By Mike Marzelli, Pine Bluff Commercial
Hard to swallow
Arkansas-Pine Bluff can't help but feel like it got robbed in Saturday night's Arkansas Classic.
The Golden Lions' defense appeared to do enough to outlast Alabama State in what amounted to a war of attrition between the two teams, but two questionable penalties led to the Hornets' only two scores of the night as UAPB dropped a 12-10 heartbreaker before 10,012 at Golden Lions Stadium.
After 'Bama State's second score gave it the lead with 41 seconds to play, the Lions had a chance to get in position for a potential game-winning field goal after taking over on their own 35-yard line with 33 seconds left. Quarterback Johnathan Moore took off on a 27-yard scamper on the first play and crossed the ASU 40-yard line but had the ball popped out of his hands from behind and the Hornets recovered to ice the game.
Still, it was the two plays UAPB (1-2 1-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) had no control over — a pass interference call that gave Alabama State a 1st-and-goal at the end of the first half and a holding call that gave the Hornets the same scenario at the end of the game - that had the Lions steamed after the game.
The second of the two calls came with Alabama State (3-0 2-0 SWAC) down 10-6 and facing a 3rd-and-11 from the 20-yard line with under a minute to play. A pass from quarterback Chris Mitchell fell incomplete in the end zone but a late flag came in after the play for holding away from the play, giving State a 1st-and-goal from the 10-yard line instead of a fourth down scenario.
Four plays later, Mitchell floated a ball down the left sideline for receiver Fred Ragsdale, who dove into the end zone with arms outstretched and made a spectacular catch just over the goal line for what proved to be the winning touchdown.
"I'll tell you what, there were some calls that were questionable," Forte said. "It's unfortunate because I never want to make excuses for anything but you can't help but be upset about the type of calls that were made.
"I don't question the catch, [Ragsdale] made a great catch. It's the things after the catch that I question."
Forte spent the final minute of the contest in the ear of referee Keith Moore and headed straight to the locker room once the final horn sounded. He wasn't the only UAPB coach who was peeved.
"The last call was the worst call I've seen in football in a long time," UAPB defensive coordinator Monte Coleman said. "The guy who called it was 40 yards from the play and he came in two seconds after it was over and threw a flag for something that wasn't even a factor in the play.
"It hurts that they made a call like that on something that was so insignificant."
The first questionable call came with under 30 seconds to play in the first half on a ball that was severely overthrown near the goal line by Mitchell but drew a flag for pass interference. The result was another 1st-and-goal for the Hornets, who capitalized when Mitchell hit Darius Mathis with an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave ASU a 6-0 lead at halftime.
That was how the score remained until UAPB's special teams did what its struggling offense couldn't. The Lions capitalized on a bad snap from center on an ASU punt deep in its own territory when Marion Alridge fell on the ball at the Hornets' 9-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
Two plays later Moore found the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Lions a 7-6 lead. UAPB then added a 26-yard Brodie Heflin field goal early in the fourth quarter that looked like it would stand up at the time.
Nonetheless, UAPB's struggling offense put all the pressure on the defense to make it stand up, which put the Lions in position to be affected by outside sources. Moore, who was making his first start of the season, finished just 8-of-25 for 83 yards as the offense managed just 159 total yards. Running backs Martell Mallett and Mickey Dean combined to carry 20 times for 34 yards.
"We're still a struggling offensive football team and we're not getting better as fast as I'd like," Forte said. "Johnathan fell victim to the offensive line again and we just couldn't sustain anything. Our defense played an outstanding game and our special teams were excellent so it's frustrating to not be able to have anything to show for it."
UAPB returns to action next Saturday in a non-conference game at Southern Illinois.
Hard to swallow
Arkansas-Pine Bluff can't help but feel like it got robbed in Saturday night's Arkansas Classic.
The Golden Lions' defense appeared to do enough to outlast Alabama State in what amounted to a war of attrition between the two teams, but two questionable penalties led to the Hornets' only two scores of the night as UAPB dropped a 12-10 heartbreaker before 10,012 at Golden Lions Stadium.
After 'Bama State's second score gave it the lead with 41 seconds to play, the Lions had a chance to get in position for a potential game-winning field goal after taking over on their own 35-yard line with 33 seconds left. Quarterback Johnathan Moore took off on a 27-yard scamper on the first play and crossed the ASU 40-yard line but had the ball popped out of his hands from behind and the Hornets recovered to ice the game.
Still, it was the two plays UAPB (1-2 1-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) had no control over — a pass interference call that gave Alabama State a 1st-and-goal at the end of the first half and a holding call that gave the Hornets the same scenario at the end of the game - that had the Lions steamed after the game.
The second of the two calls came with Alabama State (3-0 2-0 SWAC) down 10-6 and facing a 3rd-and-11 from the 20-yard line with under a minute to play. A pass from quarterback Chris Mitchell fell incomplete in the end zone but a late flag came in after the play for holding away from the play, giving State a 1st-and-goal from the 10-yard line instead of a fourth down scenario.
Four plays later, Mitchell floated a ball down the left sideline for receiver Fred Ragsdale, who dove into the end zone with arms outstretched and made a spectacular catch just over the goal line for what proved to be the winning touchdown.
"I'll tell you what, there were some calls that were questionable," Forte said. "It's unfortunate because I never want to make excuses for anything but you can't help but be upset about the type of calls that were made.
"I don't question the catch, [Ragsdale] made a great catch. It's the things after the catch that I question."
Forte spent the final minute of the contest in the ear of referee Keith Moore and headed straight to the locker room once the final horn sounded. He wasn't the only UAPB coach who was peeved.
"The last call was the worst call I've seen in football in a long time," UAPB defensive coordinator Monte Coleman said. "The guy who called it was 40 yards from the play and he came in two seconds after it was over and threw a flag for something that wasn't even a factor in the play.
"It hurts that they made a call like that on something that was so insignificant."
The first questionable call came with under 30 seconds to play in the first half on a ball that was severely overthrown near the goal line by Mitchell but drew a flag for pass interference. The result was another 1st-and-goal for the Hornets, who capitalized when Mitchell hit Darius Mathis with an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave ASU a 6-0 lead at halftime.
That was how the score remained until UAPB's special teams did what its struggling offense couldn't. The Lions capitalized on a bad snap from center on an ASU punt deep in its own territory when Marion Alridge fell on the ball at the Hornets' 9-yard line early in the fourth quarter.
Two plays later Moore found the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Lions a 7-6 lead. UAPB then added a 26-yard Brodie Heflin field goal early in the fourth quarter that looked like it would stand up at the time.
Nonetheless, UAPB's struggling offense put all the pressure on the defense to make it stand up, which put the Lions in position to be affected by outside sources. Moore, who was making his first start of the season, finished just 8-of-25 for 83 yards as the offense managed just 159 total yards. Running backs Martell Mallett and Mickey Dean combined to carry 20 times for 34 yards.
"We're still a struggling offensive football team and we're not getting better as fast as I'd like," Forte said. "Johnathan fell victim to the offensive line again and we just couldn't sustain anything. Our defense played an outstanding game and our special teams were excellent so it's frustrating to not be able to have anything to show for it."
UAPB returns to action next Saturday in a non-conference game at Southern Illinois.
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