W. Memphis rides defense

WEST MEMPHIS 21, WYNNE 0

WEST MEMPHIS — West Memphis overcame a sluggish offensive performance and relied on a dominant defense to shut out Wynne 21-0 at Hamilton-Shultz Field.

The Blue Devils (3-0) allowed 143 total yards, all of them coming on the ground, while intercepting three passes, including one that went for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

“The defense did an outstanding job, although there were times we didn’t think we did a very good job,” West Memphis Coach Billy Elmore said. “In the end, however, we got a shutout and a touchdown from our defense.”

Without much of a ground attack, the Blue Devils had to make do with some opportunistic approaches in the first half.

Cornerback Jerrodeus Wade recovered a wild lateral by Wynne quarterback James Parker at the Blue Devils 25, and it turned into the first touchdown of the game.

Senior running back Latavian Thomas, who had 54 of his game-high 97 yards in the first half, sped 50 yards for a touchdown with 2:48 to play in the first quarter for a 7-0 West Memphis lead.

With 1:23 to play before halftime, Kelvin Love scored a 7-yard touchdown for a 14-0 Blue Devils’ lead at intermission.

That was all the West Memphis offense could muster, and Elmore was critical after the game.

“That was a pathetic offensive performance,” Elmore said. “But we gotta give a lot of that credit to Wynne.”

West Memphis senior defensive lineman Hassani Adams scored a touchdown with 1:08 to play in the game when teammate Allen Henry deflected a pass from Wynne’s Cooper Pieri from the Wynne 7.