FAYETTEVILLE — With the game in doubt, one play left and his best player asking for a chance to win it last Friday, Cabot head coach Mike Malham acquiesced.
With no time left on the clock, a free play because of a pass interference penalty and the ball at Pine Bluff’s 7-yard line, Malham called one play before Arkansas commit and Cabot quarterback Jarrod Barnes asked him to change it to a run.
“He said, ‘Coach, I can do this, let me have the ball,’” Malham said. “And that’s just what he did.”
Barnes (5-11, 180 pounds) finished off the run with a leaping dive from the 3-yard line into the end zone to tie it and the PAT gave the Panthers a thrilling 28-27 season-opening win.