By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CABOT -- The Forrest City Mustangs fought long and hard Friday at Cabot.
Trying to corral their first AAAAA-East conference win of the season, the Mustangs went toe-to-toe with the No. 7 ranked Panthers for three quarters before finally falling 21-7 at Panther Stadium.
Forrest City and Cabot opened the fourth quarter locked in a 7-7 tie.
The Mustangs used a solid running game in the first half -- which at times resembled Cabot's ground game. But turnovers and penalties in the second half hurt Forrest City's bid for the upset win. The Mustangs have not defeated Cabot since 1995.
It was a must-win for both teams. Forrest City needed a win while Cabot is trying to stay close to league co-leaders Jonesboro and West Memphis -- both unbeaten in conference play.
Cabot improves to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, tied with Jacksonville for second place, while the Mustangs fall to 2-4 and 0-3.
Jonesboro and West Memphis are 3-0 in the league.
After tying the game at 7-7 at the half, Forrest City senior quarterback Austin Easley tossed two interceptions in the second half which led to the deciding Cabot touchdowns.
Chris Robertson led the Cabot rushing effort with 163 yards on 22 carries and scored all three Panther touchdowns.
Cabot took a 7-0 lead in the first half set up by a fake punt, when Robertson took the snap and ran 26 yards to the Mustang 34 before being stopped. Robertson scored from three yards out on a fourth down play with 5:50 left in the first half.
The Mustangs answered by putting together a long scoring drive of their own, going 73 yards in 16 plays.
The drive was highlighted by a key fourth and one call at their own 47, when Demarcus Sinclair worked the draw play for the first down. Facing a fourth and goal from the Cabot five, Easley, who replaced starting quarterback Kenyatae Chism to open the second quarter, found Roosevelt Lattimore for a five-yard touchdown pass with five seconds to play in the first half.
It stayed that way until the fourth quarter when Robertson took advantage of two Cabot interceptions to score the go-ahead touchdown and tacked on the third touchdown of the game, for good measure.
In other East games played Friday, Jonesboro defeated Mountain Home 35-7, West Memphis edged Searcy 21-20 and Jacksonville put away Blytheville 30-14.
This week, the Mustangs host Blytheville, also 0-3 in the conference, for homecoming activities at Sam Smith Stadium.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
HUGHES -- For a half, the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots made life interesting for Hughes Friday at Blue Devil Field.
In the first football meeting between the two schools since 1980 (before Palestine and Wheatley consolidated), the Blue Devils scored 35 second-half points to bury the Patriots 49-12 in a 3AA Conference game.
The Patriots turned the ball over five times.
Hughes stays unbeaten in the league and tied with Marked Tree for the conference lead. Both teams are 5-0 in the conference.
After winning two straight conference games, the Patriots fall to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the league and into fourth place.
Hughes senior quarterback Jermaine Davis ran for 165 yards on 10 carries and scored twice to lead the Blue Devil offense. Andre Walker added 85 yards on 14 carries and scored twice while Jamal Tiggs finished with 52 yards on nine carries.
Antonio Collins added a rushing touchdown while Jake Young returned a Patriot fumble 52 yards for a touchdown and Wayne Bartosh returned a P-W fumble 44 yards for a score. brian Hillis was perfect for Hughes, kicking all seven extra points.
Johnny Payton led Hughes with seven solo tackles.
The Blue Devils struck first with 8:56 to play in the opening quarter when Young scored on the fumble recovery and Hillis made it 7-0.
The Patriots cut the Hughes lead to 7-6 with a late second quarter touchdown before Walker answered with a 20-yard run to put the Blue Devils on top 14-6 at the half.
On Hughes' first possession of the third quarter, Walker made it 21-6 with an 8-yard touchdown run and then picked off P-W quarterback Clyde Kennedy's fourth down pass near the Hughes goal line, returning it 35 yards to set up Davis' 10-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left in the third.
The Patriots drove to the Hughes' five but turned the ball over and Hughes took advantage getting a 78-yard touchdown run by Davis with 9:30 to play and a 35-6 lead.
Another P-W fumble resulted in Bartosh's 44-yard touchdown run which took the Blue Devils to a 42-6 lead.
The Patriots struck with a long touchdown pass with five minutes to play to make it 42-12 and the Blue Devils tacked on the final score when Collins ran 48 yards for a 49-12 lead.
In other 3AA Conference game played Friday, Cross County snapped a two-game losing streak by shutting out Parkin 20-0, Earle spanked Turrell 71-12, Marked Tree defeated Rector 62-6 and Salem defeated Walnut Ridge 19-16.
The Blue Devils host Parkin this week while P-W will celebrate homecoming activities by hosting Turrell.
* PREP FOOTBALL
MEN'S FALL SOFTBALL
Monday, October 14
Wynne vs Gym 2000, 6 p.m.
Barnes Timber vs M&T Paving, 7 p.m.
Section 8 Youth vs Morgan, 8 p.m.
Marion vs Miller Insurance 9 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Monday, October 14
West Memphis at Forrest City (JV) 7 p.m.
JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL
Thursday, October 17
FCity Blue at JBoro MacArthur, 7 p.m.
WMemphis East at FCity White, 7 p.m.
Parkin at Palestine-Wheatley (HC)
Earle at Hughes
FLAG FOOTBALL
Monday, October 14
Lions vs Bears, 6 p.m.
Tigers vs Vikings, 7 p.m.
Indians vs Razorbacks, 8 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL
Tuesday, October 15
Forrest City at Mountain Home, 5 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Friday's Scores
AAAAA-East Conference
Cabot 21, Forrest City 7
West Memphis 21, Searcy 20
Jacksonville 30, Blytheville 14
Jonesboro 35, Mountain Home 7