Alma notches win in its 5A-West opener

ALMA — A lengthy drive just before halftime was just what Alma needed to spark a strong second half Friday night at Airedale Stadium.

Alma scored with just two seconds left before halftime then didn’t look back after that in a 28-3 victory against Vilonia in a 5A-West Conference game.

“It’s always big when you can get a score right before halftime,” Alma coach Doug Loughridge said. “We wanted to extend that margin. We needed to have that score to gain momentum.”

Alma took a 14-3 lead heading into halftime with the help of the late drive capped off by junior quarterback Garrison Jensen.

The Airedales took over at the 27 with 2 minutes, 41 seconds left before halftime and senior quarterback Noah Dotson helped march down the field with his scrambling ability.

Jensen finished the scoring drive with a 1-yard rush on second-and-goal with just two seconds left before the break to extend the lead.

“We were a little slow out of the gate,” Loughridge said. “We were hoping to be sharp. But we kind of came in out of sync. Our defense held its own until we got it going on offense.”

Alma (2-2, 1-0) then was able to dominate the time of possession in the second half, allowing Vilonia to run 15 offensive plays for 43 yards after finishing with 129 in the first half.

“I don’t believe the score showed how this game played out,” Vilonia coach Ron Young said. “I know people will judge it that way. But I’ve never been more proud of a group of guys. It wasn’t our best game, but we played against a wellcoached team.”

Dotson was a big boost to the offense when he took over after not playing until Alma’s fourth possession of the game.

He helped guide the final scoring drive before halftime and then helped on two more touchdown drives in the third quarter to put the game away.

Dotson finished 9 of 14 passing for 111 yards and one touchdown. He also added 82 yards on the ground on nine carries.

Alma junior wide receiver Brayden Johnson finished with nine catches for 89 yards with a touchdown.

Junior running back Kaleb Pike finished with 54 yards on nine carries with one touchdown all in the second half to help the Airedales on the ground.