Wallace, defense keep Benton on 6A-West pace
BENTON — Zack Wallace broke the game open with touchdown runs of 21 and 6 yards that gave Benton a 3513 third-quarter lead, and the Panthers maintained a share of the 6A-South Conference lead by defeating Texarkana 38-19 Friday night.
Wallace led Benton (5-1, 3-0) with 158 yards on 30 carries, and the Panthers’ defense intercepted two potential Texarkana touchdown passes in the end zone in the first half.
“Offensively, we were very up and down,” Benton Coach Brad Harris said. “We had a couple of really good drives, but near the goal line in the second half, we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Benton scored on the opening drive of the game on a 6-yard run from Beau Brewer for a 7-0 lead. Texarkana marched down the field and Sean Foreback scored on a 1-yard run, but the extra point failed and the Panthers led 7-6 with 6:07 left in the first quarter.
Gavin Wells caught a 10yard touchdown pass from Peyton Huggins with 1:26 left in the opening quarter to put Benton up 14-6. But midway through the second quarter, Foreback threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Drake Browning as Texarkana cut the Benton lead down to 14-13. Benton got a 3-yard scoring run from Huggins with 2:29 left in the first half to go up 21-13.
Twice in the first half, Benton intercepted potential touchdown passes from Texarkana’s Foreback. Brewer and DJ Sturgis came up with interceptions for the Panthers’ defense, which shut out the Razorbacks for much of the third quarter.
Wallace scored on a 21-yard run for Benton with 8:04 left in the third quarter to complete a 12-play, 67-yard drive. Wallace added a 6-yard run with 2:19 to go in the third after an 11-play, 77-yard drive to put Benton up 35-13.
Browning caught a 34yard touchdown pass from Foreback to trim Texarkana’s deficit to 35-19, but the Benton defense forced the Razorbacks into three more punts and recovered a fumble.
Benton’s last score came on a 23-yard field goal from Taylor Akdamar.
EL DORADO 49, SHERIDAN 14
SHERIDAN — Quarterback Darius Holly ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more in the first half to lead the Wildcats past the Yellowjackets.
Holly threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Taliq Ellis to give El Dorado a 7-0 lead, then ran for a 20-yard touchdown with 3:05 left in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead. A 30-yard touchdown pass to Shun Levingston, sandwiched between two 1-yard touchdown runs from Sheridan’s Justin Pruitt, and a 42-yard touchdown run from Holly gave the Wildcats a 28-14 halftime advantage.
Holly threw a third touchdown pass, this one 27 yards to Derek Jobe, less than two minutes into the second half to give the Wildcats a 35-14 lead. Alex Hicks added touchdown runs of 7 and 4 yards in the third quarter.
GREENWOOD 38, SILOAM SPRINGS 0
GREENWOOD — Greenwood (6-0, 3-0 6A-West) stopped Siloam Springs (2-4, 1-2) three times inside the 10-yard line, and the Bulldogs overcame a shaky performance on offense to defeat the Panthers at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Greenwood cashed in on short field position for two of its four first-half touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Greenwood’s Peyton Holt scored three touchdowns, including the first on a 16yard touchdown pass from Connor Noland on the Bulldogs’ opening drive. Holt had an 11-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 14-0 later in the first.
Kenny Wood ran for a pair of short touchdown runs in the second quarter, with the second one coming after the Bulldogs tackled Siloam Springs punter Kaiden Thrailkill at the 9.