WEST MEMPHIS -- The West Memphis defense smothered Blytheville and took advantage of some early special teams miscues by the Chickasaws on the way to a 40-0 victory.
The Chickasaws (1-1) were held to minus-16 yards rushing, and the Blue Devils (2-0) gave up just 48 yards passing.
"I've been the head coach [at Blytheville] for four years, and this is the best defense we've played against," Chickasaws head Coach Ben Fisher said. "I talked to Batesville's coaches after they scrimmaged West Memphis, and they said their offense will get going, but that their defense is just ridiculous."
Blytheville's punt team committed two early mistakes on bad snaps, and West Memphis turned both into touchdowns.
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The first, which gave the Blue Devils possession at the Blytheville 31, resulted in a 7-yard touchdown by quarterback Michael Troxler. The second high snap gave West Memphis the ball at the Chickasaws' 6. On third down, Quincy Marshall increased the Blue Devils' lead to 13-0 with a 3-yard touchdown.
West Memphis built a 26-0 halftime lead thanks to a 13-yard touchdown by senior running back Guren Holmes, who rushed for 99 yards, and another touchdown from Marshall.
"Twenty-six to nothing at halftime ... I was pretty pleased with that," West Memphis Coach Billy Elmore. "We went back out in the third quarter and re-established what we were doing."
Holmes scored his second touchdown with 7:08 left in the third quarter, and Amaurius Stinnett, who started at wide receiver, lined up at quarterback for a 7-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds left in the third quarter to close out the scoring.
West Memphis senior defensive end Verndarious Davis led his unit with three quarterback sacks and one other tackle for lost yardage.
Sports on 09/09/2017