By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Forrest City Coach Donnie Willis has already seen two of his regular season opponents in preseason action -- Jonesboro and Osceola.
Friday night, Willis and his staff will see two more when Searcy plays at Wynne in a preseason scrimmage game.
Tuesday night, Willis' Mustangs hosted West Helena for a preseason scrimmage. The Mustangs, as expected to be the case, let their defense set the tone, pitching a 13-0 shut out over the Cougars.
While the defense shined on its way to a passing grade, the Forrest City offense sputtered and stalled much too often.
"Too many mental mistakes on offense," Willis said. "On film, we looked great on one play, running it just like we drew it up, but then on the very next play, we would break down and look like we didn't have a clue."
Willis says his offensive unit needs to find some points in a hurry and ways to put them on the scoreboard.
In the very tough AAAAA-East Conference, Willis knows that even with a solid defensive effort, 13 points is not going to win many football games.
"We have a long way to go to get up to speed and to where we need to be," Willis said.
Willis said he saw several Mustang players "rise up" during the scrimmage including senior twin brother running backs Demarcus and Dominique Sinclair, Ben Horton, Kelvin Williams, Leo Drone, Terrance Williams and Lee Bonner, to name just a few.
"Demarcus played very well at linebacker and both he and his brother are splitting time in the backfield," Willis said. "We may have two quarterbacks emerging in senior Tae Chism and junior Terrance Ware and sophomore Kelvin Williams did a nice job at center."
Willis handed out accolades to the defensive group, which lost four solid starters a year ago to graduation, including all-state selection Marquis Hunter.
Coming into the year, the Forrest City defensive line was suspect but got a much-needed booster shot with the play of Drone and Bonner at defensive end, Willie Berry at tackle and Terrance Williams at nose guard.
Three prospective veteran starters on defense -- Michael Boyd, Jimmy Bean and Darry Banks -- didn't play in Tuesday's scrimmage.
On offense, the Mustangs didn't put the ball in the air much, opting for just a few base running plays.
When they decide to go to the passing game this season, Willis will send in Justin Jones, Chevelle Wilson, Preston Echols and Mark Machen to handle the receiving duties.
Between now and the season opener against Wynne on Sept. 5, Willis and the coaching staff will film every practice and then evaluate the players on a daily basis.
*In other preseason scrimmages this week, the Cabot Panthers, favored to win the AAAAA-East, were not as impressive as the coaching staff had hoped Monday night in a preseason scrimmage game against Lake Hamilton.
The scrimmage was played with each team taking four possessions of 15 plays with the starters on the field for series one and three for each team.
Cabot halfback Brandon Wade and fullback Chris Robertson got the bulk of the work behind quarterback Ryan Controneo.
Cabot comes to Forrest City on Oct. 10.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
CLARENDON -- The Palestine-Wheatley Junior Patriots appear to be on track for a successful season, if Tuesday's preseason scrimmage against Clarendon is any indication.
Led by quarterback Taylor Clark, the Junior Patriots got past the Junior Lions 14-8 in Tuesday's scrimmage.
The two teams played two, 10-minute halves.
"I was very impressed with the way we looked and the way we played," said Junior Patriot coach Terry Clardy. "Especially after just one full week of practice. We are not where we need to be or where we should be right now, but I saw a lot of potential on the field."
Freshman Ricky Thorn led the Junior Patriots with 94 rushing yards, 70 of that total coming on a break-away touchdown run. Thorn also scored on a two-point conversion.
Blake Simmons finished with 42 rushing yards a touchdown while Clark ran for 30 yards and passed for 52 yards, hitting Bennie Murphy for the completion.
Taylor was stopped on the 1-yard line on one of his runs.
Simmons led the team on defense, recoding 11 tackles (two solo) from his linebacker spot and recovered a Clarendon fumble.
Nathan Bridges and Thorn finished with six tackles each, with Thorn getting four solo take downs in the game.
Chris Sweeney and Murphy had four tackles each on defense.
P-W fumbled twice early in the scrimmage, but according to Clardy, "settled down and protected the football."
The two teams played to a 0-0 tie at the half.
The Junior Patriots will open the regular season on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Earle.
The Forrest City Mustang golf team was able to open the season Wednesday at West Memphis, they just didn't get to stay on the course very long.
In matches cut short by lightning, the two teams played just seven holes before heading for shelter from the evening storm that blew across northeast Arkansas.
Led by Sawyer Ramsey's 31, the Mustangs put away West Memphis 148-to-159. Brian Hacker carded a 37 while John Scott Carroll and Doug Drake each had 40.
West Memphis' Jordan Payne took medalist honors with a 28 through seven holes.
Forrest City freshman, Katie Ramsey, the only girl on the course, finished with a 45 through seven.
The EACC Department of Community Education and the Forrest City Police Department will sponsor a Fishing Derby Saturday, Sept. 13, from 8 a.m. until 12 noon.
The Baptist Memorial Hospital pond will be fully stocked by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission with 450 pond catfish
There is no charge but all children must be accompanied by an adult.
Pre-registration is required and must be made before Monday, Sept. 1, by calling EACC at (870) 633-4480, Ext. 333 or 261.