Junior Rams storm past Texarkana

Lakeside’s junior high football team blanked Texarkana 21-0 to remain undefeated on the season last week.

The junior Rams (8-0, 5-0) opened the scoring when Grady Ohman carried the ball into the end zone from 17 yards out to put Lakeside ahead 7-0 after Denver Davidson’s extra point in the second quarter.

Into the third quarter, Ryan Ballard scored on a 5-yard touchdown rush to put the junior Rams ahead 14-0. Ohman set the final in the fourth quarter on a 36-yard touchdown carry.

Lakeside’s defense played stoutly during the contest, only allowing 15 yards of offense. Ohman led the junior Rams with nine tackles while Britton Diaz and Elijah Witherspoon added seven each.

Walker DeLong and Joseph Newman both added five tackles.

Lakeside received a forfeit win against Hope, so the junior Rams’ next game will be at home against DeQueen Oct. 21.

The eighth grade Rams handled Texarkana, 39-6. Beau Brock opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run before Wally Walcott found Brock through the air on the ensuing 2-point conversion.

Texarkana answered with a touchdown of its own, but Lakeside was quick to add a 5-yard score from Chris Ford. After Wolcott found Javarius Russell on the 2-point conversion, Lakeside led 16-6.

After a Preston DeGrasse interception, Ford scored again, this time on a 17-yard carry for a 22-6 edge.

In the second quarter, Brock added another 3-yard touchdown before Wolcott converted another 2-point attempt by finding Drew Morgan through the air for a 30-6 advantage.

Late in the second quarter, Wolcott targeted A.J. Burns for an 8-yard touchdown reception to set the halftime score at 36-6. Sam Luse set the final with a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Ford finished with 75 yards and two touchdowns on six carries while Brock contributed 62 yards and two scores on eight rushes.

The eighth grade Rams (6-1, 4-0) will travel to Hope Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

NPC COMPETES IN CROSS COUNTRY MEET

National Park’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed in the Ouachita Tiger Invitational at Ouachita Baptist last week.

NPC sophomore Meighan Mears, a Lake Hamilton grad, led the Nighthawks in the women’s 5K race with a time of 23:01.6 for a 43rd place finish out of 73 runners. Kya Schmidt (25:11.9) finished 55th, followed by Elizabeth Dearyan (26:05.1) in 58th and Olivia Caraway (26:08.5) in 59th.

Matthew Farias led the Nighthawks in the men’s 8K race with a time of 30:10.6 which earned him a 36th place finish out of 67 runners. Yael Sandoval (31:34.8) finished in 41st, followed by John Dykes (34:09.5) in 49th and Caiden Ingram (37:22.6) in 58th.

Both teams will be back in action in the Carl Albert State College meet Thursday in Poteau, Okla.

COBRAS COMPETE IN CONFERENCE, STATE TOURNAMENTS

Fountain Lake competed in the Class 4A-7 District Tennis Tournament last week where Lainey Mungle won the girls singles district championship and Paige Davis finished runner-up as the Lady Cobras finished as conference co-champions.

The duo of Angela Coriaty and Emma Kaumeyer finished third in girls doubles.

On the boys side, Andrew Lydon finished third in singles and Andrew Bledsoe came in fourth.

Fountain Lake also competed in the Class 4A State Tournament Monday. Mungle blanked her opponent in the first round before losing in two sets in the second round, 6-2, 6-3.

Davis lost 6-2, 6-2 while the pair of Coriaty and Kaumeyer also fell in the first round, 6-2, 6-3.

Andrew Lydon also lost in the first round in boys singles 6-1, 6-4.

JUNIOR RAMS CONTINUE STELLAR SEASON

Lakeside’s junior high volleyball teams fell to Conway White at home despite a close, three-set eighth grade match.

The eighth grade Rams lost the first set 25-18, before battling back in the second 25-22. However, Conway White took the final set 15-11.

Baryett Janes led the junior Rams with eight service points while Jaylen Brakebill added seven service points of her own.

The ninth grade Rams fell in both their sets 25-12 and 25-23. Claire Vance led the team with five kills, nine blocks and three digs. Alexis Kessler chipped in four kills, three blocks, 11 digs and two aces, while Alyssa Nugent added three kills, two blocks and 11 digs.

Lola Rucksthul, Avery Wade and Ella Witherington all contributed blocks while Maddie Kinder added 15 digs on the back row. Laynee Throgmartin chipped in two kills, one ace and nine assists.

Despite the tough matches against Conway White, the junior Rams did win the Morrilton Invitational Tournament.

Lakeside ended the tournament with a 6-1 record including a pool play win over Vilonia and a pair of two-set splits with Sylvan Hills and Russellville.

After pool play, the junior Rams entered the elimination portion of the bracket as the No. 2 seed.

Lakeside took down Robinson 25-11, 25-15 before beating Sylvan Hills by the same scoreline. After a 25-12, 25-8 semifinal win, Lakeside took on Russellville in the championship match.

After falling in the first set 25-19, the junior Rams surged back for a 25-13 second set win and secured the title with a 15-12 third set victory.

In the final match, Rucksthul registered seven kills, 10 blocks, two digs, one ace and one assist. Vance added seven kills, four blocks, two digs and three aces. Kessler, Nugent and Kinder commanded play defensively with 17, 15 and 20 digs respectively. Throgmartin added 22 assists and two aces.

After wins in the Morrilton tournament and tough matches against Conway White, the junior Rams swept Magnolia.

The ninth grade Rams blew past the Panthers 25-11, 25-10. Kessler led the team with seven kills, one block, five digs and seven aces.

On the eighth grade side, the junior rams beat Magnolia 25-11, 25-19. Brakebill contributed nine service points and Sophie Botter added six.

The junior Rams also hosted Camden Fairview as Lakeside swept the Lady Cardinals across three matches.

The ninth grade team dominated the Lady Cardinals in the first match between the two teams with a 25-8, 25-7 win. The ninth grade Rams faced off with Camden Fairview again, where Lakeside won again 25-10, 25-8.

The eighth grade Rams dominated the Lady Cardinals as well, winning their match 25-6, 25-8.