Nettleton rolls into Sam Smith on Friday

Nettleton had very little troule keeping its record perfect Friday night.

The Raiders put 41 first half points in their homecoming game, then tacked on 14 more in the third quarter to rout Greene County Tech 55-7 in 5A-East conference football.

The Raiders will next visit Sam Smith Stadium Friday to face the Forrest City Mustangs for the 13th time since moving into the 5A-East Conference in 2008.

Last year's conference game between the two teams was cancelled due to covid issues.

The Mustangs, 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the East this season, lead the overall conference series against Nettleton 7-5.

Nettleton, picked for a fourth place finish in the preseason 5AEast rankings, currently share the league's top spot with Wynne. The Raiders are perfect at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference, while Wynne is 6-1 and 4-0.

The Mustangs will host Wynne on Oct. 29.

Nettleton's Cameron Scarlett ran for two touchdowns and threw for another, while Koby Bradley scored three rushing touchdowns for the Raiders last Friday, leaving the Raiders as one of only three undefeated teams remaining in the Class 5A ranks, joining Vilonia and Greenbrier.

Scarlett opened Nettleton’s scoring with a four-yard run with 10:17 remaining in the opening quarter and then added a safety following a Greene County Tech punt at the 7:27 mark for an 8-0 lead.

Scarlett added a nine-yard run, with 5:42 remaining in the first quarter and Bradley added a 31-yard touchdown run at the 3:03 mark to give Nettleton a 220 lead.

The Raiders scored three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Bradley scored on a 40yard run only nine seconds into the period, then reached the end zone on a 62-yard run with 7:21 remaining in the half. Scarlett threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Brown with 1:54 remaining to set the 41-0 halftime score.

Reserves added two more touchdowns in the third quarter for the Raiders. Ke’Andre Pope scored on a 13-yard run with 8:59 remaining in the period and Curtez Smith reached the end zone on a 1-yard run as Nettleton’s lead grew to 55-0.

Greene County Tech (3-4, 1-3 conference), avoided the shutout when Matthew Akins scored on a 59-yard run with 6:40 remaining in the game.

Nettleton has limited opponents to single-digit scoring in each of its four conference games.

Forrest City picked up its first conference win of the season Friday, defeating winless Paragould 20-14 in a double overtime affair played at Paragould.

Through seven games, the Mustangs have scored 80 points and have been shutout twice.

Greene County Tech drops out of the 5A-East Conferende folowing the conclusion of the current season and wil be replaced by Batesville Southside.