By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Fort Smith Northside ascended to the top of the Associated Press high school poll last week, but like their crosstown neighbors, Fort Smith Southside, the Grizzlies couldn't hang on to the top spot.
For the second week in a row, the AP's Top 10 No. 1 team went down to defeat.
Northside fell 35-7 to No. 6 Bentonville. It didn't stop there.
Russellville downed Springdale 22-19 and unranked El Dorado edged 10th-ranked Bryant 21-19.
In other Top 10 action, second-ranked Cabot beat Forrest City, 35-0; No. 2 Fort Smith Southside defeated Rogers, 42-17; fourth-ranked Pine Bluff topped Benton, 27-7; Little Rock Central polished off Mountain Home, 61-20; No. 8 Conway shut out North Little Rock, 38-0 and ninth-ranked Hope defeated Malvern.
At Bentonville, the home team's offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, and the Tigers (5-0) rushed for 341 yards in beating Northside (3-3).
Derek Hartman ran for 138 yards on 16 carries, including two touchdowns, while Kris Christians carried 15 times for 129 yards and two more touchdowns.
At Forrest City, Cabot's Ryan Bayles ran for 169 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers to their shutout.
Southside (4-1) scored four touchdowns in the third quarter and cruised to its 42-17 victory over Rogers (2-4).
Pine Bluff's James Iverson helped the Zebras (5-0) rally for their 27-7 defeat of Benton (4-2).
Russellville (5-1) held off late drives -- including Drew Dickerson picking off a pass to the goalline -- to gain its 22-19 victory over Springdale (4-2).
Dedrick Poole scored five touchdowns, including three on consecutive plays, to lead Central (5-1) to its 61-20 walloping of Mountain Home (2-4). Poole finished with 270 yards rushing.
Conway sophomore Peyton Hillis and senior John Duhart each ran for more than 100 yards to lead the Wampus Cats (4-2) to a 38-0 win over winless North Little Rock.
D.D. Holyfield ran for 202 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Hope, the only Class AAAA team in the Top 10 past Malvern (2-4) 35-13.
Holyfield carried 37 times for Hope, 6-0.
Chaffin Brock blocked a 32-yard field goal attempt with 53 seconds left Friday to preserve El Dorado's 21-19 victory over Bryant.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Cabot Panthers started fast and finished strong Friday at Sam Smith Stadium, whipping the Forrest City Mustangs 35-0.
It probably wasn't that close. Cabot lost four fumbles, halting drives that might have ended with additional points being scored.
Shutting out the Mustangs on their home field has become old hat for the Panthers.
The last time a Forrest City team scored against Cabot at Sam Smith came in 1995, which was also the last time a Mustang team has beaten Cabot.
Cabot has shut out the Mustangs four times at Sam Smith since 1993 winning 34-0 that year, 14-0 in 1997, 21-0 in 1999 and finally Friday's 35-0 win.
Cabot scored the first time their offense touched the football Friday night when Ryan Bayles took the handoff and ran 45-yards through the middle, untouched by a Mustang defender to give Cabot a 6-0 lead after the extra point kick sailed wide.
Cabot pushed the lead to 14-0 with 4:19 to play in the opening quarter when Chris Hester blocked Dustin Gore's punt from the Mustang end zone after a bad snap and fell on it for a Panther touchdown.
Theodis Haggins fumbled on the first Forrest City play after the Cabot kickoff and the Panthers took over at midfield.
Bayles took the ball to the Mustang 17 and a facemask penalty against Forrest City moved the ball to the eight.
Cabot sophomore Chris Robertson scored on the next play and the extra point put Cabot in front 21-0.
Cabot's Bayles struck again, with 5:50 left in the first half, breaking through the middle for a 69-yard touchdown run -- once again untouched by the Mustang defense.
The kick put Cabot on top 28-0, which stood through the half.
Both teams suffered turnovers in the third quarter and neither scored.
Cabot intercepted an Austin Easley pass and Embry recovered a Cabot fumble.
It was during the third quarter that Forrest City kicked off for the first time in the game and with 3:51 left in the third, Cabot punted for the first time.
The Mustangs gave themselves a break early in the fourth quarter when Devon Stewart recovered a fumbled punt that bounced off an unsuspecting Cabot player to set the Mustangs up at midfield.
The possession ended when Cabot's Josh Green picked off another Easley pass and returned it to the Forrest City 34, where Rick Braden made the tackle.
Seven plays later, Adam Baker scored from five yards out.
The Mustangs fall to 3-3 for the year and 1-2 in the AAAAA-East. Cabot improves to 5-1 and 3-0.
Bayles finished with 169 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. Montrell Ashcraft finished with 46 yards on 10 carries for Forrest City. Theodis Haggins had 12 yards on six carries.
The Mustangs were held to just three first downs and 66 total yards while Cabot totaled 335 yards, 323 of that on the ground.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Sports Writer
In a battle for the top spot in the 3AA Conference, the Marked Tree Indians (3-3 overall and 3-0 in the conference) knocked the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots (4-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference) from the ranks of the unbeaten in the 3AA.
Behind a power running attack led by halfback Anquion Williams, fullback Bryan Rozzell and quarterback Sugar Ray Jones, Marked Tree ran over and around Palestine-Wheatley for a 36-14 win at Patriot Field on a chilly, windy Friday night.
Williams scored three times on 21 carries for 243 yards and added a 90-yard kickoff return to open the second half.
Marked Tree opened the scoring, following the second of three Patriot fumbles, in the second quarter when Williams scored from the three-yard line with 10:45 on the clock.
Rozzell set up the score with a 18-yard romp to the Patriot 25. Williams followed with a 23-yard carry to the three. The Patriots blocked the extra point attempt by Marked Tree.
With 6.8 seconds left in the second quarter, Jones hit tight end Billy Morris from two yards out to give Marked Tree a 12-0 lead, which they took in at the half.
After bobbling the opening kickoff of the second half, Williams picked the ball up at the 10-yard line and after reversing his field ran 90 yards untouched to give the Indians an 18-0 cushion.
Williams continued his assault on the Patriot defense in the third with an 85-yard touchdown run giving the Indians a 24-0 edge with 3:38 seconds to go.
Less than a minute later following a botched onside kick attempt and two personal fouls against Marked Tree,
Palestine-Wheatley broke through the Indian defense when senior Ray Gardner scored from the three cutting into the Indian lead.
Williams again blasted through the Patriot defense with his fourth touchdown of the evening, this time from 50 yards out with 2:04 left on the clock giving Marked Tree a 30-6 lead.
With 11:40 left in the fourth quarter, Palestine-Wheatley scored their second touchdown of the game on an eight-yard pass from quarterback Clyde Kennedy to wideout Teddy Matthews. The two point conversion by the Patriots left the score at 30-14.
Marked Tree finished the scoring when Rozzell blasted up the middle with 1:50 from 18 yards out giving the Indians a 36-14 win and the league lead.
The Forrest City JV Mustangs will host Jonesboro tonight at Sam Smith Stadium. Kick off is set for 7 p.m.
The JV Mustangs have three games remaining after tonight.
Tuesday night, at Sam Smith, the seventh-grade will host West Memphis Wonder at 5 p.m. and the Blue eighth-grade Mustangs will play at 6 p.m.
* PREP FOOTBALL
High School
Friday's Scores
Cabot 35, Forrest City 0
Marked Tree 36, Palestine-Wheatley 14
Jacksonville 20, Blytheville 6
LR Mills 12, West Memphis 8
Jonesboro 23, Sylvan Hills 21
Monday, October 8
Jonesboro at Forrest City JV - 7 p.m.
Tuesday, October 9
West Memphis Wonder at Forrest City
Seventh-Grade - 5 p.m.
Blue Eighth-Grade - 6 p.m.
* CITY LEAGUES
Men's Adult Softball
Monday, October 8
SAA vs M&T Paving, 6 p.m.
Barnes Timber vs Young Guns, 7 p.m.
Boar's Head vs Miller Insurance, 8 p.m.
Youth Flag Football
Monday, October 8
Lions vs Tigers, 6 p.m.
Vikings vs Bears, 7 p.m.
Razorbacks vs Indians, 8 p.m.