Tribe defense and trio Carter, Sanchez, Rhodes soar for TDs in 43-6 victory against Murfreesboro
POYEN — The Grant County Poyen Indians didn’t disappoint their true home fans for week three of Arkansas High School football for “Friday Night Lights” at Malvern National Bank Stadium, Indian Field. The Tribe secured their fourth consecutive victory on the gridiron to dominate the Murfreesboro Rattlers 43-6 Friday on their home territory. The Tribe remains undefeated at 4-0 and Poyen football head coach Vick Barrett is proud of how productive his Indians are competing to a blazing start.
“We just came out and played sharp early. We got our juices flowing and this group was ready to play football,” Barrett said.
For the fourth straight week, the Indians defense continues to shine. Despite an unfortunate pick-6 Murfreesboro took advantage of in the second quarter, Barrett added the Tribe’s defensive unit really finished with another shut out.
Barrett said he takes the fault on
the interception, but the team is performing well and they brought a winning attitude and mentality Friday night.
The Tribe had all cylinders clicking and rolling early led by a star filling performance of trio quarterback Jaxson Carter, Brandon Sanchez and Blake Rhodes. All three playmakers accounted for end zone trips in the first quarter for a 22-0 lead.
Sanchez started off by returning the opening kickoff for 80 yards untouched with several dashing and dandy moves and cuts through the Rattlers defense for the game’s first touchdown at the 11:49 mark. The PAT was good by Lathan Aaron and Poyen led 7-0.
While the Tribe’s defense was a mega force on stops, Murfreesboro was forced to punt going three and out on downs at the 9:47 mark. Then offensively, Rhodes carried
the pigskin for a few first downs into Murfreesboro territory and later marched into the end zone on a 33-yard touchdown run at the 8:06 mark. The PAT was successful by Aaron and the Tribe led Murfreesboro, 14-0.
Defensively, Colton Lowe and Josh Boyette helped lead the Tribes’ defense for loss of yardage to keep the Rattlers out the end zone for the entire first quarter. The Tribe’s last first quarter touchdown came from their leader of offense— quarterback Carter to soar across the goal line on an 8-yard QB keeper with 25 seconds left in the first. Poyen’s 2-point conversion was successful by Aaron completing a pass to Lowe for the reception to give the Tribe their 22-point advantage.
In the second, Murfreesboro’s defense sparked early with an interception by Jase Kuykendall to return for their lone end zone trip of the game on the pick-6 for a 38-yard touchdown run at the 11:32 mark. The Rattlers 2-point conversion failed, but Poyen led 22-6. The Indians turnover didn’t allow any room
for momentum for Murfreesboro. The Tribe would execute three more end zone trips to increase their lead to 43-6 in the final 11 minutes to play in the first half. The dynamic duo of QB Carter completed two touchdown pass receptions to Sanchez for 30 and 21 yards. Carter also scored on a QB keeper from 10 yards out that gave the Indians a 37-point [43-6] halftime advantage over Murfreesboro.
Defensively, the Tribe held the Rattlers from scoring and forcing them to turn the ball over on downs. Cody Samples came up big on a quarterback sack for loss of yardage and Brandon Reed got an interception to spark the Indians defense.
In the second half, the sportsmanship rule went into effect for the clock to run continuously and the Indians defense held the Rattlers scoreless for the entire 24 minutes of action. Rocco Hicks created one more final spark for the Tribes impressive defense by snatching a pass for an interception in the fourth quarter.
The Tribe’s overall play was stout and productive Friday night and Barrett feels good about his team’s mentality going into a bye week for week four. Barrett feels staying healthy is the key at this point and will take advantage of this off week to prepare for their next opponent—the Dierks Outlaws.
“Everybody is good right now and we got a bye week. It is important we stay healthy and get ready for week five against Dierks—and just stay healthy,” Barrett said.
The unbeaten Indians return to the gridiron on October 2 to host Dierks at Malvern National Bank Stadium, Indian Field.