CHARLESTON -- Booneville and Charleston hadn't played each other in 17 years before Friday night.
Ty Storey made sure the latest meeting between the Arkansas River Valley rivals was a memorable one for Charleston.
The senior quarterback, who is orally committed to the University of Arkansas, completed 23 of 27 passes for 390 yards and 5 touchdowns and rushed for 2 more scores as Tigers defeated the Bearcats 47-20 in front of an overflow crowd of 3,500 at Alumni Field.
Storey had 266 yards in the first quarter alone and completed his first 11 passes while throwing scoring passes to senior Dalton Christenberry (74, 13 yards), senior Dylan Jones (24, 49 yards) and junior Wade Gerlick (8 yards) in the first half.
"Big-time players make big-time plays in big games," Charleston quarterback Greg Kendrick said. "He's at his best in big games."
Storey and the 16 other seniors on Charleston's roster have heard stories about the Booneville-Charleston rivalry during their career. On Friday, they left their mark on the storied rivalry as the Tigers beat the Bearcats for the first time since 1991.
"It was definitely a different week," said Storey, who had 379 yards at halftime. "You could feel it in the air. It was a crazy atmosphere. We came out on top, and that's what means the most."
Jones caught 6 passes for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. Christenberry had 107 yards on three catches, and Taylor King had eight catches for 97 yards.
Charleston took a 6-0 lead on the first play of the game as Storey found Christenberry down the right sideline for a 74-yard touchdown. The Tigers extended their lead to 14-0 with a six-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Storey's 24-yard touchdown pass to Jones with 7:25 left in the first quarter. Storey ran in the two-point conversion.
Charleston's one turnover in the half came when Storey fumbled and Booneville senior linebacker Shannon Vannortrick recovered at the Tigers 43. One play later, senior halfback Matt Berry raced 43 yards for the Bearcats' first score to pull Booneville to within 14-7 with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter.
Charleston went right back to work, going 85 yards in five plays to extend its lead to 21-7. King's 24-yard reception on a third-and-20 play set up Storey's 49-yard touchdown pass to Jones with 51 seconds left in the quarter.
Booneville pulled to within 21-14 early in the second quarter on senior Bryson May's 74-yard touchdown run, but Storey threw his fourth touchdown pass of the half with 5:52 left, this one a 13-yarder to Christenberry in the back of the end zone to give Charleston a 27-14 lead.
The Bearcats faced fourth and 4 at the Charleston 43, but Charleston was called for encroachment to give the Bearcats a first down. One play later, May ran 38 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-20 with 2:06 before halftime.
The Tigers answered the Bearcats one more time. Storey threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Gerlick, his fifth of the half, for a 34-20 advantage with 12 seconds left in the half.
Storey added two 1-yard touchdown runs in the second half to increase the Tigers' lead to 47-20 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.
Booneville Coach Scott Hyatt, who has coached the Bearcats since 2007, said he hasn't seen a quarterback like Storey.
"He's good," Hyatt said. "He's a great kid. I've been around him some. He's a good football player. He makes good decisions on the field.
"You got a kid who can read coverages like that, you've got a special kid there."
May finished with 161 yards on 16 carries, while Berry had 87 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries.
Sports on 11/01/2014