By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Preston Echols and Cory Embry scored two touchdowns each Thursday to lead the Forrest City Blue Mustangs past West Memphis East 34-0 at Sam Smith Stadium.
The Blue Mustangs scored all 34 points in the second quarter.
Embry started it with a six-yard touchdown run with 7:52 to play in the half and Echols added the two-point conversion.
Michael Alston recovered an East fumble which led to Echols' four-yard scoring run one minute and four seconds later. Embry tacked on the two points for a 16-0 lead.
Dennis Carter and Ronnie Armstrong combined for a safety to make it 18-0. After Stephon Weaver's punt return for a touchdown was called back due to a clipping penalty, Embry ran four straight times covering 49 yards to score his second touchdown of the game and added the two-point try for a 26-0 lead.
Marcus Fair's fumble recovery set up Echols' final scoring run, a seven-yard touchdown with 1:23 to play and Richard Flenory added the two-point try for the 34-0 lead.
Forrest City improves to 5-2 for the year with one game remaining against undefeated Wynne.
Annie Camp 28, Wonder 6
Cody Pace rushed for 197 yards and three touchdowns to lead Annie Camp to a 28-6 victory over West Memphis Wonder in AAAAA-East junior high football Thursday night.
Pace scored on runs of 3, 8 and 1 yards and also added a two-point conversion for the Whirlwinds, who improved to 7-1 overall and 5-1 in conference.
WM West 20, MacArthur 0
West Memphis West finally broke away from pesky MacArthur with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns en route to a 20-0 win in AAAAA-East junior high football Thursday night.
West led only 6-0 after three quarters, but put together a long drive for another score and added another after a MacArthur interception in the waning minutes.
Marked Tree 30,
Junior Patriots 6
Marked Tree quarterback William Ruthven threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Indians remained unbeaten with a 30-6 win over Palestine-Wheatley in 3AA conference junior high football Thursday night.
Ruthven hooked up with Willie Mitchell on scoring strikes of 29 and 50 yards and added another score on a 1-yard plunge late in the fourth quarter for the Indians, who improved to 7-0 overall and 7-0 in the league.
Bryan Coleman led Marked Tree with 92 yards on 10 carries.
Harrisburg 24, Rivercrest 8
Quinte Sproling rushed for 164 yards and scored two touchdowns as Harrisburg defeated Rivercrest 24-8 Thursday in junior high football.
Sproling started Harrisburg (7-0) with a 19-yard run in the first quarter with 3:36 left. He also ran in the two-point conversion to give Harrisburg an 8-0 lead after the first quarter.
Sproling scored again on a 49-yard touchdown run with 1:47 left in the second quarter and Jakayis Hester ran in the two-point conversion as Harrisburg went up 16-0 at halftime.
Harrisburg scored for the final time with 4:37 left in the third quarter as Hester had a 6-yard touchdown run and Sproling ran in the two-point conversion.
Hughes 37, Turrell 20
After spotting Turrell an 8-0 lead the Hughes Junior Blue Devils scored 24 unanswered points to take a 24-6 lead at the half on the way to a 37-20 win over Turrell in the 3AA Conference.
The victory sets up Tuesday's season-ending showdown against undefeated Marked Tree at Hughes.
The Junior Blue Devils are 7-1 for the year while Marked Tree is 7-0.
Marcus Washington and Cory Scarbrough each scored touchdowns for Hughes while Jerry Jackson was 1-of-2 on extra point kicks.
Turrell returned the opening kickoff for a quick score and added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
Cross County 36,
Walnut Ridge 22
Cross County scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns after Walnut Ridge fumbles to claim a 36-22 victory in junior high football Thursday night.
Trailing 22-20, Jeremy Coats had a 12-yard touchdown run and Courtney Robinson added a 22-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. Kendole Boykin also added a pair of two-point conversion runs.
Boykin rushed for 170 yards on 12 carries to lead the Thunderbirds, who improved to 6-2 overall and 6-2 in 3AA conference play.
Hufstedler led Walnut Ridge with 151 yards rushing and 61 yards passing.
The undefeated Jonesboro Lady Hurricane, which won its 14th straight AAAAA-East conference championship, are seeded first in Saturday's conference tournament at Blytheville.
The Forrest City Lady Mustangs will be in action as well.
The Lady Hurricane (32-0) will open play in the tournament Saturday afternoon at 1. It will face the Mountain Home-Blytheville winner. Second-seeded Cabot faces the Jacksonville-Forrest City survivor at noon.
The tournament is best-of-three and double-elimination. Finals are slated for 7 p.m., Saturday night.
Five Northeast Arkansas high school volleyball teams already have state tournament reservations.
Valley View, the 3AAA-South regular-season champions, earned a bye to Saturday's tournament final and therefore a spot in the Class AAA state tournament to be held in Harrison Oct. 31-Sept. 2.
The tournament champion and runnerup in the 3AAA-South tournament at Bay and 3AAA-North tournament at Bay advance to state.
Wynne, Nettleton, Marion and Paragould all gained spots in the Class AAAA tournament, also to be held in Harrison.
Wynne shared the AAAA-East regular-season championship with Marion, but the Lady Yellowjackets are the top seed. Nettleton is the third seed, while Paragould is fourth.
Crowley's Ridge Academy sailed through the league unbeaten and garnered the top seed in the best-of-five, single-elimination tournament, which begins Saturday morning at 10.
Walnut Ridge faces Pocahontas in the tournament opener, while Hoxie takes on Brookland at 11:30.
The top-seeded Lady Falcons (33-2) face the Walnut Ridge-Pocahontas winner at 1 p.m., while second seeded Piggott (23-6) plays the Hoxie-Brookland winner at 2:30.
The championship match is scheduled for 4.
*The Jonesboro Lady Hurricane stormed past Marion 15-2, 15-9, 15-1 Thursday to remain undefeated in high school volleyball.
Hillary Speer was 17-of-17 serving with three aces, seven digs, nine kills and 19 assists for Jonesboro (32-0).
Allyson Seagrave also had 19 assists in addition to going 14-of-15 serving with two aces against the Lady Patriots.
Kristin Etter had 19 kills and seven digs while Stacey Lewis added 12 kills.
The Forrest City Mustang Cross Country team will take part in the first-ever AAAAA-East Cross County Conference Meet Monday, at Cabot's Rolling Hill Country Club. Five East teams are expected to participate -- Cabot, Mountain Home, West Memphis, Searcy and the Mustangs.
The girls team will run a 2 1/2-mile course at 3:45 p.m., while the boys will follow by running a 3-mile course at 4:30 p.m., with the awards ceremony to start at 5:15.
The Mustangs will also run in the upcoming state cross country meet on Nov. 9, at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.