Pioneers remove starters; FCity avoids shutout
Headed into the second half of Friday's homecoming game against the visiting Batesville Pioneers, it appeared the Forrest City Mustangs, trailing 39-0, were on their way to being shutout for the third time this season.
Batesville, coming out to start the second half, offered a reprieve and an olive branch by pulling their starters and inserting subs for the remainder of the game.
The Mustangs, trailing 39-0 at the half with the "mercy rule" continuous running clock in play for the second half, made the most of the opportunity and scored twice to avoid the shutout.
A Forrest City interception and a fumble recovery by Daniel Rolfe led to a Mustang touchdown. The two-point play failed due ot a fumbled snap from center leaving the Mustangs trailing 39-6 to end the third quarter.
The next Forrest City chance for more points happened when Batesville came up short on a fourth and two play early in the fourth quarter.
Getting the ball back, Forrest City picked up a first down from quarterback Jamontay Flenoy on a designed keeper play with excellent blocking by junior Willie Murphy.
That eventually led to a touchdown pass to Flenoy and a 39-12 Batesville lead after the Mustangs two point try failed.
As they had done the previous week against Valley View, the Mustangs used several quarterbacks against Batesville, junior Trevon Gordon, sophomore Aiden Boyd, Flenoy and Dominique Sinclair.
Batesville's final possession of the game ended on a fourth down punt with just over three minutes left in the game.
The Mustangs, 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the 5A-East conference, registered just minus five total yards for the first half while the Pioneers rang up 190 yards rushing on 11 attempts.
The Mustangs played the Batesville game without head coach Teli White who has been suspended by the district.
Forrest City will make the trip to Paragould on Friday as conference play continues.
••••• Thirteen yards from a first down and 15 yards from the end zone, the Brookland Bearcats faced long odds on fourth down in the final minute of Friday’s Homecoming game against the visiting Green County Tech Golden Eagles at Jordan Stadium.
Senior quarterback Aidan Roberson rolled to his left to elude Greene County Tech’s pass rush on the fateful fourth down and lofted the ball to the end zone. Senior wide receiver David York, coming back to the ball, caught Roberson’s pass in the front of the end zone for a 15-yard reception and the goahead touchdown with 28.8 seconds left in the game.
Gabe Guimond added the extra point and the Bearcats snuffed out the Eagles’ last-gasp possession to complete an unlikely 17-14 victory in 5A-East conference football.
Brookland (3-3, 1-2 conference) scored 10 points off turnovers in the fourth quarter to earn the victory.
After scoring a 65-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, the Bearcats were silent offensively for the remainder of the first half as GCT (3-3, 1-2) took a 14-7 halftime lead.
A low snap on third-and-two pushed the Bearcats back which led to a 29-yard field goal with 11:50 left in the game, pulling Brookland within 14-10.
Consecutive runs by Wright reached the 10 and the Bearcats were pushed back to the 15 by a false start penalty. A third-down pass in York’s direction fell incomplete in the end zone.
The Bearcats didn’t miss on fourth down.
GCT was also without its regular quarterback as Farmer played in place of Christian Barber, who was injured against Wynne.
Wright’s long run gave Brookland the lead 10 seconds into the game. GCT tied the game with 2:48 left in the first quarter when Farmer scored on a nineyard run.
The Eagles pulled in front 14-7 on Farmer’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Brookes Reddick with 7:31 left in the second quarter. GCT had a scoring opportunity late in the first half, moving to the Brookland 32, but Farmer’s fourth-down pass was broken up by Dax Webb with 1:17 remaining.
While GCT visits Nettleton next week, Brookland travels to Valley View next Friday. Friday night’s victory broke a three-game losing streak for the Bearcats.
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Koby Bradley ran for three touchdowns, all in the first half, as Nettleton pulled away on the way to a 49-0 victory over Paragould in 5A-East football.
Cameron Scarlett threw two touchdown passes and Curtez Smith scored twice for the Raiders (6-0, 3-0 conference). Nettleton’s defense posted its second shutout of the season and first in conference play since beating Greene County Tech in 2018.
Bradley scored on a four-yard run only 26 seconds into the game. He broke a 69-yard touchdown run with 2:12 remaining in the period as the Raiders opened a 14-0 lead over the Rams (0-5, 0-3). Nettleton led 27-0 at halftime. Scarlett threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Doniquias Willis and ran in the two-point conversion, giving Nettleton a 350 lead with 7:51 left in the third quarter.
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Wynne limited Valley View to 124 total yards Friday night while keeping the Blazers out of the end zone in a 21-6 victory in 5A-East conference football.
The Yellowjackets (5-1, 3-0 conference) also scored a defensive touchdown in their fifth consecutive victory, a win that kept them in a first-place tie with Nettleton in the 5A-East.
Wynne opened the scoring with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter when John Watson threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Carsean Washington. Valley View (4-2, 2-1) blocked a punt to set up its first score, Jose Mendoza’s 32yard field goal with 4:12 left in the opening quarter.
The Blazers pulled within 14-6 with 6:22 left in the third quarter with a 32-yard field goal, capping a six-play, 47-yard drive.
Wynne put the game out of reach with an eight-play, 90-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Watson scored on a 29yard run to set the final score.
The Yellowjackets finished with 270 total yards, including 186 rushing yards on 44 carries.