Hot Springs started the season 0-3 despite losing its first two games by a combined two points.
Thanks to junior running back Clarence "Cleo" Floyd, the Trojans aren't winless anymore.
Floyd finished with 352 all-purpose yards in Hot Springs' 24-7 victory over Watson Chapel last Friday, achieving the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Feat of the Week. He returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and scored twice on the ground.
Feat of the week
PLAYER Clarence “Cleo” Floyd
SCHOOL Hot Springs
CLASS Junior
POSITION Running back
HEIGHT/WEIGHT 5-11, 167 pounds
OPPONENT Watson Chapel
STATS Accounted for 352 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns. Rushed for 205 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries and returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown.
"Every coach wants that gamebreaker," Coach Chris Vereen said. "He's one of those guys that every time he touches the ball, something huge is going to happen."
On the ground, Floyd rushed for a career-high 205 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries. He scored on runs of 9 and 7 yards in the first quarter.
Defensively, Floyd, who also plays cornerback, had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two tackles for loss.
Floyd's first touchdown came from nine yards out to give the Trojans a 6-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first quarter. He added a 71-yard run later in the quarter and ran in the two-point conversion to make it 14-0 Trojans, finishing the quarter with 6 carries for 92 yards.
Watson Chapel pulled within 14-7 with 24 seconds left in the first half, but Floyd returned the Wildcats kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown to extend Hot Springs' lead to 21-7 with 10 seconds remaining.
Vereen said that he thought the Trojans had the game in control before turning the ball over, which led to the Wildcats' only touchdown.
Floyd's kickoff return eased Vereen's mind, though.
"It changed everything," Vereen said.
Floyd didn't score in the second half, but ran 12 times for 80 yards on the Trojans' scoring drive that ended in a Matt Ellars' 25-yard field goal that made it 24-7.
As a sophomore, Floyd was Hot Springs' top receiver, finishing with 646 yards and 8 touchdowns, averaging 19.0 yards per catch. He moved to running back in Week 9 last season because of injuries.
Vereen joked that Hot Springs probably should have moved Floyd to running back sooner, but with upperclassmen ahead of him, he stayed at receiver.
This season, Floyd has rushed for 487 yards and 5 touchdowns on 59 carries. He's averaging 121.8 yards per game and 8.2 yards per carry.
On Friday night, Floyd gave Hot Springs fans a performance to remember.
"I don't know if anybody could have done what Clarence did that night," Vereen said.
Sports on 10/01/2014