PREP FOOTBALL Greenwood rolls over Russellville

RUSSELLVILLE -- It certainly wasn't a thing of beauty for one of the best teams in the state, but the Greenwood Bulldogs made enough big plays and held off a late Russellville charge to secure a 42-20 win over the Cyclones and remain unbeaten on the season.

Greenwood proved to be too much for the Cyclones to handle offensively as Hunter Wilkerson rushed for 135 yards and four touchdowns and Jace Presley passed for a touchdown for the Bulldogs (7-0, 4-0 6A-West).

The Russellville defense sacked Presley six times and picked off two passes in the first half alone to stay within striking distance of Greenwood briefly.

"It wasn't the best-played game by any means but we had a few big plays on defense when we came with some pressure." Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. "My hats off to Russellville for stopping us from throwing the ball like we wanted to."

Wilkerson scored on runs of 1, 3, 5 and 18 yards to pace Greenwood.

A spectacular 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Jayden Jasna after he fielded a short squib kick and weaved his way through a wave of Cyclone tacklers to help Greenwood answer an opening touchdown drive from Russellville that yielded a 46-yard TD pass from Brayden Whitford to Caleb Gray for a 7-7 tie midway through the first quarter.

From there, the state's No. 1 6A school proved their mettle in a sloppy game that featured five turnovers between the two teams.

The two teams were flagged for 13 penalties between them -- nine of them against Greenwood.

"Every time we play them it will be a game like this." Russellville coach Jeff Weaver said. "We had a bag full of tricks for them but they are so good defensively. The two biggest plays of the game were the kickoff return and the score on fourth down (a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Wilkerson)."

Presley connected with Caden Brown on a 52-yard scoring play early in the third quarter to extend the Greenwood advantage to 35-7 before Russellville came storming back with a pair of touchdowns on consecutive possessions.

Brayden Whitford passed to Cole Hathcote for a 2-yard TD and then scampered for a nifty 44-yard quarterback sneak for Russellville's final touchdown of the night that closed the gap at 35-20.

Whitford was 24-for-48 passing for 346 yards and three touchdowns for Russellville.

Wilkerson's fourth touchdown of the contest with 4 minutes and 23 seconds remaining finally put the game away for good for Greenwood -- who will travel to Benton next week.

"We have so much stuff we need to work on," Presley said. "But we just need to keep winning and try to fix some of the things before next week."

Russellville will trek to Hall next week.

Class 5A

Alma 21, Clarksville 14

Grayson Bailey's 19-yard run with 8:49 remaining lifted Alma to its second straight win as the Airedales defeated host Clarksville.

Alma (2-5, 2-2 5A-West) led 14-7, but Clarksville (4-3, 1-3) tied the score on Nicholas Buckner's 23-yard touchdown pass to Miles Kimbrel with 3:20 remaining in the third quarter. Bailey's run came six plays after Josh Davis blocked a Clarksville punt, giving Alma the ball at the Panthers 35.

Harrison 24, Greenbrier 7

Gabe Huskey ran for three touchdowns, and Harrison capped its 90-year celebration of Goblin football with a 5A-West Conference victory over Greenbrier.

Huskey gave Harrison (7-0, 4-0) a 14-0 halftime lead as he scored on a 3-yard run with 8:15 left in the second quarter and added a 7-yard touchdown less than 3 minutes later. Greenbrier (4-3, 2-2) made it a 14-7 game on Trey Haven's 7-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, but Huskey scored from 5 yards out and Max Payne added a 28-yard field goal.

Morrilton 45, Huntsville 6

Quarterback Jacolby Criswell threw five touchdown passes as the Devil Dogs (4-3 2-2 5A-West) easily handled Huntsville (1-6, 0-4).

Criswell was 21-of-31 passing for 308 yards and found Reggie Toney for a pair of touchdown passes. He also connected with Xaviar Clemons for a touchdown, then with Quincy Clemons for his final scoring toss as the Devil Dogs led 42-6 at halftime.

Xaviar Clemons added a 13-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, while Geraldo Zuniga kicked a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter set the final margin.

Toney led Morrilton with 86 yards receiving on 4 catches and the 2 TDs. Xaviar Clemons led all rushers with 79 yards on 12 attempts.

CLASS 4A

Gravette 29, Berryville 7

Gravette scored 17 second-quarter points to pull ahead of Berryville and earn a 4A-1 Conference home victory.

Berryville milked almost 10 minutes off the clock on its opening possession and capped it with Brett Parsons' 2-yard run. Gravette (3-4, 2-2) tied it at 7 when Chace Austin ran 54 yards on a score, then broke the tie with Mason Bagley stripped the ball from Bobcat runner and ran 45 yards for a score.

Rens Koopman's 26-yard field goal gave the Lions a 17-7 halftime cushion, then Gravette extended its lead with Cy Hilger's 44-yard touchdown pass to Ian Drake and Austin's 55-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Lincoln 41, Green Forest 14

Christian Sellers and Noe Avellaneda ran for a pair of first-half touchdowns as Lincoln rolled to a win at home over Green Forest.

Avellaneda scored on a 12-yard run after Green Forest fumbled the opening kickoff, then Sellers scored from 7 yards out to give the Wolves (5-2, 2-2) a 14-0 lead after one quarter. After Reiley Gordon scored on a 12-yard run to pull the Tigers within 14-6, Lincoln responded with touchdown runs of 13 yards by Sellers, 23 yards by Blake Arnold and 2 yards by Avellaneda to take a 34-6 lead at halftime.

Arnold then returned an interception 30 yards for Lincoln's final score and forced the running clock.

Pea Ridge 57, Prairie Grove 28

Tate Busey accounted for four touchdowns, three in the first quarter, as Pea Ridge remained unbeaten in 4A-1 Conference play with a rout of visiting Pea Ridge.

Busey threw touchdown passes of 7 yards to Brayden Ralph and 9 yards to Hunter Rains, then he ran 56 yards for a score after Prairie Grove tied the game at 14 on Harger's 52-yard touchdown run. Busey then followed Samuel Beard's 37-yard touchdown run with a 1-yard score to give the Blackhawks (4-3, 4-0) a 35-14 halftime cushion.

Beard added touchdown runs of 15 and 81 yards in the second half, then Pea Ridge forced the running clock after Daniel DeLeon's 6-yard touchdown run made it a 57-22 game.

Beard finished with 271 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, while Busey added 124 yards and two scores on 11 carries. Busey was also 6 of 12 passing for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Mena 42, Elkins 6

The Bearcats defense forced four turnovers and pulled away in the second half to claim the 4A-4 Conference win.

Zane Stephens threw for three touchdowns, while Jake Wiles accounted for three TDS -- one receiving and two on the grounds -- for the Bearcats (5-2, 2-2 4A-4).

Mena led only 14-0 at halftime, but slowly pulled away in the second half. Jayden Castillow recovered two Elkins fumbles and Mason Brotherton collected four quarterback sacks to key the Bearcats defense.

Ozark 35, Pottsville 14

Quarterback Harper Faulkenberry rushed for 176 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Hillbillies to a big 4A-4 Conference win.

Ozark (6-1, 4-0 4A-4) led only 21-14 at halftime but shut down the Apaches in the second half to pull away for the win.

Waldron 40, Subiaco Academy 18 (FIRES)

Class 3A

Cedarville 35, West Fork 14

Cedarville jumped to a 35-0 lead after one quarter then coasted to victory over winless West Fork.

Cedarville had 490 yards rushing between nine players who carried a combined 41 times. Darryl Kattich carried nine times for 163 yards and three touchdowns. Kelin Mitchell carried seven times for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

Charleston 34, Paris 12

Brayden Ross threw for more than 100 yards and Brecken Ketter ran for more than 100 yards to help the Tigers cruise to the 3A-1 Conference win.

Ross completed 18 of 25 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Ketter rushed for 119 yard on 24 carries and two touchdowns for Charleston (3-4, 3-1 3A-1).

Geoffrey Scott also had seven catches for 73 yards and added 53 more yards rushing on just three carries. Kale Hamby also intercepted two passes to lead the Charleston defense, which held Paris scoreless in the second half after leading only 17-12 at halftime.

Lamar 20, Greenland 14

The Warriors held off Greenland late to earn a tough 3A-1 Conference win.

Lamar (6-1, 3-1 3A-1) led 20-7 in the fourth quarter, but Gabe Wilson threw his second touchdown pass of the game to get the Pirates within 20-14 with 5 minutes, 23 seconds left in the game. Greenland (3-4, 1-3) was turned away by the Lamar defense late to secure the win.

Jacob Parmenter led Lamar with 74 yards rushing on just 12 carries as the Warriors rolled 251 yards on the ground as a team. Wilson was 18 of 24 passing for 131 yards and both Greenland touchdowns. Jett Dennis also rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries.

Class 2A

Magazine 44 Lavaca 13

The Rattlers scored on offense, defense, and special teams in a 44-13 win over Lavaca on Friday.

Caleb Hyatt ran for two touchdowns, while Tatum Scott and Kaedon Trejo also accounted for two touchdowns each for the Rattlers (5-1, 3-0 2A-4), who led 24-0 after a quarter and 30-7 at halftime. Scott ran for one touchdown and returned an interception for a score. Trejo also ran for one and returned the second-half kickoff for another.

Caleb Hyatt ran for a pair of touchdowns, Tatum Scott scored via a rush and an interception return, and Kaedon Trejo scored on the ground and by returning the second-half opening kickoff for a touchdown.

Hackett 20, Hector 14

Weston Winters rushed for 179 yards on 31 carries to lead Hackett past Hector.

Avery Hester added 89 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries. Fisher Shipman had one catch for 45 yards and he added nine tackles and an interception on defense.

Sports on 10/20/2019

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