By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City senior Marquis Hunter and junior lineman Stephen Henry were named to the 2002 Class AAAAA All-State Football team this week, leading a list of 14 Mustang football players named to postseason honors.
It was the first postseason appearance for Hunter and Henry. Hunter is also the Forrest City nominee for next summer's All-Star football game.
When it came to selecting the All-Conference team members, the five Mustang players chosen were very defensive about the honors.
Three seniors and two juniors were named to the AAAAA-East All-Conference First Team, each based on his season efforts on the defensive side of the football.
Senior middle linebacker and fullback Antonio Patillo, senior defensive tackle Anthony Atwater, senior tackle/linebacker Tony Jones, junior linebacker/tailback Andrew Embry and junior cornerback/running back Kenyatae Chism claimed all five spots based on their defensive skills.
Four Mustangs were named to the All-Conference Second Team -- senior offensive lineman A.J. Barton, junior offensive linemen Terrence Cook and Roy Hamilton and fullback Larry Bean, the only Mustang sophomore to draw postseason honors.
Senior quarterback Austin Easley, senior split end/cornerback Devin McLaurin and junior wide receiver/tight end Justin Jones were named to the AAAAA-East All-Academic Team.
It was Jones' second straight year to be named to the All-Conference team while Patillo, Easley and Jones were each members of last year's All-Academic team. Patillo was All-Conference Honorable Mention a year ago, as well.
The Mustangs finished the 2002 season with a 4-6 record and 2-5 in the AAAAA-East conference.
Offensively, Bean led the Mustangs in rushing with 494 yards on 89 carries while Chism picked up 158 yards on 34 carries during the season.
Bean's best single game effort came in the team's 24-12 win over Mountain Home, when the sophomore picked up 118 yards on 21 carries.
He was the only Mustang running back to crack the 100-yard rushing mark in a single game.
Demarcus Sinclair had a 94-yard game against Cabot while Lafayette Smith ran for 96 yards against Blytheville, but neither of the two were named to post season.
The Mustangs used 17 different backs during the season including Easley and Chism from the quarterback position.
Forrest City ended with just over 1,700 rushing yards as a team.
Embry led the Mustangs in tackles with 43 solo take downs and helped out 28 other times.
Hunter had 34 solo tackles and 27 assists and caused three fumbles while Tony Jones had 34 solo tackles and 18 assists. Embry and Jones each recorded two quarterback sacks during the year.
Patillo had 31 take downs and 15 assists and recovered three fumbles while Atwater had 26 solo efforts and 10 assists. Chism had 22 solo tackles.
Combined the five Mustang All-Conference players recorded 156 tackles and had six sacks.
In elementary basketball action at Calvary Monday night, the elementart Lady Eagles lost to Ridgefield 25-20.
Calvary got 11 points from Katie Borden, which included a pair of three-pointers, while Summer Hess added seven and Jessica Taylor finished with two points.
Allison Newman led Ridgefield with 11 points.
The elementary Eagles got 15 points from Seth Smith but fell to Ridgefield 26-22.
William Burks had four points while Jeremy Barnett added two.
Andy Patton led Ridgefield with 11 points.
The senior high Calvary teams played at Pathway Tuesday but the results are available.
The elementary teams will play at Central Baptist, Saturday, at 5 p.m., in the final scheduled games before the Christmas break.
Calvary resumes its basketball schedule on Jan. 6.
* PREP BASKETBALL
High School
Friday, December 20
Wynne at Forrest City, 5 p.m.
Cross County at Hughes, 5 p.m.
Cotton Plant at Palestine-Wheatley, 5 p.m.
Saturday, December 21
Hughes vs Lynn, 12 noon (Sr. Girls)
at NEA Tournament, ASU
Elementary
Calvary at Central Baptist, 5 p.m.