By Jeff Halpern 

LITTLE ROCK — Turnovers were the story in Hazen’s 44-6 victory over Carlisle in the Class 2A state championship game Friday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. 

The Hornets (13-0) suffered only two turnovers with none being converted into the points for Carlisle. Carlisle (11-2), on the other hand, turned the ball over six times (four fumbles and two interceptions) with four being turned into touchdowns.

As a result, Hazen won the game despite having nine fewer first downs (22-13), 33 fewer plays (71-38) and held the ball for 17:03 to Carlisle’s 30:57. Hazen did have a 459-383 edge in total yardage.

“This group is very good and thrives on takeaways and if you can possess the ball and not turn the ball over, you can stay in the game. If you turn it over, they turn it into points,” said Carlisle head coach Caleb Shock.
