The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots made a strong statement Friday by defeating the Hughes Blue Devils in the middle of Patriot Stadium.
It was the showcase of the week in the 3AA Conference as the preseason No. 1 and 2 picks went head-to-head and toe-to-toe.
P-W junior quarterback Fred Leak spoke the loudest for the Patriots.
Leak intercepted a Hughes pass with 10 seconds to play in the game and returned it 95 yards to end Hughes' hopes of a win and give the Patriots a wild 41-34 victory.
The win leaves the Patriots in a three-way tie for first place in the league with Hughes and Cross County. All three teams are 4-1 in conference play. The Patriots have the best overall record in the league at 5-1.
Four teams are tied with 3-2 conference marks.
Leak also threw two touchdown passes in the game and finished by completing 4-of-7 attempts for 151 yards.
The Patriots, who came into the game averaging close to 500 yards per game, fell short of that mark, finishing with 425 yards of total offense against the Blue Devils, who finished with 281 total yards.
Hughes led until 1:17 in the fourth quarter when Leak's 35-yard touchdown pass to Rashun Barnes to tie the game and added the point after kick to take a 35-34 lead.
Hughes, minus starting quarterback Johnny Payton, sideined by a fractured foot, started what looked like their game-winning drive with 1:09 to play and drove to the Patriot 30-yard line where Leak made the pick and slammed the door shut on the visiting Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils struck first when Andre Walker, who finished with 168 yards, fumbled and Blue Devil lineman Jacob Young scooped up the loose ball and ran 10 yards for the score. The PAT had Hughes in front 7-0 with 6:25 to play.
P-W answered with a 12-yard touchdown run by Brad Barton, who finished with 173 yards on 15 carries, with 4:30 to play. The kick failed and Hughes' lead was down to 7-6.
Walker's 60-yard run with 3:50 in the first made it 13-6 Hughes and Ayodele Ogunsakin's 45-yard touchdown run had the Blue Devils in control 20-6 early in the second quarter.
Leak's 75-yard touchdown pass to Barnes with 9:52 to play in the first half and Barnes' two-point run got the Patriots back within six points at 20-14, which stood at the half.
Walker and Barnes traded scoring runs in the third quarter as Walker's 3-yard run pushed Hughes' lead to 26-14 and Barnes' three-yard run kept the Patriots within striking distance at 26-21.
Walker added his third touchdown of the game with 9:20 to play in the final quarter when he broke free for a two-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion gave Hughes a 34-21 cushion.
The remainder of the game belonged to the Patriots, who scored the final, unanswered 20 points.
Antonio Leak's one-yard run with 6:17 to play got the Patriots to 34-27 before Jonathan Wheeler's PAT made it 34-28.
Leak's second touchdown pass to Barnes gave P-W the 35-34 lead with 1:17 to play.
The game ended as Leak scored the final touchdown, off the interception, with no time left as the Palestine-Wheatley fans poured onto the football field. The Patriots did not need nor tried the extra point attempt.
Ogunsakin joined Walker by running for more than 100 yards in the game.
A year ago, in the first meeting against Hughes since Palestine and Wheatley consolidated, it was the Blue Devils taking a 49-12 win on their home field.
With both Palestine-Wheatley and Hughes looking at postseason play, the two teams will close out the season jockeying for position.
Friday's victory over Hughes gives the Patriots the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Blue Devils, should the two teams end in a tie.
Palestine-Wheatley has made a habit of getting into postseason but have never won a playoff game.
A year ago, the Blue Devils finished runner-up to Marked Tree in the conference and reached the quarterfinals of the Class AA state playoffs.
The Patriots have Turrell, Parkin, Marked Tree and Salem remaining on the conference schedule while the Blue Devils have Parkin, Earle, Turrell and Marked Tree left on their conference schedule.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Controlling the game by controlling both the much bigger Forrest City offensive and defensive lines, the Cabot Panthers made it eight consecutive wins over the Mustangs, winning 36-0, in the annual Forrest City Hall of Fame Game played at Sam Smith Stadium.
Cabot improves to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the AAAAA-East Conference while Forrest City loses for the third straight week and falls to 2-4 and 0-3.
Cabot fullback Chris Robertson ran for 112 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries to lead the Panthers. Robertson had touchdown runs of 4, 20 and 24 yards.
Panther tailback Brandon Wade finished with 71 yards on nine carries and scored twice -- running for 27 yard touchdown and then catching a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Controneo.
Sammy Swanson finished with 72 yards on 13 carries.
Controneo completed 3-of-6 passing attempts for 56 yards and the one touchdown.
The Panthers shut down Forrest City's ground game. Tae Chism led the Mustangs with 48 yards on six carries while Demarcus Sinclair finished with 41 yards on 10 carries. Junior quarterback Ben Horton completed just 2-of-9 passing attempts for 10 yards.
Cabot dominated overall rolling up 330 total yards of offense to Forrest City's 142. The Panthers had 274 yards on the ground.
Robertson got the Panthers off and running with 5:34 to play in the first quarter when he scored from four yards out. Brandon Shiell's point after kick made it 7-0.
A Forrest City fumble set up Cabot's next score when Horton lost the handle and Cabot recovered the ball at the Forrest City 20 with eight seconds left in the opening quarter.
Cabot used six plays to make it 14-0 when Wade hauled in Controneo's pass with 10:12 showing in the second quarter and Shiell added the kick.
The Panthers' only miscue in the first half was a missed field goal by Shiell from 37 yards out. the Kick hit the left upright and bounced away.
The Panthers made it 22-0 just before the half when Robertson scored on a 24-yard run with 59 seconds to play. Cabot added a two-point conversion.
Cabot coach Mike Malham went to his bag of tricks in the third quarter as Cabot twice faced a fourth and five and twice used the fake punt to pick up the first down even though the Panthers eventually turned the ball over the Mustangs on downs.
With 4:53 showing in the third, Forrest City punter Chris Autry couldn't handle a bad snap and Cabot blocked the kick taking over at the Mustang 30.
That set up Wade's 27-yard touchdown run with 4:02 to play to make it 29-0.
Cabot tacked on the final touchdown with eight seconds left in the third quarter when Robertson ran for a 20-yard score and Shiell added the kick to make it 36-0.
Forrest City managed only four first downs for the game and lost two of three fumbles.
In other AAAAA-East scores Jonesboro defeated Mountain Home 35-3.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The fourth annual Forrest City Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet drew a large crowd Friday night who were thoroughly entertained by the nine new inductees in the Hall -- Richard Benson, Frederick Freeman, Billy Trail, Roy Weatherall, Richard Kimble, Melvin McAllister and Jim Williams as well as Dog Graham and DeJustice Coleman, who were accepting posthumous honors for Max Graham and Archie Coleman.
McAllister, a former Lincoln High School standout, stole the show with his one liners while Lincoln's Roy Weatherall, not only accepted his place in the Hall but will be remembered as the inductee giving the shortest acceptance speech.
Trying to hold each inductee to a maximum of five minutes at the podium, several before Weatherall exceeded that time limit and Weatherall made up for lost time with a quick two line speech which took less than a minute.
McAllister, who resides in Little Rock, was making his second straight appearance at the Hall of Fame Banquet. Last year, McAllister accepted in behalf of Lincoln Coach Wallace Purifoy, who was being honored posthumously.
DeJustice Coleman, a 2000 inductee, who was unable to attend the first banquet, made the trip back this time to officially accept not only his position into the Hall but also for his brother, Archie, who was inducted this year.
Both Coleman brothers were standout Lincoln High School athletes in the 1950s.
Following the banquet, held at the Forrest City Civic Cenrter, the nine inductees were introduced at halftime of the Forrest City-Cabot football game.
The nine 2003 inductees brings the total number of Hall of Fame members to 42.
Also returning for the banquet were Hall of Fame members Cecil and Manuel Twillie, Clarence Jones, Maxine Kennedy Douglas, B. Lindsey, Sonny Holmes, Jim Finch, Ray Trail, Mallory Nimocks, Arthur Banks and Rusty Trail.