By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
MARKED TREE -- It all came down to which team had the football last when Hughes took on Marked Tree Friday night to decide the 3AA Conference championship and the No. 1 seed into the Class AA state playoffs.
After battling tooth and nail for two-and-a half hours, the final outcome came down to a final kick.
Fernando Zavala kicked a 28-yard field with no time left in the game to lift Marked Tree to its third straight conference title with a thrilling 37-34 win over Hughes.
The win gives Marked Tree the No. 1 seed into the AA playoffs while Hughes, the preseason favorite to win the conference title after dropping down from Class AAA, will carry the No. 2 seed into the playoffs.
Both the Indians (9-1, 7-0) and the Blue Devils (8-2, 6-1) will have home-field advantage for the first-round playoff games Friday. Hughes will host Des Arc while Marked Tree hosts Carlisle.
Offensively, both Hughes and Marked Tree moved the ball at will as the two teams combined for 866 total yards of offense.
The Indians finished with 442 yards while the Blue Devils -- the state's highest-scoring team -- finished with 331 total yards.
There were some outstanding defensive stops during the game, but neither team punted the ball.
Marked Tree's Anquion Williams led the way with with 233 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns. Oddly enough, while Williams had 90 first-half yards, the 6-0, 190 pound running back did not find the end zone until the third quarter.
Andre Walker finished with 124 yards on 18 carries and scored twice to lead the Blue Devils. He also had an interception and ran for a two-point conversion.
The Indians also got help from quarterback Sugar Ray Jones who had 92 yards on 16 carries and passed for two touchdowns. Daniel Craig added 70 yards on three carries while fullback Kelsey Snow had 43 yards on nine attempts.
Jermaine Davis, the Hughes quarterback, added 111 yards rushing on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns while completing 2-of-5 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Ayodele Ogunsakin finished with 74 yards on eight attempts and Jamal Tiggs carried seven times for 38 yards.
Hughes grabbed an early 7-0 lead when Davis ran 31 yards for the score and Brian Hillis added the point after kick.
The Indians answered quickly when Jones fired a 14-yard strike to Russell Gray and Zavala tied the game at 7-7 with the extra point kick. Craig's 33-yard run on a misdirection run gave the Indians a first down at the Hughes 15 to set up Gray's TD reception.
Set up by Walker's 36 yard run to the Marked Tree 14, Davis made it 13-7 Hughes scoring from five yards out with 2:24 to play in the first. Hillis' PAT hit the upright and bounced back.
The Indians tied it at 13-13 when Jones scrambled for a 40-yard touchdown and Hughes' Vernon Booker blocked Savala's kick early in the second quarter.
Davis fumbled with 7:18 to play which set up Marked Tree's go-ahead touchdown, a 28-yard pass. Savala's kick put the Indians on top 20-13.
Davis fumbled for the second time in the quarter with 3:30 to play and the Indians recovered at the Hughes 35. Walker got the ball back for the Blue Devils when he intercepted Jones' pass at the goal line and returned it 75 yards to the Indian 25. The drive ended when Hughes failed to convert a fourth down play and the both teams went into the half with Marked Tree in front 20-13.
In the third quarter alone, both teams scored on each possession. Hughes tied the game at 20-20 when Davis' pass, intended for Walker, ricocheted off two different Marked Tree defenders and was caught in midair by Walker, who finished the play with a 20-yard run. Hillis converted the extra point.
Williams made it a 27-20 Indian lead on the next possession, scoring from two-yards out. At the Hughes' 40, the Blue Devil defense had Williams bottled up for what appeared to be a 10-yard loss when Williams eluded the tacklers, bounced off no less than three more Hughes' defenders and finished the run at the Hughes two, before scoring two plays later.
Walker's three-yard touchdown run with 2:10 to play in the third left the Blue Devils down by a point, 27-26 when the Blue Devil two-point conversion failed.
Marked Tree responded with a 53-yard touchdown run by Williams coming off a fourth and one play at the Indian 47. The PAT gave Marked Tree a 34-26 lead.
The Blue Devils tied the game in the fourth quarter when Davis scored from five yards out and Walker added the two-point play for a 34-34 game.
Both teams traded fumbles but it was the Indians who recovered the final turnover with 6:07 to play at their own 28 which set in motion the final drive and the game-winning field goal.
"Awfully good football team we played tonight," said Marked Tree coach Tim Branum. "Tonight, I thought our offense played awfully well and our defense had some big stops. It ended up who had the ball last. It turned into a scoring match. I didn't think that way coming into the game."
Hughes coach James Wright added that keying on Williams was not the only concern of his Blue Devils Friday night. "They've got three backs who can run," said Wright. "They've got a good football team. I would have paid to see this one myself. Right there at the last, if we had driven the ball down there at the end, we would have been all right."
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
SALEM -- Facing a must-win situation Friday night at Salem, the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots got physical against the Greyhounds and won going away 38-14.
The win gives the Patriots the fourth playoff spot from the 3AA Conference into the Class AA state playoffs.
Palestine-Wheatley will face Harding Academy, the top ranked team in Class AA, Friday in the first round of the playoffs. Harding will host the game.
"We played probably the most physical game we've played all season," said P-W assistant coach Dan Cockrell. "All of our kids played hard on both sides of the football. I feel good about going to play Harding this week."
Cockrell singled out the play of quarterback Clyde Kennedy and running back Brandon Roberts in Friday's game against Salem.
Palestine-Wheatley finishes the regular season at 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the conference and are making their third straight trip to the playoffs under coach Terry Farmer.
Since returning to football in 1996, the Patriots have reached postseason four times in 1996 and 1997 and in 2000 and 2001. The Patriots did not get past the first round in any of those appearances, losing to Altheimer, Barton twice and Hazen.
Following a solid opening quarter and second quarter in which the Patriots held the ball for more than 10 minutes during one possession, Palestine-Wheatley was able to score twice to take a 16-6 lead into the half.
Salem, also 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the conference, scored with 2:27 left in the second quarter on a one-yard run by Jamie Sisk.
Palestine-Wheatley put the game away scoring three times, twice in the third quarter and once in the fourth quarter.
Salem scored with 35 seconds left in the game as Luke Barker had a one-yard run against mostly Palestine-Wheatley sophomores and Sisk ran in the 2-point conversion.
Friday's kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
The Forrest City White Junior Mustangs will open the basketball season tonight when they travel to Wynne to take on the Junior Jackets. The three-game set begins at 5 p.m.
The Blue Mustangs scheduled home opener tonight against Hughes has been cancelled as has the White team's game at Hughes Tuesday night.
Wynne will play the Blue team Thursday at Mustang Arena.
The Forrest City Mustangs and Lady Mustangs open the senior high season Friday, when they travel to Sylvan Hills for a two-game set.
The Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriots and Patriots will open the regular season Tuesday, Nov. 12, when they host Arkansas Baptist.
Saturday, the Palestine-Wheatley Lady Patriot basketball team lost in overtime to Clinton in a preseason jamboree played at Mountain View.
LaRhonda Bender scored 14 points in the game while Nikita Love added 13 and Brittney Flenory added six.
In junior high girls' action, Clinton defeated the Junior Lady Patriots by two and Pocahontas took an 8-point win.
Tuesday's game begins at 6 p.m.
* PREP BASKETBALL
JUNIOR HIGH
Monday, November 11
FCity White at Wynne, 5 p.m.
WHEATLEY INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Thursday, November 14
Brinkley vs Cross County, 5 p.m. (Jr. Girls)
Brinkley vs Humphrey, 6:15 p.m. (Jr. Boys)
P-W vs McCrory, 7:30 p.m. (Jr. Girls)
P-W vs McCrory, 8:45 p.m. (Jr. Boys)
Wynne at FCity Blue, 5 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL
Friday, November 15
Forrest City at Sylvan Hills, 6 p.m.
* FOOTBALL - PLAYOFFS
CLASS AAAAA
Friday, November 15
Bryant at West Memphis
Russellville at El Dorado
Lake Hamilton at Springdale
Jonesboro at LR Central
FS Northside at Conway
Texarkana at Cabot
Jacksonville at Pine Bluff
LR McClellan at FS Southside
Class AAAA
Vilonia at Stuttgart
West Helena at Wynne
Greenwood at Hot Springs
Pulaski Robinson at Harrison
Hope at Alma
Crossett at Beebe
Clarksville at Magnolia
Batesville at Sylvan Hills
CLASS AA
Palestine-Wheatley at Harding Academy
Des Arc at Hughes
Carlisle at Marked Tree
Earle at Barton