ARP — Kyle Copeland’s 1-yard touchdown with less than a minute to play launched the Arp Tigers past Center, 34-30, Friday night. Arp’s 11-play scoring drive with 5:15 to play earned the Tigers their second win of the season.
The Tigers faced a fourth-and-3 on the final drive. Copeland ran a bootleg to the right and picked up the first down by a yard.
Kasey McClendon kept the offense steady on the game-winning drive as the Tigers trailed by three with five minutes to play. McClendon ran the ball six times on the final drive.
McClendon and Mikechell Potts kept the Roughriders busy all night on the ground as the pair combined for 224 yards on the ground. Potts also caught two passes for 35 yards.
Arp also scored two touchdowns on interception returns. With the game tied at seven in the second quarter, Michael Roberson intercepted Cody Carleton’s pass and took it 20 yards for the score.
Later in the quarter, the Roughriders moved the ball down to the Tigers’ 30, but an interception by McClendon resulted in a 65-yard return for another Arp touchdown. The Tigers led 20-14 at the half.
Arp pulled farther ahead with a touchdown to start the half. Potts ended the 10-play drive with a 5-yard score.
Center continued to struggle and failed to score on two possessions in the third quarter before finding the end zone.
The Roughriders caught a break on Arp’s next possession. The Tigers lined up to punt deep in their own territory and the snap rolled to the end zone. Copeland scooped up the ball at the 1 and fell into the end zone for a safety.
The Roughriders had short field position following the safety and took the lead with 5:21 left on another score by KJ Garrett. Center converted the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game.
That set up the final drive for Arp, which thwarted the Roughriders’ comeback.
Along with running for two touchdowns, Copeland completed three passes for 52 yard.
Carleton completed 11 passes for 55 yards for Center. Garrett led the ‘Riders with 135 yards on the ground and two scores.