MORRILTON -- Morrilton rolled up 306 yards rushing as the Devils Dogs defeated Russellville 35-21 Friday night in the season opener for both teams at Devil Dog Stadium.
Harrison Pavatt ran for 106 of his 170 yards in the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns to lead Class 5A Morrilton, while Demone Evans gained 83 yards on 14 carries with most of his yards coming in the first three quarter.
"We did some really good things," Morrilton Coach Cody McNabb said. "We were able to grind out some first downs late. We have a lot of things to work on, but it's a good start."
Morrilton jumped out a two-score lead but Russellville stayed in the game behind the passing of quarterback Cale Fulsom, who completed 10 passes for 259 yards and 3 touchdowns. Cole McKown and Ryan Meador both had more than 100 yards receiving for the Cyclones.
The Cyclones kept grinding away at the stout Morrilton defense and kept the game competitive until the Devil Dogs forced four consecutive incompletions with Russellville at 29 and looking to cut the lead for a fourth time.
"That's something we need to learn from," said McNabb, whose team went up by 14 points on four separate occasions only to see Russellville answer three times. "That's a good football team that we knew wouldn't quit no matter what the score was.
"We talked about that after the game, needing to finish better and slam the door."
Sports on 09/05/2015