason why Smackover failed to threaten Glen Rose (12-2) is the Beaver offense operating as an unstoppable machine. On seven of their first nine possessions Glen Rose managed to score touchdowns. The Beavers’ ballyhooed running back Carlos Burton, ran the ball 17 times for 245 yards and five touchdowns. Smackover running back Fabian SIms was limited to 78 yards on nine carries. Meanwhile, Jordan Jones led the Bucks in receiving with six receptions for 124 yards. JUNCTION CITY 38, SMACKOVER 28 The Junction City Dragons are now one win away from earning the honor of being a repeat state champion. However, Coach David Carpenter’s team almost had its plan to compete at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium for a secondstraight season derailed. Junction City experienced an abundance of peaks and valleys in its 38-28 Class 2A state semifinal win over Carlisle Friday at El Dorado. The defending state champions led by as many as 16 points late in the third. However, Carlisle (11-2) never quit and would pull to within two of Junction City during the fourth period. But, the Dragons’ ability to remain focused on the task at hand was a key to their victory. "The players, they kept their composure pretty good," Junction City coach David Carpenter said. "The coaches just told them to get out there and play like we’re supposed to. Like we normally do and that’s what we did." Basically, the Dragons had far more miscues than Carpenter desires. There were several times in this game in which Junction City had trouble hanging onto the ball. However, only three times were the fumbles retrieved by Carlisle. Nonetheless, the Dragons’ habit of continually putting the ball on the ground raised Carpenter’s ire, immensely. "Very frustrating. ... Very. There’s no other way to describe it," the coach said. Constant rain showers factored into the Dragons’ struggles with securing the ball. But, Carpenter expects his team to handle it much better than they did. "We just have to work on it. That’s just something we have to do," the coach stated. "We have to take care of it. Make sure we get it covered up." In regard to taking care of the ball Carlisle’s bruising, 6-foot, 250 pound running back Deron Ricks had no issues maintaining possession as he run through Dragons defenders throughout the evening on his way to 194 yards rushing on 33 carries. Ricks was a major reason why Carlisle battled its way back into the game. Going into the final period, Junction City held a 10-point lead. But, the Dragons’ cushion shrunk to just 2-points with close to nine minutes left to play. Thus both combatants were now forced to compete with a vast sense of urgency. But = offensively the Dragons were still unable to get anything going. As for Carlisle’s offense there was one major issue: By this point of the affair, Ricks’ services were unavailable as he was carried off the field on a stretcher earlier in the half due to an injury. Ricks’ absence combined with Carlisle’s overwhelming dependence upon the run, made things difficult for he Bison. In fact, against Junction City, the Bison passed the ball only twice. The Dragons were well aware of Carlisle’s lack of a passing attack and they took advantage of it. "That definitely helped out," Carpenter stated. "We just knew not get beat deep and keep everything in front of you, and we did pretty good with that." Another aspect of the game which played to Junction City’s advantage was field position. The Dragons rarely had to drive a long field. When those rare occurrences materialized it was because Carlisle turned the ball over or failed to convert on a fourth down deep in Dragon territory. In the first half, Junction City started its drives on the 41, 42, 25, and the Carlisle 15. As for the second half, the Dragons began their drives on the 45, 30, 41, 48, and 38. A prime reason for Junction City’s great field position was Carlisle’s refusal to kick the ball deep. Instead, coach Brandon Barbaree’s team used the sky-kick which resulted in Junction City (12-0) beginning several drives in excellent field position. "It helps when you don’t have to drive the length of the field - the way were were messing up out there," Carpenter said. The Dragons’ desire to get the job done and play up to their lofty standard during Carlisle’s final late-game push was exactly what Carpenter was looking for. Any hopes the Bison had for a win were quelled when Junction City linebacker Josh Armstrong picked off a pass from Chase Brazeal and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to make the score 38-28 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. "That was important. We did everything we could to give it to them. The young men kept battling back to take care of it," the coach said. "That shows how hard they work and the guys felt they were gong to do something to get the ball back and they did." Overall, Carpenter was just happy that the Dragons found a way to survive and advance. "It feels great," the coach stated. "Anytime you get to go back to, ‘The Rock’, it always makes you feel good." JaQwis Dancy was the leading rusher for Junction City with 179 yards rushing on 17 carries. The Dragons return to action next Saturday at noon when they take on Des Arc in the Class 2A state championship game.