By FRED CONLEY and ALAN SMITH
T-H Sports Writers
WYNNE -- The Forrest City Mustangs shut down the Wynne Yellowjackets in the second half Friday, but unfortunately for the visitors, the damage had already been done.
Wynne scored 21 points in the first half -- 14 of that coming off a pair of Mustang turnovers -- to lead 21-7 at the half.
They added a touchdown early in the third quarter after Forrest City fumbled on their first possession of the second half to take a 28-7 win over the Mustangs in the season-opener for each team.
It was the fourth consecutive victory over Forrest City for the Yellowjackets.
The Mustangs fumbled on their first possession which allowed Wynne's Akenyon Reed to score from seven yards out with 7:04 to play. The kick put Wynne in front 7-0.
Forrest City tied the game at 7-7 when Antonio Patillo scored from a yard out with 6:44 to play in the second quarter.
Ashania Reed broke the tie and put Wynne in front 13-7 with 2:12 to play in the first half after a botched extra point attempt.
The Yellowjackets made 21-7 at the half when Patillo fumbled with 1:56 to play and Wynne made the recovery. It took Reed only three plays to score on a five-yard run. Wynne was successful on the two point conversion.
"We still felt good when we were just down 13-7 and felt like going into the half we were still in the game," said Forrest City Coach Donnie Willis. "Then when they scored off the fumble right before the half, we never recovered."
Wynne put up the final points with 8:19 to play in the third after recovering a fumble by Forrest City's Kenyatae Chism. Joey Smith scored from five yards out.
Forrest City had a chance to put up some points in the fourth after recovering a Wynne fumble but failed to score on eight chances from inside the 10, which included being the beneficiary of a pass interference call against the Yellowjackets, which gave the Mustangs a first and goal from the Wynne five.
"There's no excuse for not being able to score from there," Willis said. "We just did not get the job done offensively, when we had out chances."
Wynne outgained Forrest City 224 to 104 in yards with 208 of that total coming on the ground.
Wynne had 13 first downs to Forrest City's six and neither team was very effective in the passing game with the Mustangs picking up just eight yards through the air and the Yellowjackets getting just 16.
Des Arc 35, Palestine-Wheatley 14
The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots opened the 2002 season off on the right foot, but turnovers were the key to the Pats 35-14 loss to the Des Arc Eagles.
The Pats finished with 354 total yards to Des Arc's 200.
P-W sophomore Rashun Barnes finished with 92 yards on nine carries, all in the first half, to lead the Patriots.
The Patriots scored the first touchdown at 4:35 in the first quarter. The two point conversion was no good.
After being backed up to their own 1 yard line on the next possession, the Eagles broke lose for a 31 yard gain to the Pats 46.
The first quarter ended with the Des Arc knocking on the door and the second quarter started with Des Arc's 5-yard touchdown run with 11:34 showing. The two point conversion gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead.
The Patriots scored with 5:31 left in the first half and added the two-point conversion to take the lead 14-8.
The two teams traded fumbles near the end of the half.
After the Eagles tied the game at 14-14 in the third, Des Arc scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to nail down the victory.
The Patriots turned the ball over three times while the Eagles suffered six turnovers.
Brandon Roberts finished with 90 yards on 11 carries for P-W while Brad Barton had 54 yards on five carries.
Barton 24, Hughes 8
Barton Coach Frank McClellan doesn't have many players but what he had was enough to take a season-opening 24-8 win over the Hughes Blue Devils Friday night.
Barton finished the game with just 13 players.
The Bears led 8-0 after scoring late in the first quarter and pushed that to 16-0 late in the first half before Hughes answered with a touchdown pass from Jermaine Davis to Andre Walker to trail 16-8 at the half.
Barton scored the only points of thr second half with 10:12 to play in the fourth to set the final margin of victory.
Jamal Tiggs led Hughes with 66 yards on 13 carries while Barton's Ben VonKanel led all rushers with 207 yards on 27 carries.
Hughes is playing it first season in Class AA after dropping
down from Class AAA.
The Forrest City Recreation Department's men's fall softball league begins tonight at the Sports Complex.
Section 8 Youth and Young Guns will open at 6 p.m., followed by Wynne Sports World vs M&T Paving at 7 p.m., Morgan vs Miller at 8 p.m. and Marion vs Gym 2000 at 9 p.m.
The four-team co-ed fall league will begin Tuesday night.
Forrest City Mustang fans, age 65-and-older, have the chance
to attain a free "season pass" to all home junior and
senior high games in all sports by stopping by the high school
office and signing up for the pass.