Badgers shut out Ricebirds, advance to 4A semifinals

Arkadelphia completed its fourth shutout in an eight-game winning streak as it defeated Stuttgart, 21-0, Friday night at Stuttgart’s Ned Moseley Stadium.

The Badgers (8-5) managed to take a 14-0 lead in the first half, but it took big breakout plays to find the end zone past a stout defense from Stuttgart (9-2). With the win, the Badgers will travel to Springdale this week to face Shiloh Christian (12-1), which held on for a 40-21 win over Nashville (10-3) Friday.

“They are a tough team,” Arkadelphia head coach J.R. Eldridge said. “Their defense is one of the best we’ve played this season. They had good plans.”

Arkadelphia’s defense took control early, forcing a turnover on the second play of the game as junior Cannon Turner recovered a fumble by Stuttgart quarterback Tim Johnson, but the Badgers’ drive was cut short, forcing them to try for a field goal. Senior Gabe Goodman had a high kick that looked good early on the 41-yard attempt, but the stiff breeze he kicked into left the ball bouncing short off the crossbar.

“Our defense did an excellent job,” Eldridge said. “Stuttgart only got 90 yards total offense.”

After Arkadelphia’s defense forced the first of nine punts by the Ricebirds, the Badgers needed just three plays to find the end zone. Senior running back Zion Hatley was found

quickly on the first play, knocking him back

10 yards before Turner kept the ball on thirdand-20, breaking free for a 54-yard touchdown. Goodman’s kick was good for the 7-0 lead with

5:21 left in the opening period.

“He had one of the best runs I’ve seen on film all season,” Eldridge said. “He broke four tackles to get there.”

Turner accounted for the Badgers’ other two touchdowns as well, finding Hatley on a

62-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the second period. Hatley caught the short pass from Turner just across the line of scrimmage, but he had to break four tackles to find the end zone. Buster Thomas caught an 11-yard pass for a touchdown with 6:43 left in the game, and Goodman was good for the point-after.

The Badgers had three touchdowns called back after penalties. A 42-yard pass from Turner to Alec Ruble to start the second half that was called back on an illegal shift.

“Our special teams had some great plays, too,” Eldridge said. “But we had three touchdowns called back. We had a punt return for a touchdown called back. … But we won the kicking game.”

Turner was 8-for-18 passing for 141 yards with two interceptions while rushing 13 more times for 73 to lead the team. Hatley, who was the focus of Stuttgart’s defense after rushing for 169 yards last week, was held to just 32 yards on 17 attempts in addition to his one 62yard reception. Thomas had four catches for 47. “They were trying to take him away,” Eldridge said. “He made two of our biggest plays. They couldn’t tackle him in space. In the running game, they would not allow him to get any space.”

The Ricebirds had to go to the air more than usual with Johnson completing 8 of 23 for 70 yards with two picks, but the Ricebird ground game was held to just 20 yards. Quin Nelson led Stuttgart with 10 carries for 30 yards, most of those nullified by Johnson’s 15 carries for a

minus-26. John Hoskyn led the receivers corps with three catches for 46 yards.