Strong ground game carries Troy past Hope

With four players combining for 248 yards, Hot Springs literally ran over Hope 34-7 Friday night at Reese Memorial Stadium.

Hot Springs gained 272 yards on the ground and 342 overall. The Trojans’ big four consisted of Deante Sanders, Damien Walker, Spencer Johnson and Coby Wallace, each rushing for a touchdown along with quarterback Chris Stewart.

Hot Springs thus prevailed in a battle of winless teams — Hope has lost 16 in a row — after a 21-13 road loss to Watson Chapel that might have zapped the team’s spirit.

“We had to come out and do some things,” Trojan coach Chris Vereen said. “Tonight was not the prettiest ballgame, but the kids got it done.”

Johnson got a chance after Walker was ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct, keeping him out of the Trojans’ home game Friday night against De Queen. A sophomore, Johnson carried nine times for 85 yards and scored the final touchdown.

“He did a really good job stepping in,” Vereen said. “He’ll be ready to go for next week. He’s gonna be the man.”

Hope had some bright spots — Hunter Heliums passing for 117 yards, Jaylon Conway with four catches for 50 yards; Heliums ran three yards for a second-quarter touchdown — but was undone by turnovers. The Bobcats lost two fumbles and had three passes intercepted.

“We made way too many mistakes,” Bobcat head coach Jay Turley said.

Complementing the Trojan rushing attack, Stewart connected with Santiar Thomas for two passes of 30-plus yards.

Entering the second half of the season, Vereen hopes his 1-4 team takes something from its first victory.

“It’s not what everybody else has been doing. It’s what we’ve been doing to ourselves,” he said. “We’re gonna continue to get better and cut down on our mistakes.”