PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

CEDARVILLE 24, LAMAR 21

In a clash of two unbeaten teams, it was a couple of key gaffes from Lamar that proved to be the deciding factor as Cedarville erased a late third-quarter deficit and escaped Warrior Field with a thrilling 24-21 victory in the 3A-1 Conference opener for both teams.

The victory helped equal the second-best start in school history for Cedarville, who finished 9-4 during the 2008 season and reached the 3A quarterfinals.

It was a tightly contested game that lived up to the billing as each team had its share of big plays offensively.

Yet the two biggest plays of the night came on defense for Cedarville – with each one halting promising Lamar drives late in the game.

After a 1-yard touchdown plunge by junior quarterback Kelin Mitchell gave Cedarville its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter, the Pirates appeared to have salted the game away for good when Mitchell picked off Lamar’s Jake Parmenter with 4 minutes, 3 seconds left to play.

But after Lamar’s defense forced a quick three-and-out from Cedarville — aided by a couple of untimely delay of game penalties — the Warriors got one last shot at a possible winning touchdown or tying field goal with 1:18 left in regulation.

Lamar took over at its own 48, but managed only 12 yards on two passing plays before Warriors receiver Brody Richardson was stripped of the ball after an 8-yard pick-up.

Cedarville recovered and then proceeded to run out the clock for a key road win.

“We knew we needed to make some stops after halftime and luckily we made some adjustments and were able to force them into some penalties.” Cedarville coach Max Washausen said. “This was a big win for us because we only won four games last year. We knew they were going to be dang good and it would be tough to win here but our defense came up big in the fourth quarter.”

Lamar stuffed Cedarville on four downs to force a punt and looked to be going into halftime with a 14-6 advantage following a 55-yard scoring run by Brody James and a 24-yard touchdown run from Parmeter.

But Lamar’s Nate Hinkle muffed a punt and the Pirates cashed in with Mitchell bursting through the right side of the defense for a 35yard touchdown, slicing the lead to 14-12 after Lamar brought Mitchell down short on the ensuing two-point conversion.

The Warriors (3-1, 0-1) took the second half kickoff and held the ball for seven minutes before Brody James’ nine-yard TD run extended Lamar’s lead to 21-12 in the third quarter.

But it only took the Pirates four plays to respond with Mitchell breaking loose for 58 yards to close the gap once again at 21-18 following another failed two-point conversion attempt for Cedarville.

“We have always had good battles with these guys since middle school football so we knew it would come down to the wire,” Mitchell said. “We got this dub tonight because we made plays when we needed to.”

Mitchell finished with 108 yards on nine carries and three touchdowns for Cedarville, while sophomore Daryl Kattich rushed for a gamehigh 158 yards on 15 carries for the Pirates.

James had 106 yards on 13 carries and a pair of touchdowns for Lamar.

CLASS 6A GREENWOOD 42, LR HALL 0

Quarterback Jace Presley threw for four touchdowns and added another on the ground in the Bulldogs’ (4-0, 1-0 6A-West) shutout over Little Rock Hall (2-2, 0-1).

Hunter Wilkinson opened the scoring with a two-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter.

From there, Presley was involved in the next five scores, throwing touchdown passes to Caden Brown and Treyton Dawson and two more to Lazaro Angel, while running for a fifth.

CLASS 5A VILONIA 36, ALMA 8

Sophomore quarterback Austin Myers threw two 35-yard touchdown passes to senior Tyler Moran in the opening quarter as the Eagles (22, 1-0 5A-West) opened conference play with a victory over the Airedales (0-4, 0-1).

Myers hit Moran for a touchdown pass three minutes into the contest. Moran added the twopoint conversion for an 8-0 Vilonia lead.

With one minute left in the first quarter, Myers and Moran hooked up again. Nick Lewis kicked the extra point for a 15-0 advantage.

Midway through the second quarter, Vilonia increased its lead to 22-0 when senior Draven Smith scored from the 2.

Senior quarterback Landon Blair accounted for Alma’s lone touchdown, scoring from 1 yard out in the third quarter. Blair tossed a two-point conversion pass to Jacob Coursey. Vilonia countered with a 70-yard rushing touchdown from Smith.

CLASS 4A

PRAIRIE GROVE 55, GREEN FOREST 14

Prairie Grove jumped to a 27-0 lead after one quarter and finished with 486 total yards in its win over Green Forest.

Cade Grant had five carries for 79 yards for the Tigers (1-4, 1-0), who rushed for 290 yards. Quarterback Knox Laird was 4-for-4 passing for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Caden Redfern had two catches for 70 yards and a score.

SHILOH CHRISTIAN 56, BERRYVILLE 0

Eli Reece was a pefect 11-of-11 passing for 225 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Saints to the easy 4A-1 Conference victory.

Truitt Tollett finished with six catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a touchdown for the Saints (4-0, 1-0).

GRAVETTE 34, LINCOLN 14

Quarterback Cy Hilger threw a touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first half to snap a 7-7 tie and Gravette went on to the big win in the 4A-1 Conference opener.

Hilger connected with Ian Drake on a 12-yard scoring strike for a 14-7 halftime lead and the Lions never looked back. The junior quarterback completed 11 of 16 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.

Chance Austin also ran for 104 yards and a touchdown. The Lions defense also forced three Linconl turnovers and held the wolves to under 100 yards rushing as a team. Linebacker Isaac Dann finished with 12 tackles, including a sack, and intercepted a pass.

OZARK 14, MENA 0

Quarterback Harper Faulkenberry rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Hillbillies to victory in the 4A-4 Conference opener for both teams.

ELKINS 39, WALDRON 16

Kain Johnson threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Elks cruised to the 4A-4 Conference win.

Johnson completed 13 of 22 passes for 190 yards and also rushed for 40 as Elkins bolted to a 29-0 halftime lead.

CLASS 3A BOONEVILLE 49, PARIS 12

Andrew Robertson rushed for 117 yards on just seven carries to lead the Bearcats to the big 3A-1 Conference win.

Evan Schlinker scored three first-half touchdowns, while Cam Brasher ran for two for Booneville (2-2, 1-0).

CHARLESTON 35, GREENLAND 29

Dalton Curtis tackled Greenland quarterback Gabe Wilson at the Tigers’ 5-yard-line as time expired to help Charleston hold on for the 3A-1 Conference win.

Quarterback Brayden Ross threw for 139 yards and ran for two touchdowns to lead Charleston. Geoff Scottrushed for 69 yards and added 80 yards receving. Slade Skeets finished with nine tackles, including two sacks for the Tigers.

MANSFIELD 56, WEST FORK 6

Ethan Stovall completed 9 of 10 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Tigers past West Fork.

Tyler Holmes had two catches for 125 yards and two scores and Randy Claude blocked a punt. Mansfield (4-0, 1-0) finished with 254 yards passing and 184 yards rushing.

CLASS 2A MAGAZINE 44, HACKETT 14

Junior Tatum Scott scored four touchdowns and intercepted two passes as the Rattlers rolled to a victory over the Hornets (3-2, 0-1 4-2A).

Senior fullback Caleb Hyatt ran for two touchdowns for Magazine (3-1, 1-0), while junior Kobe Faughn forced two fumbles.

8-MAN FOOTBALL AUGUSTA 52, W. YELL COUNTY 0

Running back Zackariah McLucas rushed for 275 yards on six carries and scored four touchdowns to lead Augusta (2-1, 2-0 8-Man) over Western Yell County (0-3, 0-3).

Amariyon Briscoe added a touchdown and had two catches for 90 yards for the Red Devils.

EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE 34, DECATUR 26

Lance Viscioni-Wilson caught 10 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats (2-2, 2-2 8-Man) defeated the Bulldogs (0-4, 0-2) in Little Rock.

Sophomore Stephen Munson scored two touchdowns for Episcopal Collegiate while senior Cole Smalling scored a touchdown and made 10 tackles.

Also for the Wildcats, Wesley Wright made an interception, Jalen Davis made eight tackles and Hayden Smith came up with a sack.