Russellville scored five first-half touchdowns, four on scoring passes, to take a 35-2 lead on its way to a 49-8 victory over Little Rock Hall on Friday night in Little Rock.
Taking the opening kickoff, senior quarterback Cody Jones led the Cyclones on a seven-play, 57-yard drive, completing 5 of 6 passes, including a 14-yard touchdown to Co-Chese Temple-Laws with 10:16 left in the first quarter.
After Hall’s Byron Davis fumbled the kickoff return, Jones hit senior tight end Drew Smith for a 23-yard touchdown pass with 9:13 left in the quarter.
After the Russellville defense forced a three-and-out, Jones found the end zone again, this time on a 33-yardtouchdown pass to junior Grant Gebhardt with 5:45 remaining in the quarter.
Jones finished 14 of 16 for 269 yards and 5 touchdowns despite sitting out most of the second half.
“We got some guys that can catch. … It’s fun to watch,” Russellville Coach Jeff Holt said. “When you can throw it around like that, you’ve always got a chance.”
Quarterback Melvin Walker led Hall in rushing, running for 51 yards on seven carries. He also completed 9 of 25 passes for 80 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions.
After Walker threw an interception in the end zone late in the first half, Hall got on the board when the Cyclones’ backup quarterback kneeled the ball in the end zone for a safety.
Trailing 42-2 early in the third-quarter, LR Hall defenders pounced on a fumble deep in Russellville territory and Walker hit senior Nickolas Wilson for a 3-yard touchdown pass.
LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC 31, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 28
Senior Andrew Hugen’s 29-yard field goal with 47 seconds remaining gave Little Rock Catholic the victory over Fort Smith Northside at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The Rockets (4-4, 3-2 7A/6A-Central) never led until Hugen’s field goal that capped a 34-yard drive.
The Grizzlies (2-5-1, 2-3) led 28-20 after three quarters before junior utility back D.J. Brown pulled the Rockets within 28-26 on a 1-yard run with 7:12 remaining.
Senior quarterback Zach Pinter followed with a pass for two points to senior tight end Aaron Hamaker to the score.
Pinter also threw touchdown passes of 10 and 5 yards to Hamaker and 40 yards to Will Chandler.
Prentice Victor scored on runs of 56 and 13 yards for Northside. Junior quarterback Grant Hood ran 54 yards for a touchdown to give the Grizzlies a 21-14 halftime lead.
Brown finished with 73 yards rushing on 21 carries, caught 5 passes for 117 yards and returned a kickoff 75 yards.
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/26/2013