CONWAY -- Allie Freeman capped a stellar week for Episcopal Collegiate on Friday night, earning MVP honors of the Arkansas High School Coaches Association's All-Star football game.
Freeman, a 5-11 wide receiver, caught 6 passes for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading the West to a 31-21 victory at Estes Stadium.
A night earlier, Episcopal's Kelvin Robinson was selected as MVP of the boys basketball game.
"That's real strange, isn't it," said Freeman, who was a football and basketball teammate of Robinson's at the Class 3A school in Little Rock. "But Kelvin is the ultimate competitor and I knew he could play with anyone from any classification. I was real proud of him."
Freeman had touchdown catches of 6 and 9 yards in the first quarter from Benton quarterback Cason Maertens, who said all of the East receivers were at the top of their game Friday.
"That's why I didn't win the MVP," Maertens joked. "Allie Freeman, that's who I had to throw it to. But all of our receivers are good. Tyson Morris of Fayetteville and Joe Hampton [of Little Rock Christian] made for big targets and Allie is so quick. And my O-line, they did a great job of protecting me all night."
Maertens finished 19 of 25 for 266 yards, 189 of which came in the game's first 11:14. The West scored on its first three possessions and led 21-0 after the first quarter.
Hampton, a 6-2, 180-pound receiver, caught four passes for a game-high 96 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown from Maertens with 6:00 left in the first quarter.
"It was amazing, but I really wasn't expecting it," said Hampton, who has signed to play at Central Arkansas this fall. "I just knew if I could beat my guy deep, I should be able to make it to the end zone."
Freeman, who is heading to Ouachita Baptist , caught 74 passes for 1,565 yards and 20 touchdowns for Episcopal during his senior year. He said he had heard of Maertens all season and was looking forward to teaming up with him.
"He was incredible," Freeman said of Maertens. "He has a great talent and a great arm. ... I knew we might have something special and it showed out here tonight."
"His passes were perfect," Hampton said. "I couldn't have asked for a better quarterback today."
Morris, who is headed to Central Oklahoma, with three receptions for 87 yards, including a 51-yard catch that set up the West's first touchdown. Gravette's Jackson Soule also had three catches for 38 yards for the West.
East receiver Tre Bruce caught both of his touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. The Pulaski Academy receiver led his team with five receptions for 77 yards. Conway's Breylin Smith had an 18-yard touchdown pass to Bruce with 11:56 left while McCrory's Cade Campbell hit Bruce for a 15-yard scoring pass with 5:43 to play.
Sports on 06/25/2016