Aldridge ignites Robinson
PULASKI ROBINSON 30, ARKANSAS BAPTIST 20
Pulaski Robinson senior running back Hakeem Aldridge is making the most of his abbreviated senior season.
Aldridge, playing in his fourth game after returning from a preseason injury, ran for 250 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Robinson (6-4, 3-4 7-4A) to a 30-20 victory over Arkansas Baptist in their regular season finale at The Ranch Thursday night.
Aldridge and the Senators clinched a berth in the Class 4A playoffs, their first since 2010, and will travel to Prairie Grove for an opening-round game next week.
“Hakeem was our top back coming into the season and he broke his foot in two-a-days,” Robinson Coach Todd Eskola said. “He is a junior-college prospect running back and tonight is the first time this season he has been healthy all year long. So we put it on his shoulders and told him to go make us some points and some yards. He is just now back to full speed.”
Aldridge carried the ball 20 times. He scored on runs of 4 and 27 yards.
Aldridge lost one fumble, which Arkansas Baptist’s Jo Jo Johnson returned 60 yards to the Senators’ 19 with 4:17 left. But Robinson’s Alejandro Ramirez intercepted Arkansas Baptist quarterback Cory McGonigal at the goal line on the next play.
“We had five fumbles in the red zone,’’ Eskola said. “This is just not us. We should have scored a bunch more points.”
Aldridge’s 4-yard touchdown opened the scoring, and the Senators made it 8-0 on Ramirez’s two-point conversion run.
Arkansas Baptist made it 8-6 at the half on a 17-yard scoring pass from Cory McGonigal to Chad McGonigal. The two-point conversion attempt failed.
Aldridge scored his second touchdown, on a 37-yard run, early in the third quarter. Adam Toler’s extra point made it 15-6.
But the McGonigal sophomores connected again, this one a 23-yard scoring pass less than two minutes after the Robinson touchdown, and it was 15-12 with 8:42 left in the third.
Robinson’s Keemon Otey, who had a 100-yard interception return erased by a penalty, scored on a 14-yard run as the Senators extended the lead to 23-12 after Nik Harper ran for the two-point conversion. Otey had 86 yards rushing on 10 carries.
Robinson took a 30-12 lead when Marcus Devine caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Brennen Johnson with 1:04 left in the quarter.
Cory and Chad McGonigal completed the scoring for Arkansas Baptist with a 4-yard touchdown completion with 5:33 to play.
2-4A PINE BLUFF DOLLARWAY 48, HEBER SPRINGS 7
PINE BLUFF — Pine Bluff Dollarway (10-0, 7-0 2-4A) set the tone in its rout of Heber Springs (2-8, 1-6) by scoring five touchdowns in the first quarter of their conference contest.
Keyshawn Williams started things with a 9-yard touchdown run to take a 6-0 lead, followed by a 27-yard touchdown pass from Joshua Liddell to Kabion Ento.
Williams scored again on a 43-yard run and Cameron Beavers followed with a 23-yard touchdown run on the next Cardinals’ drive.
The quarter ended with a 56-yard run touchdown run by Liddell.
Shortly after Dollarway back Cordera McDonald put the Cardinals ahead 48-0 on a 63-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Heber Springs scored on a 14yard touchdown run to avoid the shutout.
MARIANNA 20, STUTTGART 18
STUTTGART — Sophomore quarterback Donte Weems threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Jermarcus Arnold with 4:25 left in the game as Marianna stunned defending Class 4A state champion Stuttgart.
The Trojans (1-8, 1-6 2-4A) overcame an 18-0 deficit late in the third quarter to snap a 20-game losing streak.
The Ricebirds (4-6, 3-4) had a chance to regain the lead, but lost a fumble at the Trojans’ 11 on their final possession. Marianna made two first downs to run out the clock.
Weems finished 16 of 32 passing for 216 yards. Arnold caught nine passes for 130 yards.
Weems ran 2 yards for a touchdown to make it 18-6 with 1:31 left in the third quarter, then ran 14 yards for another score with 10:02 left in the game.
Tyler Luster ran 19 times for 145 yards and 1 touchdown for Stuttgart.
3-4A HIGHLAND 46, TRUMANN 15
TRUMANN — Junior safety Spenser Stowers returned first-half interceptions 94 and 37 yards for touchdowns as Highland (8-2, 6-1 3-4A) defeated Trumann (1-9, 0-7).
The Rebels led 40-0 at halftime after Stowers returned his second interception 94 yards for a touchdown with 3:50 left in the second quarter. Sophomore quarterback Reid Maag threw three first-quarter touchdowns — 66 and 30 yards to junior wide receiver Avery Johnson and 21 yards to junior wide receiver Deon Stewart.
Senior tailback Shawn Young scored the other touchdown on an 11-yard run with 9:33 left in the first half to make it 28-0.
The game was so one-sided that the schools agreed to run the clock continuously following Stowers’ second interception return for a touchdown.
The Wildcats didn’t win a game on the field under first-year Coach Scott Waymire, who led Carlisle to a 71-171 record in 2006-2012. Trumann’s only victory came via a forfeit from Earle (ineligible player).
GOSNELL 14, VALLEY VIEW 10
GOSNELL — Senior running back Marcus Mullins ran for two first-half touchdowns, and Gosnell (9-1, 7-0) used a fourth-quarter goal-line stand to beat Valley View (9-1, 6-1) and win the 3-4A title.
Trailing 14-10 in the closing minutes, the Blazers were stopped on fourth-andgoal from the 2. The Pirates ran out the clock to secure the victory.
Mullins scored on a 5-yard run with 39 seconds left in the first quarter and gave Gosnell a 14-3 halftime lead on a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left in the second quarter.
The Blazers played without senior quarterback Noah Johns because of an ankle injury.
8-4A MONTICELLO 28, DEWITT 20
MONTICELLO — Justin Berry returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown with 1:04 left to seal Monticello’s victory over DeWitt.
Dewitt (3-7, 2-5 8-4A) had a chance to tie the game with 1:50 left when Jeremy Smith scored on a 2-yard run to get within 21-20, but the extra point failed and Monticello led 21-20. Berry’s interception return sealed the game for Monticello (46, 4-3).
Berry also caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter from Imani Riley, who was 6 of 13 passing with 3 touchdowns and rushed 26 times for 153 yards. Berry’s touchdown catch tied the game at 7-7, and Riley’s 13-yard pass to Zach Young gave the Billies a 14-7 lead going into halftime.
Daniel Moser’s 35-yard pass to Smith, who scored three touchdowns, tied the game at 14-14, but Riley’s 60-yard pass to Jalen Handley made it 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
HAMBURG 49, DUMAS 7
DUMAS — Hamburg running back Trey Miller accounted for nearly half of his team’s 546 total yards in their rout of Dumas.
Miller scored on a 9-yard touchdown run only 15-seconds into the first quarter and tacked on a 56-yard touchdown run at the end of the quarter as the Lions led 21-0.
Miller finished the game with 219 yards on 9 carries and 3 touchdowns.
Hamburg continued pouring it on in the second quarter with a 29-yard touchdown run from Demonte Burns and a 1-yard touchdown run from Kevin Miller to take a 42-0 lead at half.
The Hamburg defense, which has pitched five shutouts this season, held the Bobcats to 57 yards of total offense and allowed Dumas’ only score in the fourth quarter.
WARREN 45, LAKE VILLAGE 0
WARREN — Senior quarterback Drake Jones threw three first-quarter touchdowns to help lead Warren (7-3, 7-0 8-4A) past Lake Village, the Lumberjacks’ seventh consecutive victory.
The Lumberjacks led 42-0 at halftime. Jones threw scoring passes of 56 yards to Von Eric Gonder, 41 yards to Franklin Gilmore and 43 yards to Jaylon Marshall.
Other first-half touchdowns were scored by 235-pound senior linebacker Kendrick Newton on a 7-yard run and 290-pound senior offensive guard Jhamahl Bell on a 1-yard run.
Warren will have a first-round playoff bye.
STAR CITY 48, CROSSETT 20
CROSSETT — Sophomore quarterback Tye Brown ran for two first-half touchdowns in Star City’s victory over Crossett.
The Bulldogs (7-3, 5-2 8-4A) led 48-6 at halftime and finished with no turnovers.