According to statistics provided by KIX 103 for El Dorado’s game Friday at Jonesboro, the Wildcats were penalized 13 times for 131 yards. The Golden Hurricane had six penalties for 46 yards in a 31-20 come-from-behind win.
Penalties have been factors in three of El Dorado’s four games this season, including both losses. Coach Steven Jones was asked about those flags on Monday.
“We had a couple of personal fouls,” he said. “One, we had a sideline infraction where a referee ran into a coach. We had one where we had a defensive player hurdle the field goal snapper and then two roughing the passers. All of those are easy fixes. So, no, the penalties aren’t a concern.
“Jonesboro just made more plays than we did. That’s what it boiled down to. I feel like, offensively, there were two or three really big mistakes that were made. If we make just one of those plays, especially when we got to the third quarter with the lead, if we make one of those plays, we win the game. We just have to finish. We’ll get that fixed and we’ll put together four quarters of good football and be ready to come out of the next game with a win.”
Sharmon Rester completed 12-of-23 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. Shadarious Plummer rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. DeAndra Burns, Jr., had four receptions for 64 yards.
Defensively, Danquez Shelton led the Wildcats with 10 tackles and a sack. Patrick Sixbey had eight tackles with two sacks. Jyrin Steward had eight tackles and Nic Wilson had a sack.
Jonesboro’s defense limited El Dorado’s deep passing attack. The Wildcats’ longest completed pass was Burns’ 47-yard reception. Other than that, the Golden Hurricane was able to harness El Dorado’s speed.
“They played a lot like Barry Odom’s defensive scheme right now at Arkansas. They rushed three and pretty much dropped eight into coverage,” Jones said. “We were able to run the football because of that. But we would get behind the sticks, whether it was a holding call or a couple mishaps.”
As for the penalties, for El Dorado, the flags came at terrible times. On Jonesboro’s second scoring drive, the Wildcats were flagged for roughing the passer after an incomplete pass on third and long. The Golden Hurricane took advantage of a pass interference penalty on its final scoring drive.
“None of them were discipline type issues. Obviously, we don’t want to give the referee a chance to make a 50-50 type call on roughing the passer,” said Jones. “The mistakes we made Friday, we feel like as a staff those are easy fixes. We’ll get it worked out and move forward.”
El Dorado hosts Pine Bluff at Memorial Stadium on Friday.