The Mena/Ashdown game proved that the margin between victory and defeat can be razor thin, and that was the case Friday at Ashdown when Mena lost a close battle to Ashdown 13-12.
With the exception of two big plays, the Bearcat defense held the athletic Panthers in check all night. The Mena defense also came up with one of the game’s biggest plays when they forced a safety early in the fourth quarter to trim the Ashdown lead to 13-12.
The Bearcat offense was again spread across several players with Jr. quarterback Carson Cannon getting the majority of the work load on the ground. Cannon rushed 21 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. Jr. Justin Dean ran 12 times for 40 yards, and Sr. Ryan Ozanich carried once for 5 yards. Through the air, Cannon was 11-18 for 87 yards. Jr’s Ty Cole and Cross Hughes both had to receptions and Dean hauled in 5 passes.
The scoring was rounded out by placekicker Christian Lua, and Johnny Gunn who made the tackle in the end zone for the safety. It was a hard fought battle but Mena (2-2, 0-1) must look ahead to the Malvern Leopards who come to Mena for another conference contest the Friday at 7:00 at Bearcat Stadium.