WEST MEMPHIS - West Memphis clinched at least a tie for the 6A-East Conference championship with a 36-8 victory over Jacksonville.
The Blue Devils (8-1, 6-0 6AEast) rushed for 389 yards, 276 of it coming in the second half en route to winning their eighth in a row. West Memphis led only 8-0 at halftime and fumbled three times, losing one of them.
West Memphis quarterback Jason Joiner recovered two of his teammates' fumbles and the Blue Devils committed three costly penalties before a furious West Memphis Coach Lanny Dauksch called timeout to admonish his offense on his team's second possession of the second half.
"I think it woke us up because I don't think we were focused at all up to that point," said Joiner, who threw for 82 yards and one touchdown. "I could tell by the look in some of the guys' eyes that Coach got our attention."
The Blue Devils were flagged one more time for a hold, but they finished off the drive six plays later when senior fullback Joshua Wilson, who rushed for 85 yards, scored a 1-yard touchdown with 2:47 to go in the third quarter to make it 14-0.
Joiner caught the Jacksonville defense napping by connecting with senior wingback Mario James for a 49-yard touchdown pass just over a minute later. Wilson ran for the two-point conversion for a 22-0 lead.
"When you commit that many penalties, obviously you're not focused," Dauksch said. "And that's not like us. We normally don't commit that many penalties. I was glad to see us respond."
Jacksonville (3-6, 2-4) answered quickly when Thomas Blade, who completed 11 of 30 for 122 yards, hit a wide open Cordero Shelton for a 53-yard touchdown. The two reconnected on the two-point conversion to make it 22-8.
West Memphis sealed the victory when junior Michael Hayes ran 14 yards for a touchdown with 9:31 to play in the fourth quarter to make it 29-8 after Paulo Henriques' extra point.
West Memphis added another touchdown with 29 seconds to play on a 4-yard run by Greg Westbrooks.
The Blue Devils scored their first touchdown with 3:41 to play in the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown by senior Terry Edwards, who rushed for 82 yards on 10 carries. Wilson added the two-point conversion.
Jacksonville compiled 194 yards, the highest total against the West Memphis defense this season.
FORREST CITY 29, MOUNTAIN HOME 10
FORREST CITY - Chris Trippp ran for two touchdowns late in the game to help Forrest City (7-2, 5-1 6A-East) pull away from Mountain Home (1-7-1, 1-5).
Mountain Home pulled within 17-10 with 5:43 left in the third quarter on a 10-yard run by Bob Durr and successful extra-point kick.
Tripp then ran 15 yards for a touchdown with 2:39 to go in the third period.Tripp scored again with 2:30 left in the game on a 23-yard run to clinch the victory. The conversion attempt failed each time.
Forrest City led in the first quarter on a 23-yard field goal by Josh Smith. Mountain Home matched that with Chase Armistead's 28-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Forrest City took the lead by halftime on a 43-yard touchdown run by Leonard Banks with 31 seconds left in the half.
J.R. Williams pushed Forrest City's lead to17-3 when he ran 70 yards for a touchdown and the point-after was good.
MARION 34, JONESBORO 0
MARION - Deappolis Smith ran for two touchdowns and 105 yards on 25 carries as Marion (5-4, 3-3 6A-East) defeated Jonesboro (2-7, 1-5).
Jerry Patton kicked field goals of 28 and 37 yards.
Bubba Cooper scored twice on an 18-yard run and a 25-yard pass from Jonathan Milikin.
Sports, Pages 31 on 10/27/2007