RIVER VALLEY REPORT: Cedarville not just a run team, Pirates can fling the ball, too

FILE -- Cody Dickens with the Cedarville High School Pirate's football team practices Thursday, August 6, 2020 at the school in Cedarville. Check out nwadg.com/photos for a photo gallery.
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Gottschalk)
FILE -- Cody Dickens with the Cedarville High School Pirate's football team practices Thursday, August 6, 2020 at the school in Cedarville. Check out nwadg.com/photos for a photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Gottschalk)

CEDARVILLE -- The Pirates offense has added another weapon to its usual ground-pounding attack.

"We threw it 16 times, and I asked our assistant coaches if we had thrown it that much in one game before," Cedarville coach Max Washausen said. "Defenses are going to pack the box against us, and now we have that weapon to back them off because we can throw it."

Senior quarterback Cody Dickens completed 8-of-16 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in Cedarville's 42-20 win over Berryville in the season opener.

Of course, the Pirates also ran the ball effectively, churning out 408 yards and five touchdowns.

Darryl Kattich ran 21 times for 194 yards and a touchdown, Bruce Turney added 96 yards and a touchdown on four totes, speedy Hayden Morton had 70 yards and a score on five carries, and Hayden Partain ran 12 times for 60 yards and a score.

"I told the guys it went how we wanted it to go," Washausen said. "We took control of the game and led the entire time. Our offense got going, and our defense played real well."

CRAWFORD COUNTY RIVALRIES ON TAP

Van Buren hosts Alma for the Battle of the Bone on Friday in a renewal of the annual dogfight between the Pointers and Airedales.

An 8-mile stretch of Highway 64-71, known as Van-Alma, rolls through the heart of both towns.

The two teams have played consecutively since 1974.

Cedarville hosts Mountainburg in the battle of northern Crawford County.

The Pirates and Dragons play annually for the Treasure Chest trophy, and those two schools have played consecutive except for two years since Cedarville began football in 1981.

[DON'T SEE THE VIDEO ABOVE, CLICK HERE: nwaonline.com/91rvrally/]

PURPLE HAZE

Booneville recorded a 32-0 shutout win in its opener on Friday night at Dardanelle.

Randon Ray, Casey Mattson and Rayce Blansett intercepted passes and Dax Goff recovered a fumble as Booneville forced four turnovers.

Booneville's defense gave up just 65 yards and seven first downs.

"We were happy with the way we started," Booneville coach Doc Crowley said. "We had a lot of question marks going into it. We challenged them to start fast and do what they were coached to do. They did exactly what we had asked them to do. We're excited about we saw week zero."

Booneville hosts Ozark on Friday in a rivalry game.

The Bearcats will be challenged by Ozark's massive offensive line.

"They're a very good football team," Crowley said. "It's going to take a tremendous effort to come out on top. They're huge upfront. They have a lot of guys that can put the ball in the end zone. It will be a tremendous challenge for our team."

Booneville leads the all-time series by a 51-26-4 margin. The two teams first played in 1924 and have played consecutively since the 1950 season after not playing at all in the 40s. Booneville has never had a losing decade against the Hillbillies.

DREAM WEAVER

The Paris Eagles made Jeff Weaver a winner in his coaching debut at the school with a 49-12 win over Lavaca.

"It was a fun night," Weaver said. "We're excited about how hard they played. We had a great turnout and have great community support. Everybody's excited."

Paris was the picture of balance with 22 rushes for 283 yards and five touchdowns as a team while quarterback Chase Watts was 14-of-17 passing for 195 yards and two scores.

"We scored seven touchdowns, and six different guys scored," Weaver said. "Our intention was to spread the ball around and make them run from sideline to sideline and wear them down. We did a good job with that."

Mason Bradley led the ground game with six totes for 92 yards and a 36-yard scoring gallop. Nate Henderson had four carries for 47 yards with an 8-yard TD run. Duke Walker had 60 yards and scoring runs of 33 and 11 yards on six carries. Watts had three carries for 45 yards and a 19-yard run for the first touchdown of the season.

Watts also threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Haley and a 14-yard scoring aerial to Beau Blaine.

"We were intentionally balanced," Weaver said. "That's what we're going to be; a lot of different weapons. Covering everybody is difficult."

Paris travels to Johnson County Westside on Friday.

PASSING LANES

Greenwood hosts Fort Smith Southside on Friday in a nonconference game that may end a lot later than normal given the number of likely pass attempts.

On Thursday, in a 31-16 loss to Northside, Southside quarterback David Sorg attempted 54 passes, completing 29 for 272 yards.

On Friday, in a 63-21 win at Muskogee, Okla., Greenwood quarterbacks Hunter Houston and Slade Dean combined to pass for 449 yards on 42 passes.

"We're not a downhill running team," Southside coach Kim Dameron said. "We don't have big kids. We've got some receivers and a quarterback, and I was really proud of our offensive line against a pretty darned good front. I thought they held up pretty well."

Desmond Lopez-Fulbright caught nine passes for 102 yards, Amari Tucker caught six passes for 58 yards out of the backfield, and Dmitri Lloyd caught five passes for 45 yards.

The Southside offense, though, turned the ball over downs five times; at Northside's 36 in the first quarter, at Northside's 25 in the second quarter, at Northside's 38 twice in the third quarter, and at Northside's 11 after getting to the 1 in the fourth quarter.

"We have a bunch of kids that fly around and play hard," Dameron said. "We had a chance to make some things happen. I've watched them practice, and I know what they're capable of. I'm disappointed that we didn't show that. The framework is there."

Greenwood clicked from the start with Houston guiding the offense for three quarters. He completed his first eight passes and finished with 366 yards and a touchdown. Dean threw for 83 yards and a score.

"The offense was efficient," Greenwood coach Chris Young said.

The Bulldogs also ran the ball effectively with 253 yards on 37 carries by eight different players.

Dylan Tucker, Javon Williamson, Jake Glover, and Cameron Krone alternated carries over the first three quarters.

"We started off with Jake and brought in Dylan, Javon and Cameron," Young said. "All four of those guys were great throughout the game."

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STAT OF THE WEEK

In Greenwood’s win at Muskogee, the Bulldogs had 79 offensive plays for 702 yards, nine touchdowns and 40 first downs.

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