Lions get big win over Bobcats
GRAVETTE — The Lions brought home a big gridiron victory from Berryville Friday night, defeating the Bobcats, 35-13.
Rhett Hilger threw for four touchdown passes during a 6-minute span in the second quarter to propel Gravette past Berryville and give the Lions their third straight 4A-1 Conference win.
Hilger hit Mason Meeker with a 28-yard touchdown pass with 6:08 before halftime, then the two connected again on a 70-yard scoring strike after Berryville (16, 0-4) scored on a 1-yard run by Tun Oo. Hilger added touchdown passes of 62 yards to Will Betz and 19 yards to Kais Patton to give the Lions (4-3, 3-1) a 28-6 halftime cushion.
Hilger added a 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, then Berryville closed out the scoring on a 1-yard touchdown run by Decimus Ruiz.
While neither team scored in the opening quarter, the Lions scored four touchdowns in the second quarter, allowing the Bobcats one TD for a 28-6 lead by halftime.
The third quarter was again without a touchdown but both sides added a TD and an extra point in the final quarter for the 35-13 final.
Gravette senior Mason Meeker caught two touchdown passes, picking up 98 receiving yards in the contest. Senior Will Betz and sophomore Kais Patton each caught one going into the end zone. Betz had 136 receiving yards on six receptions in the game.
Gravette senior Rhett Hilger, the quarterback, carried one across the goal line, as well.
Sophomore Liam McGuire was five for five in point-after attempts.
Gravette had a total of 482 yards in the contest — 347 receiving yards and 75 rushing — as well as 31 kickoff return, 11 punt return, and 18 interception return yards.
Sophomores Carter Flynt and Eric Vogt both had interceptions in the game, with Flynt picking up 18 yards.
Garrett Merworth had seven tackles and six assists in the game, and Shad Nelson had seven and four. Jaxon Galyean had four and seven, including a quarterback sack.
The Lions are now 4-3 for the season and 3-1 in conference play.
The Lions host the Green Forest Tigers on Friday at 7 p.m., following 6:30 p.m. homecoming ceremonies in Lion Stadium.