By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WEST MEMPHIS -- Going into Thursday's AAAAA-East Conference game against the Forrest City Mustangs, the West Memphis Blue Devils were 21-point favorites in the season-ending matchup.
They covered that point spread and then some, defeating the Mustangs 29-0 at Hamilton-Schultz Field.
The Blue Devils finished the year at 8-2 overall and 6-1 in the conference and by virtue of defeating Cabot 28-20 earlier in the year, own the No. 1 seed into the Class AAAAA playoffs from the East.
The Blue Devils will host either Bryant or Little Rock McClellan next week in first-round playoff action.
For the Mustangs, it was not one of the team's better efforts of the year.
It was the third time this year the Mustangs have been shut out on the scoreboard in conference play.
Forrest City lost to Jonesboro 35-0 and Jacksonville 21-0 before last night's final shut out.
The Mustangs finish the year at 4-6 over all and 2-5 in the conference.
West Memphis broke on top 3-0 with 5:52 to play in the opening quarter when David Neal's 27-yard field goal split the uprights.
The Blue Devils made it 10-0 when Darren Stokes intercepted an Austin Easley pass and Torina Green scored from 19 yards out two plays later.
Forrest City moved into West Memphis territory on the next possession but turned the ball over on downs when Lafayette Smith's fourth and 11 run was stopped far short of a first down.
West Memphis used eight plays to push their lead to 16-0 when quarterback Mark Goss tossed a 22-yard touchdown pass with 8:55 to play. The extra point kick was wide.
Forrest City, on the second straight possession, went for a first on fourth and five on the next possession and this time it was Kenyatae Chism coming up just short and handing the ball back to the Blue Devils with 3:17 left in the first half.
The West Memphis lead stayed at 16-0 through the half before a West Memphis 53-yard touchdown pass with 10:24 to play in the third quarter made it 22-0. The Blue Devils added another touchdown pass with 5:10 to play in the quarter to produce the final margin of victory.
Andrew Embry led the Mustangs with 47 yards while Smith finished with 32 yards. Embry had Forrest City's longest run from scrimmage late in the first quarter when he broke free for a 30-yard gain after being ruled out of bounds short of the goal line.
The Mustangs were held to minus 13 rushing yards in he third quarter and two incompletions.
Forrest City finished with 143 total yards for the game -- 112 on the ground and 31 through the air while West Memphis rolled up 338 total yards -- 219 on the ground and 119 passing.
Through 10 games, the Mustangs have scored 144 points for a per game average of just 14.4 points. Defensively, the Mustangs have given up 190 points or 19 points per game.
Thursday was the final game for Mustang seniors Austin Easley, Kelton Hamlin, Roosevelt Lattimore, Devin McLaurin, Daniel Echols, Demond Thomas, C.J. Allen, Smith, Jerry Walker, Deitrus Turner, William Washington, Antonio Patillo, Tony Jones, Marquis Hunter, Matthew Hood, A.J. Barton, Adrian Normand, Anthony Atwater and Joel Portwood.