Arkansas High beginning to find identity with big win over Dollarway

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Arkansas High got key stops on defense, a lot of yardage on offense and even some big special team plays against Pine Bluff Dollarway on Friday night at Razorback Stadium.

Kyron Young, who was stepping in for fellow running back Marjaevion Cummings, was hard to bring down as the Razorback sprinted for 138 yards on 12 carries — 11.5 yards per carry — and found the end zone three times to help lead the Razorbacks to a 35-0 victory over Dollarway. Teammates Trystan Powell and Luke Paxton also found success on limited carries, combining for 56

yards on just three attempts and a Powell touchdown.

“We ran the ball pretty well,” Arkansas High head coach and Athletic Director Barry Norton said. “(Dollarway) brought a lot of pressure up the middle on us so we were able to take the ball outside and find some success. Right now, we’re looking for more consistency on both sides of the ball. As we do that, we’ll have to find our identity on offense and who we are.

“We’re still searching for it.” Arkansas High (1-1) scored 21 points in the second quarter and seven points in each of the third and fourth quarters. During that span, the special teams blocked two punts and the defense came away with an interception, forced a fumble and a turnover on downs.

Layton Lammers gave the Hogs their first score of the game in the second quarter when he found Jeremiah Jones on a 53-yard catch-and-run to take a 7-0 lead. Lammers finished 6-of-10 passing, 124 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Razorbacks.

Young and Powell would go on to score the next three, including two 5-yard runs by Young and a 9-yard play by Powell.

Defensively, Powell led the Hogs with eight tackles. Ricky Williams, Shitez Wilkerson, Marcus Floyd, Christian Torres and Darius Hill each had six tackles in the win. Ricky Williams and Jordan Williams both recovered a fumble and Ricky Williams added an interception to his totals.

“The defense played hard and did everything we ask of them,” Norton said. “I’m proud of the kids and how well they respond.”

The game, however, wasn’t all Razorbacks as Dollarway (1-1) began straight after the first whistle with a purpose as it set the tone early in the first quarter and only allowed Arkansas High two offensive snaps the entire quarter.

“There were some good things and there were some bad things about tonight’s game,” Norton said. “We couldn’t get them off the field early and we thought they were going to score coming out. They would not allow us any snaps and, when they did, we turned the ball over on the first one.”

The Cardinals had their first punt of the game blocked by Floyd, which put the Hogs in the red zone. But Lammers’ first pass of the game was intercepted, and nearly the rest of the quarter belonged to Dollarway. Demetrius Cherry also had a blocked kick on the night for Arkansas High.

After the interception, Dollarway’s Jayvion Cain picked up a first down on a fourth-and-2 play. Four plays later, the Cardinals faced another fourth-down situation, this time a fake punt was called that saw Devion James find the sideline for a 16-yard run on a fourth-and-13 to pick up the first down. James finished with 36 yards on 12 carries.

Dollarway attempted to push its run game against the Razorback defense and ended up with 102 yards on 33 tries, averaging about 3 yards per carry. Cain led the attack with 52 yards on 13 attempts.

Briveon Sample completed 3 of 10 passes for 7 yards for the Cardinals.

For coach Norton and the Razorbacks, Friday night’s win had its ups and downs, but most importantly it brought some of the players valuable experience going forward.

“We didn’t get to play that many games last year and some of these kids are seeing the field for one of their first times or for the first time in a very long time,” he said. “The game got lopsided so we couldn’t throw the ball like we’d like to.

“But, we got the win and that’s the thing we needed. Going forward we will focus on becoming a better football team.”

Arkansas High travels to Mount Pleasant next Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Tigers.