Hot Springs downs Magnolia in 5A-South clash

HOT SPRINGS 41, MAGNOLIA 35

HOT SPRINGS — Hot Springs caged Magnolia 4135 on Friday night at Joe C. Reese Stadium for a key 5A-South victory.

“We just have to play better in the first half,” Magnolia Coach Mark King said. “We probably played our worst half of football all year. We fell two scores to a good team, and we could not get out of a hole.”

Junior quarterback Matthew Contreras threw a perfect fade route to junior wide receiver Octavius Rhodes for a touchdown that gave Hot Springs (5-2, 3-1 5A South) a 7-0 first-quarter lead.

Magnolia (5-2, 2-2) senior running back Garrion Curry went in from 4 yards out to tie the game at 7-7 later in the quarter.

After a 60-yard pass from Contreras to T.J. Brogdon, Perry Jones scored a 9-yard touchdown for the Trojans.

Contreras’ pass across the middle on a post route was complete for a 35-yard touchdown to senior James Wisener with 8:44 left to go in the second quarter for a 21-7 lead.

Jones added to the Hot Springs advantage with a 6-yard touchdown run with 7:32 left to go in the first half to put the Trojans up 28-7.

Magnolia senior Dalen Blanchard scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on a quarterback sneak, cutting the Trojans lead to 28-14 at halftime.

For the game, Blanchard completed 2 passes for 52 yards and had 37 on the ground with 2 touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Derrick Hicks caught a 25-yard touchdown pass with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter to give the Trojans a 41-28 advantage.

Curry’s 1-yard touchdown with 3: 15 left set the final score.

“We had our chances,” King said. “They made a few fourth-down passes, and we did not make stops when we had our opportunities. Hats off to them, I learned a lot about my kids. They fought back when it would have been easy to quit going down two scores in the second half but we came back.”

Curry had 168 yards rushing for the Panthers. Magnolia junior Kindle Williams had seven tackles, including two sacks.

“If we would have played the first half like we did the second half we win the ballgame,” King said. “You must play four quarters and we did not and they did. I thought we outplayed them in the second half. [ Hot Springs] Coach [Darrell] Burnett has a good football team, especially that offense. They can run it, they can throw it.”

“It was big for us,” Burnett said. “Big for the city, big for the program. When you expect to win, it is what happens. We are going to keep on pushing.”

Contreras had 247 passing yards and accounted for three total touchdowns for the Trojans. Brogdon had 120 receiving yards on 4 catches, while Jones racked up 113 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns.