PRESCOTT — The Barton Bears are heading back to War Memorial Stadium.
Barton scored 28 unanswered points in the second half to knock off No. 1 seed Prescott 42-27 in the Class 3A semifinals Friday night at Cummins Stadium.
The Bears erased a 19-7 halftime deficit to advance to the championship game for the first time as a member of Class 3A. It will face Charleston, which defeated Fountain Lake 26-23 in the other semifinal Friday night.
The Bears were outgained 277-68 in total yards in the first half but held Prescott to just 62 yards in the second half in what turned out to be the latest upset road victory for Barton, the No. 3 seed from the 2-3A Conference.
After a first half largely dominated by Prescott and running back Daniel McCoy, Barton turned the tables in the second half and never looked back as Kendrick Jackson scored on an 8-yard run to cut the deficit to 19-14.
Jackson was called on again and delivered a 14-yard touchdown run up the middle to give Barton its first lead of the game with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
Barton quarterback Laquerius Hall scored three consecutive rushing touchdowns to begin the fourth quarter, scoring on runs of 1, 39 and 2 yards as Barton took a commanding 42-19 lead with 5:57 left.
Sports, Pages 23 on 12/03/2011