Slow start not sinking Nashville

Nashville did not lose a conference game in Mike Volarvich’s first two seasons.

In 2017, the Scrappers (4-3, 2-2) have lost twice in the 7-4A Conference, but after a 35-28 victory over previously undefeated Ashdown (6-1, 3-1), Volarvich hopes his team has turned the corner.

“We’ve been up and down,” he said. “We went through a brutal stretch. Arkadelphia, Ashdown, [Joe T.] Robinson, they’re all talented. Hopefully we’re clicking.”

The Scrappers trailed Ashdown 21-6 at halftime and 28-20 at the end of the third quarter, but the fourth quarter belonged to Nashville.

Senior running back Trent Harris scored from 18 yards out and senior quarterback Tyler Hanson threw a two-point conversion pass to Ty Pettway, also a senior, to tie the game at 28-28. Hanson

scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:07 remaining from 1 yard out.

Hanson completed 17 of 32 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

“I thought Tyler had an exceptional game,” Volarvich said. “He took care of the football. He’s been solid all year. He’s a great competitor.”

Harris rushed for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns on 14 carries.

In seven games, Hanson is 133-of-228 passing for 2,012 yards with 17 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 288 yards and two touchdowns on 45 carries. Harris has rushed for 595 yards and 13 touchdowns on 106 carries.

Volarvich said the Scrappers played better in the second half against the Panthers.

“We just stopped shooting ourselves in the foot,” Volarvich said. “In the first half, we did some things that were really good and we had some opportunities, but we didn’t capitalize.

“We executed those things in the second half.”

Nashville’s defense forced five turnovers and limited Ashdown to below 100 yards rushing.

“That was big for us,” Volarvich said.

Nashville finishes the regular season with two of its final three regularseason games at home, with Mena coming to Scrapper Stadium on Friday. The Scrappers travel to Malvern on Oct. 27 before closing the season against Bauxite on Nov. 3.