AHS routs Lakeside to remain unbeaten in conference play
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.—Arkansas High continues to wreak havoc.
The Razorbacks dominated in all three phases to invoke the mercy rule against Hot Springs Lakeside, 48-14, to remain unbeaten in Conference 5A-South
The Razorbacks remain unbeaten in Conference 5A-South as they invoked the mercy rule against Hot Springs Lakeside to take an emphatic 48-14 win on Friday night at Chick Austin Field.
Arkansas High (4-1, 3-0) got big plays from Cameron Collier and Torie Blair on offense and Shamon Smith continued the special team trend of getting a score in the victory.
“Our offensive line deserves a lot of credit,” Arkansas High head coach Barry Norton said. “They’re a very strong point for us. With them being so good, it really helps our running backs because they are very explosive out of the backfield.
“I can’t say enough about Collier, who is doing a great job, and then you have Blair coming in who is also doing very well for us.”
Collier, who finished with a game-high 162 yards on just eight carries, had touchdown runs of 87 and 1, while also returning an interception for 97 yards for his third score. Fellow running back Torie Blair also had another big night as he finished with 146 yards on 13 attempts and also added three scores.
Coming out of halftime holding onto a comfortable 28-7 lead, Collier stymied a long Lakeside drive with his long interception return.
Shortly after, Blair took another to the house on a 33-yard rush and added another on the next drive to extend the lead, 48-7.
With mercy already in place, the Rams punched in the final points of the game when quarterback Taylor Gillham found Ty Davis on an 8-yard strike in the fourth quarter.
Lakeside scored the game’s first points in the opening quarter when Isaac Echols rushed in from 9 yards out to give the Rams a 7-0 lead.
It would be all Razorbacks, however, the rest of the first half.
“We played so much defense because our offense kept having twoor three-play drives that resulted in big plays,” Norton said. “I thought they did tremendous, though. There was a couple of times we held them down there at the goal line and in the red zone and they couldn’t do much with it.”
Arkansas High answered back on the Rams’ next possession when a blocked punt was picked up by Shamon Smith and returned back for a 12-yard touchdown. Smith had special teams touchdown last week also against Camden Fairview.
Collier would help extend the lead on the Razorbacks’ next possession with a 1-yard score. Collier set up his touchdown with runs of 12, 18 and 17 on the drive that took only his four plays.
After the defense forced a turnover on downs, Arkansas High’s Collier and Torie Blair teamed up to combine for another score that would give the Hogs their 28-7 lead going into halftime. Collier had two consecutive rushes of 11 yards and Blair rushed for 24- and 11-yard gains before taking it to the house on a 26-yard score.
“We didn’t play clean football, but I’m still excited for our kids,” Norton said. “It wasn’t a perfect ballgame by any means, but we made some plays offensively and did a good job defensively.
As it has in previous weeks, the Razorbacks struggled with penalties right out the gate, giving the Rams 68 yards off of eight flags just in the first half.
With those penalties, they gave up two big plays that would have added to their total. Collier had an 80-yard touchdown run negated and Irijah Price’s 60-yard touchdown reception was also called back.
Arkansas High will be back in action next Friday when it hosts Little Rock McClellan at 7 p.m.
“We have to get cleaner going into next week. I told the kids this is a big win because this win sets up next week’s game. We will look at what we did here tonight and try to get better for next week.
Arkansas High 14 14 20 0 — 48
Hot Springs Lakeside 7 0 0 7 — 14
First Quarter
LS-Isaac Echols 9 run (Josh Hickson kick), 9:04
AHS-Shamon Smith 12 punt block return (Patrick Cook kick), 4:38
AHS-Cameron Collier 1 run (Cook kick), 1:56 Second Quarter
AHS-Collier 87 run (Cook kick), 9:14 AHS-Torie Blaire 26 run (Cook kick), 3:48
Third Quarter
AHS-Collier 97 interception return (kick failed),
6:20
AHS-Blair 33 run (Cook kick), 3L35 AHS-Blair 1 run (Cook kick), 0:51
Fourth Quarter
LS-Ty Davis 8 pass from Taylor Gillham (Hickson kick), 4:50
AHS Lakeside
First downs 15 13
Yards Rushing 309 103
Yards Passing 35 148
Passes A-C-I 8-2-0 23-10-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-2
Penalties 12-93 4-20 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing—Arkansas High, Torie Blair 13-146, DeJordan Mask 1-1, Cameron Collier 8-162. Lakeside, Isaac Echols 11-39, Taylor Gillham 2-(minus 22), Dorecus Ferguson 9-35, Will Perigo 2-3, JJ Harvell 8-48.
PASSING—Arkansas High, Sean Foreback 2-8-0
35. Lakeside, Taylor Gillham 10-23-2 148.
RECEIVING—Arkansas High, DeJordan Mask 1-13, Torie Blair 1-22. Lakeside, Echols 3-21, Richard Gaston 1-25, Sawyer Lamb 2-21, Will Perigo 1-15, Ty Davis 3-37.