By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Searcy's Earl Young ran for 190 yards Friday night to lead the Searcy Lions to their first AAAAA-East Conference win, a 23-14 victory over the Forrest City Mustangs at Sam Smith Stadium.
Young scored two touchdowns and set up another as the Lions improve to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the league.
The Lions moved into Class AAAAA this season and into the East along with Mountain Home, replacing Sylvan Hills and Little Rock Mills.
Forrest City, who had their chances all game long to pull out a win, fall to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
"We were on the brink for the whole game," said Forrest City Coach Donnie Willis. "I felt like the coaches had put together a good game-plan going in and I thought our players did a great job of carrying out that game plan. They played hard especially on defense. Austin (Easley) threw the football well in his first game back since the Wynne opener and he kept us in position to win the game all night."
Willis said Easley was just a little off with the timing of the passes.
"We watched film all week and felt like we could throw against them. We saw some mismatches on defense and that's what we went for," Willis added.
Chevelle Wilson gave the Mustangs a quick 6-0 lead when he returned the opening kick off 95 yards. The point after kick was blocked.
Searcy answered at the 10:05 mark when Young broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run. The kick put Searcy in front 7-6.
The Lions blocked a Forrest City punt by Jeremy Holmes late in the first quarter and failed to convert but did get a 37-yard field goal with 1:10 to play in the first to lead 10-6.
The Mustangs had possession of the ball as the second quarter started and moved to the Searcy 8-yard line after Easley completed a first-down pass to Justin Jones. A penalty, two incomplete passes and a failed fourth down conversion stopped Forrest City and gave the ball back to Searcy with 9:18 to play.
Forrest City held on defense with Tony Jones sacking Searcy quarterback Matt Long on third down to force a Lion punt.
The Mustangs took over at midfield but turned the ball over when Easley threw an interception with 4:21 to play.
The Mustangs got the ball back when Long fumbled the snap.
Demarcus Sinclair rambled to the Searcy 26 before Lafayette Smith was sacked for a loss and Easley tossed two incompletions.
With less than a minute to play in the first half, Young broke loose for a 64-yard run to the Forrest City one and Weston Dacus scored on the next play with 14 seconds left. The extra point was good and the Lions took a 17-6 lead into the half.
"That was a back-breaker for us," Willis said. "If we had held them and only been down 10-6 at the half, the second half might have been different. But giving up a touchdown with just seconds to play, left us demoralized."
Sinclair helped the Mustangs close the gap when he scored from a yard out with 2:47 to play in the third quarter. Kenyatae Chism's two-point pass to Justin Jones was good and the Mustangs trailed 17-14.
Young nailed down the victory for Searcy with 7:29 to play when he scored from 3-yards out. The kick by Hunter Gibbs failed but Searcy led 23-14.
Searcy picked off an Easley pass with 4:47 to play and kept the Mustangs bottled up for the rest of the game.
Easley attempted 31 passes completing 10 for 95 yards but was picked off three times for the game.
Sinclair had 10 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown while sophomore Larry Bean finished with 42 yards on nine carries.
The Mustangs will travel to Cabot on Friday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
SEARCY -- The Forrest City Mustang cross country team took part in the Ted Lloyd Bison Stampede meet held Saturday at Searcy's Harding University.
While Harding Academy of Memphis won both the boys and girls team titles, it was a pair of Searcy runners who took the individual honors.
Shannon Brown won the girls' 2.5-mile run in a time of 17 minutes 10 seconds. Brown led the field of 57 girls the entire way.
Forrest City's best finish was by Betsy Stone who completed the course in 23 minutes, 17 seconds and in 29th place. Tasha Batt finished 36th with a time of 23 minutes and 52 seconds while Krystal Long ran 40th (25:56) and Leigh Anna Taylor ran 41st (26:26).
With just four girls making the trip, Forrest City was one person short of fielding a complete team.
Cabot, which placed five girls in the top 15 runners, finished second while Valley View took third.
Lucretia Meacham of West Memphis, finished second behind Brown with a time of 18:05.
"The girls continue to run well," said Forrest City Coach Lewis Etheridge. "This was our third meet and even though we didn't field a complete team, the girls are improving. We have a young team and this is only our second season to compete in cross country."
In the boys three-mile run, Forrest City had two entered -- Ricky Beard and Kyle Ervin.
Beard finished 23rd in the field of 56 runners with a time of 19:52 while Ervin completed the course in 25 minutes, nine seconds.
Searcy's Ronald Kalega won the boys' event in a time of 16:44.
Cabot placed three runners in the top 10 and finished second overall in the team standings while West Memphis took seventh. Valley View placed third.
The Mustangs will run Saturday, Oct. 12, at Hot Springs.
* LOCAL SPORTS
MEN'S FALL SOFTBALL
Monday, October 7
Section 8 Youth vs Barnes Timber, 6 p.m.
Morgan vs M&T Paving, 7 p.m.
Wynne vs Miller Insurance, 8 p.m.
Young Guns vs Gym 2000, 9 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Friday's Scores
Altheimer 28, Strong 6
Augusta 26, Hazen 0
Bald Knob 35, Marianna 14
Barton 45, Clarendon 0
Batesville 34, Nettleton 8
Beebe 51, Marion 14
Brinkley 18, DeWitt 12
Carlisle 38, Elaine 8
Des Arc 47, McCrory 6
Earle 42, Parkin 0
Harding Academy 44, Marvell 6
Helena-West Helena Central 20, Mills 12
Hughes 25, Salem 14
Jessieville 21, Bauxite 20
Jonesboro 31, Jacksonville 14
Marked Tree 27, Cross County 13
Mountain Home 16, Blytheville 6
Newport 42, Corning 8
Osceola 50, Piggott 0
Palestine-Wheatley 22, Walnut Ridge 13
Perryville 26, Lamar 14
Pine Bluff 35, Sheridan 0
Rector 69, Turrell 54
Rison 41, Gillett 0
Rivercrest 50, East Poinsett County 18
Searcy 23, Forrest City 14
Trumann 20, Harrisburg 0
Vilonia 45, Paragould 14
West Memphis 28, Cabot 20
Wynne 41, Green County Tech 0
JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL
Thursday, October 10
Hughes at Parkin
Palestine-Wheatley at Turrell
WMemphis Wonder at FCity White
FCity Blue at WM West
FLAG FOOTBALL
Monday, October 7
Lions vs Tigers, 6 p.m.
Vikings vs bears, 7 p.m.
Razorbacks vs Indians, 8 p.m.