When Frederick Freeman takes his place in the Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame tonight, he will be remembered not only as one of the best quarterbacks to wear a Mustang jersey, he will be remembered as Forrest City's first African-American starting quarterback for both his junior and senior seasons.
Freeman, along with a talented backfield, helped lead the 1975 Mustangs to the school's one and only state championship game. The Mustangs finished the regular season undefeated and lost to Texarkana in the title game that year under then head coach Al Miller.
Freeman was a true option and roll out quarterback and for his efforts on the field was named to the Class AAA All-Conference team. His backfield included Sonny Lee, Ulysses Beard, Arthur Banks, Ivory McKnight and Larry Bean.
Following graduation from FCHS and looking past several in-state offers, Freeman went to Central State University (Ohio) on a football scholarship but transferred to North Carolina A&T University after his freshman season, following the CSU coach and staff to the North Carolina school.
He was the North Carolina starting quarterback for both his junior and senior seasons and played in the Orange Blossom Classic Bowl played at the Miami Dolphins Stadium. He still wears the ring signifying A&T's victory over Florida A&M in that bowl game.
"Transferring to A&T was a great move for me," Freeman said. "Not only as an athlete, but also in the classroom."
Following college, Freeman stayed at A&T as a graduate coach for one year before returning to Forrest City.
"I was surprised at my selection into the Hall," Freeman said. "My thoughts center around all of my teammates from the Mustangs teams we were a part of and how we worked together as a unit to be successful. One person couldn't do it alone. It took everyone on both sides of the football."
"To go into the Hall is more than a great honor for me," Freeman said. "To be associated with all of these great athletes speaks volumes."
He has been called a "Friday Night Fixture" at Forrest City Mustang football games. Richard Benson, a 1971 Forrest City high school graduate has been the "Voice of the Mustangs" since 1975 and has not missed a Friday night game. Recently Benson broadcast his 300th consecutive Mustang football game. Next year, Benson begins his 30th Forrest City season.
For those reasons, Benson becomes the first broadcast personality to join the Hall of Fame ranks.
"I am honored to be chosen for the Hall of Fame," Benson said. "I have always considered myself a Mustang fan through and through and the past 29 years have been a wonderful ride and more enjoyable than anything I can imagine."
But Benson's voice at Mustang games isn't just tied to the football field. Benson has called youth baseball games in Forrest City and high school basketball games including each of the Mustang basketball games at the annual Rumble on the Ridge Thanksgiving Weekend tournament.
Outside the broadcast booth, Benson has worked as an official, refereeing high school and college basketball for 20 years, including the AIC playoffs for a three-year stretch. From 1985 until 1990, Benson was the tournament director for the County Basketball Tournament and he has served as president of the Mustang Athletic Booster Club and of the Forrest City Chamber of Commerce. Benson was appointed and served two years as an alderman on the Forrest City Council.
Following several early broadcast partners which include Tom Machen and James Laws, his wife, Janet, has settled into the role and Benson wouldn't have it any other way.
"She makes it great," Benson said. "She is the organized one in the booth. I just go in and wing it. She does all of the pregame legwork, gathering information and stuff."
During his 29 years of broadcasting Mustang football games, Benson said he has tried each season to improve the quality of the broadcasts and continues to make improvements with each new season.
When Richard Kimble played football for the Forrest City Mustangs, he was nicknamed "The Mustang."
After graduation in 1985, Kimble went to Arkansas State University on a football scholarship and became "The Fugitive" after the highly successful television series of the same name. His teammates said "he was always on the run."
Kimble left his imprint at both FCHS and ASU and is remembered as one of the premier running backs from Forrest City. He was coached by the late Tom Owens,
"Coach Owens' favorite play was Kimble run to the left, Kimble run to the right, Kimble run up the middle," Kimble recalled. "He didn't do anything too fancy. He just stayed with what was working."
At Forrest City, Kimble joined the varsity squad as a sophomore and went on to earn All-Conference and All-State honors. He credits much of his success to fellow Mustang teammate, linebacker and blocking fullback Greg Seawood.
"Greg and our offensive line did their job opening the holes for me," Kimble said. He remembers one game in particular, the Class AAAA semifinal against West Memphis when the Blue Devils won on a fluke play.
Playing for legendary coach Larry Lacewell, Kimble became one of ASU's leading rushers and he still ranks sixth overall on the ASU career yardage leaders list with 2,518 yards on 576 carries and ranks in the top 10 for individual season carries with 225 and still ranks seventh for career rushing touchdowns with 19. Four different times, Kimble was one of two ASU backs to run for 100 yards in the same game doing it twice with Roy Johnson in 1989, once with Rickey Jemison and once with Earl Easley. In 1989, Kimble had a single game effort of 194 rushing yards.
Perhaps his shining moment came in 1986 in the ESPN 1AA Division Championship game against Georgia Southern at Tacoma, Washington in which Kimble ran for 134 yards in a 46-21 loss. Kimble played briefly in the Canadian Football League.
Kimble resides in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Friday night, Cabot will take its turn as the Mustangs' fourth different opponent for the annual Hall of Fame Game.
In three previous Hall of Fame games -- starting in 2000 -- Forrest City is a perfect 3-0 having defeated Blytheville, Jonesboro and Osceola.
Pushing that mark to 4-0 with a win over Cabot tonight would be huge for the Mustangs who started the season 2-1, but have lost their first two AAAAA-East Conference games to slip to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the league and are approaching "desperate" in search of a win.
The two conference losses -- against Jonesboro and Searcy -- have been by a combined nine points.
That's nine points removed from being 4-1 overall and 2-0.
The Mustangs lost by seven to Jonesboro in a game that saw two Forrest City touchdowns called back. Last Friday, the Mustangs out-played Searcy and had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter with a set of four downs at the Searcy three. A fumble on first down was recovered by the Lions who held on for a slim 14-12 win.
Cabot comes in with a 3-2 mark and certainly is not the Panther team which preseason polls may have indicated. Both losses have been shut out losses -- certainly a rarity for the Panthers.
"Forrest City is gigantic up on the front line," Cabot coach Mike Malham said. "They've got all 11 back on offense and its going to depend on how we hold up against that kind of size and strength. They had us 7-7 in the fourth quarter last year and we were able to break it open late. Well now all those guys are back and they're better than they were last year. We're going to have to get ready to play."
"Things have not gone our way at all," Forrest City coach Donnie Willis said. "This team really does have it all. We're strong enough, fast enough and big enough, we just have to find a way to overcome some things and get a win. We've been telling this group since ninth grade that they're going to be the ones that turn Forrest City football around. Right now they're getting a little discouraged, so this game is huge for us. We need a win."
* Vital Stats
Cabot 3-2 (2-0 AAAAA-East)
Forrest City 2-3 (0-2 AAAAA-East)
It's been seven long years since Forrest City has taken a victory over Cabot on the football field.
The seven losses have not even been close.
Keys for a Forrest City victory: Avoiding the miscues late in the game, containing Cabot's ground game and converting the big plays.
Keys for a Cabot victory: Holding up for four quarters against
Forrest City's much bigger offensive line; avoiding the costly
turnover, something that has plagued the Panthers this year.
While it may only be the midway point in the season for both the Hughes Blue Devils and the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots, tonight's meeting could very well determine the 3AA Conference champion.
At the very least, the game will have a huge impact toward the final outcome.
Hughes travels to Palestine-Wheatley tonight to take on a very powerful and potent Patriot team.
Hughes leads the conference at 4-0 while the Patriots are locked in a three-way tie for second place with Cross County and Earle.
A Palestine-Wheatley win, coupled with Earle and Cross County victories, would leave the 3AA with four co-leaders on Monday.
A Hughes win would certainly go far in attaining the conference championship, with only Earle standing in their way past Palestine-Wheatley.
The Patriots are averaging an even 35 points per game while giving up just 5.1 points per game in their first five outings. The Patriot defense is holding opponents to an average of 85 yards per game.
Offensively, the Patriots have been chewing up yardage at a staggering clip -- averaging more than 500 total yards a game with 2,551 yards (2,141 of that on the ground) through the first five games.
However, Hughes led the league and the state a year ago in overall point production and while that average has slipped a little this year, the Blue Devils are capable of a small scoring explosion any time from any where on the field.
P-W quarterback Fred Leak has matured through five games and is backed by several talented Patriots including Brad Barton, Rashun Barnes, Elisha Duncan, Jonathan Wheeler and Rico Whitaker.
The Blue Devils counter with Johnny Payton, the team's super quick half back and the power running of Andre Walker and Ayodele Ogunsakin.
* Vital Stats
Hughes 4-1 (4-0 in 3AA)
Palestine-Wheatley 4-1 (3-1 in 3AA)
The Patriots and Blue Devils are playing each other on the football field for only the second time since the Palestine and Wheatley school districts consolidated. Last year, at Hughes, the Blue Devils rolled to a 49-12 win.
Keys for a Hughes victory: Ball control, no turnovers and a solid defensive effort.
Keys for a Palestine-Wheatley victory: Another big game by Barton and just enough passing to keep the Blue Devils off-balance while trying to defend Hughes' Single Wing" offensive set.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WEST MEMPHIS -- Michael Holland scored all three Forrest City touchdowns Thursday night and the Junior Mustangs went on to defeat West Memphis Wonder 20-6 in AAAAA-East Conference action.
The Junior Mustangs improve to 3-2-1 overall for the year and 3-1 in the league, tied with Jonesboro MacArthur for second place behind unbeaten Jonesboro Annie Camp.
Forrest City can finish second and has a shot at a possible first-place tie for first, if the team can win their final three games. The Junior Mustangs will play Blytheville twice and West Memphis East.
Against Wonder, the Junior Mustangs led 8-6 at the half before finding their footing on a wet and soggy field and got two huge fourth down conversions in the second half to keep potential scoring drives alive.
John Washington converted one of the fourth and long plays while quarterback Wilson Parker passed complete to Rylan Nimocks on the other.
"Those were big plays for us," said Forrest City Coach Rich Trail. "That helped jump start our offense in the second half."
Nicko Walker and Stephon Weaver had interceptions for the Junior Mustangs which also helped in the victory.
Antonio Robinson tacked on the one two-point conversion for Forrest City.
Turrell 14, Palestine-Wheatley 6
The Palestine-Wheatley Junior Patriots had their chances in the second half Thursday to get a win, but couldn't get the right call or the right bounce in a 14-6 homecoming loss to Turrell in 3AA conference action.
Trailing 8-0 at the half, P-W quarterback Taylor Clark scored on a keeper to get the Junior Pats within two at 8-6. The two-point try failed.
Turrell added another touchdown to produce the final.
Blake Simmons and Rickey Thorn each had close to 100 yards rushing for the Junior Patriots.
The Junior Patriots will play at Parkin next week.
Annie Camp 21, Blytheville 0
Cody Powell's two touchdowns in the first quarter helped lead the unbeaten Annie Camp Whirlwinds past Blytheville 21-0 at Cooksey-Johns Field Thursday in junior high football.
Powell had 101 yards on 19 carries as Annie Camp improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the AAAAA-East).
Annie Camp has three conference games remaining a home date next week against West Memphis West and road games at West Memphis Wonder and Jonesboro MacArthur.
MacArthur 36, W.M. East 8
Jerico Wright scored three touchdowns and rushed for 102 yards as MacArthur cruised past West Memphis East 36-8 in junior high football Thursday.
MacArthur improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in AAAAA-East play.
Cross County 20, Earle 0
Cross County's Michael Cook scored two touchdowns and the Thunderbirds' shut out Earle 20-0 Thursday in 3AA junior high football. Cross County is 4-2 overall.
Marked Tree 30, Walnut Ridge 8
Undefeated Marked Tree boosted its record to 6-0 Thursday night,
toppling Walnut Ridge 30-8 in a 3AA junior high football game.