Arkadelphia drops 4A-7 opener to Scrappers on the road

NASHVILLE — Three mistakes on special teams became the determining factor as defending Class 4A state champion Arkadelphia dropped its 4A-7 conference opener, 28-23, to Nashville at Scrapper Stadium Friday night.

The Badgers (0-4, 0-1) had two mistakes on punt attempts that both led to touchdowns for the Scrappers (4-0, 1-0) while Nashville had one that the Badgers converted.

Nashville got on the scoreboard first on a 26-yard run by Keyshawn Stewart, but the Badgers quickly took control, adding 17 points in the quarter with a field goal and a score each by the defense and offense. The Scrappers scored another touchdown late in the first half to pull within 17-14 at the break.

“Basically in the second half, it was a defensive struggle,” Arkadelphia head coach J.R. Eldridge said. “We made two mistakes on punt. We snapped the ball over the kicker’s kead for them for a touchdown, and then we have another bobbled snap where our punter punts it straight up in the air. They recover the ball and return it into the end zone. So they got 14 points off of bad punt execution in the second half.”

With Nashville ahead, 28-17, at the end of the third frame, Arkadelphia tried for a 30-yard field goal that failed before Nashville’s center sent a bad snap to the punter. The Badgers recovered in the end zone to pull within 28-23. With the rain continuing to fall, the quarterback mishandled the snap on the unsuccessful conversion play.

Arkadelphia attempted an onside kick, but Nashville recovered, holding the ball the final two minutes to secure the win.

“They played hard,” he said. “They’ve played hard in every single game. They’ve been right in every game except for Benton. They played hard, but they made some critical errors that kept us from being great. It was just two great teams playing football. We just made more mistakes than they did.”

Arkadelphia will host Joe T. Robinson (4-1, 1-0) Friday night, and Nashville will travel to Fountain Lake (3-1, 0-1).