Junior Rams win 5A-South conference title

Lakeside’s ninth-grade football team finished 8-1 and as 5A-South champion after Thursday’s 26-18 victory over Camden Fairview.

The Rams gained 263 yards on the ground, offsetting Fairview’s 185-19 advantage through the air. Isaac Echols ran for all four Lakeside touchdowns, his eight-yard run and Alvaro Barragan’s extra point making it 7-0 in the second quarter and at halftime.

Echols ran 13 and 16 yards for third-quarter touchdowns, Barragan kicking an extra point, and after Fairview pulled within 20-18, Echols ran 13 yards for a fourth-quarter TD.

Echols caried times for 268 net yards with a long gain of 46, averaging 9.57 per carry.

Lakeside’s previously undefeated eighth-grade team finished conference champion and 7-1 after a 28-26 loss to Fairview.

Jordan Mills passed for 161 yards and two Lakeside touchdowns, both to Pierce Smalley (three receptions for 108 yards). Noah Duvall carried 18 times for 74 net yards and a touchdown with a long gain of 16. Caleb Weed returned a blocked punt 50 yards for a TD, briefly giving Lakeside a 20-8 lead.

Fairview scored on a 92-yard kickoff return and runs of 35, 37 and 24 yards.

Valley View set a school record for victories and tied a state record for championships in high school volleyball Saturday.

The Lady Blazers equaled Jonesboro’s mark of 12 state titles in the Class 5A final at Bank of the Ozarks Arena. Valley View finished 40-2 after defeating Batesville 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 in a 5A-East matchup.

Valley View has won three consecutive titles since moving to Class 5A and seven in the last eight years. Margie McGee has coached the Lady Blazers to all 12 state championships since 2003.

Valley View, with six seniors this year, lost only to Memphis-area Briarcrest Christian and Class 7A Conway, both in tournaments. The Lady Blazers closed the season with four straight 3-0 victories after being taken to five games by Paragould in the Oct. 19 district final.

Othe repeat state champions were Fayetteville in Class 7A and Paris in Class

3A while Greenwood (Class 6A) won its first title since 2011 and Shiloh Christian (Class 4A) its second in three years.

Fayetteville defeated 7A-West rival Springdale Har-Ber 3-1 for its third consecutive title and fourth in six years. The Lady Bulldogs won two out of three matches from Har-Ber in a 27-11 season, avenging on Saturday a 3-2 defeat Oct.

10 in Springdale after beating the Lady Wilcasts 3-0 at home Sept. 13.

Coached by Jessica Phelan, Fayetteville went to Colorado, Missouri and Tennessee for tournaments. Senior Haley Warner and 5-11 sophomore Arianna Walter led the Lady Bulldogs, the 6-2 Warner playing her last match and having verbally committed to national power Florida.

Paris made it three in a row in Class 3A with a 3-0 victory over Hoxie, the latter playing in the arena where in March it won the 3A title in girls’ basketball. Springdale-based Shiloh Christian bested Little Rock’s Baptist Prep 3-1 in a Class 4A final of private schools.

Greenwood denied Jonesboro a repeat Class 6A title with a 3-1 victory, including 27-25 in the third game after splitting sets. Lexie Castillow, a 5-1 libero, totaled 50 digs for Greenwood (32-7-1) in her final match; she plans to play in college for nearby Arkansas-Fort Smith.