CB’s interceptions highlight Jonesboro’s dominant night

JONESBORO 38, WEST MEMPHIS 13

WEST MEMPHIS — Senior cornerback Brodie Williams picked off three passes — two of which he returned for touchdowns — to lead Jonesboro to a 38-13 victory over West Memphis in 6A-East Conference play Friday night.

Junior Rykar Acebo, who started the year as a back-up quarterback, threw for two touchdowns and completed 21 of 34 passes for 231 yards and 2 interceptions as Jonesboro jumped out to a 28-6 halftime lead.

“I felt it was very important to get off to a fast start because with West Memphis struggling the last few weeks, you didn’t want them to build any confidence early,” Jonesboro Coach Randy Coleman said.

Jonesboro (4-2, 3-0) dominated on defense, limiting the Blue Devils (2-5, 1-3) to just 53 yards rushing.

West Memphis alternated senior Caden Smith and junior Bryson Jenkins at quarterback, with the fleet-footed Smith getting most of the reps. It was Smith’s first start at quarterback this season.

“We thought that [Smith] would come out and play quarterback because he’s a really good athlete and he can run,” Coleman stated. “We wanted to keep him from beating us with his legs. We felt if we could do that we’d be in pretty good shape defending them.”

Williams gave Jonesboro a 7-0 lead with 7:22 to play in the first quarter with a 36-yard interception return. Later, Acebo threw his first touchdown pass of the game when he connected with Kavon Pointer for 37 yards.

Acebo and Pointer hooked up again with 10:59 left in the second quarter on a 22-yard TD pass to make it 21-0.

West Memphis answered shortly as Jenkins hit Elijah Eulls on a 42-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6.

But Jonesboro enjoyed a 28-6 halftime cushion after a Williams interception set up a 2-yard touchdown by Connor Clark with 6 seconds left before intermission.

“Our defense played really, really well tonight,” Coleman added. “Taking the ball away, stopping the run and usually West Memphis is so good with the run. I know they’ve had trouble keeping some offensive linemen healthy. It doesn’t matter if it’s pee wee or the NFL, if you can stop the run you’re going to have a pretty good chance of winning the game.”

Williams got his third interception with 4:14 left in the fourth quarter when he snagged a Jenkins pass and sped 55 yards for the final Jonesboro score.

West Memphis’ final score came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Jenkins to Smith.