By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
BLYTHEVILLE -- It was the end of an era Friday night -- at least for the next two years -- as Forrest City and Blytheville played their final game for a while.
Blytheville drops down into Class AAAA for the next two years, bringing an end to a long time home-and-home rivalry between the Mustangs and the Chicks.
Former AAAAA-East Conference member, Sylvan Hills moves back into the league ranks.
Blytheville, hoping they could somehow upend the Mustangs and earn their first AAAAA-East Conference victory since the next-to-last week of the 2000 season, led the entire first half before surrendering early second-half touchdowns on an interception and a punt return falling for the fourth straight year 34-12 at Haley Field.
Trailing 12-7 at the half, Forrest City made certain the last game would go their way by scoring 27 unanswered third quarter points for the victory.
It was the first conference win of the year for the Mustangs, 3-4 overall and 1-3 while Blytheville's conference losing streak now stands at 19 straight games.
Blytheville starting quarterback Brice Beck left the game in the second quarter and was replaced by Logan Rebstock, who ran into trouble.
On the first play of the third quarter, Rebstock threw long down the middle of the field into double coverage by Forrest City. Terrance Ware came up with the ball close to midfield, sidestepped a couple of defenders and found the endzone.
The point-after attempt was blocked, leaving the Mustangs with a 13-12 advantage a mere 34 seconds into the second half.
Blytheville went three-and-out on its next possession, forcing Matt Bell to punt from his own 11-yard line.
Forrest City's Tae Chism fielded the ball at the Forrest City 43 and managed to dodge all 11 Chickasaw defenders to complete a 61-yard scoring return. Lee Bonner caught the pass from quarterback Ben Horton on the two-point attempt for a 21-12 lead with 9:55 to play in the quarter.
The Mustangs had 308 of its 378 yards of total offense on the ground.
Demarcus Sinclair led the ground attack with 111 yards on 15 carries while Andrew Embry had 83 yards -- 62 of that total coming on one touchdown run. Chism finished with 60 rushing yards on 20 carries and returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown.
Horton completed 4-of-6 passing attempts for 70 yards and ran for a 1-yard touchdown. Ware finished with 36 yards and a touchdown and returned an interception 50 yards for another score.
Blytheville finished with 230 yards of offense, 150 passing.
Andrew Embry added a 62-yard scoring run in the second half.
The Mustangs will travel to Jacksonville on Friday to take on the Red Devils.
*Jacksonville had held Searcy senior fullback Weston Dacus to 50 yards with five minutes left in the game.
Searcy trailed by three points, and had possession at its 3.
Dacus finished with 156 yards on 22 carries, scoring on runs with 2:14 and 1:00 left to lead the Searcy Lions to a 20-9 victory over the Jacksonville Red Devils at Lion Stadium Friday night.
Jacksonville had possession with first downs at the Searcy 1, 5, 6, and 5, and managed just one touchdown.
Jacksonville led 9-6 after a safety when Searcy junior quarterback Chris Bryant was tackled in the end zone with 11:54 left in the fourth quarter.
Jacksonville (4-3, 2-2 AAAAAEast ) took the free kick, and drove to a first down at the Searcy 5.
On third-and-goal from the 10, Searcy senior Adam Harris recovered a fumble at the 3.
Nine plays later, Dacus scored on an 11-yard run to give Searcy (3-3-1, 2-2 a 13-9 lead with 2:14 left in the game.
After an interception by junior defensive back Blake Robertson, Dacus completed the scoring with a 43-yard run.
*Cabot fullback Chris Robertson finished with 158 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 22 carries as the fifth-ranked Panthers rolled to a 47-14 victory over Mountain Home on Friday night.
The Panthers led 27-0 at halftime.
Robertson scored on runs of 21, 8 and 4 yards. Brandon Wade rushed for 134 yards on seven carries.
Cabot (5-2, 4-0 AAAAA-East) quickly ran past the Bombers (1-6, 1-3), driving 60 yards in nine plays on the game's first drive and going up 7-0 early.
Cabot pushed the lead to 14-0 when Robertson scored on an 8-yard run with 12 seconds left in the first quarter and made it 21-0 when Sammy Swanson scored on a 1-yard run with 6:00 left in the first half.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Palestine-Wheatley and Hughes weren't shy about lighting up the scoreboard Friday night.
Each team topped the 60-point mark to post big victories as the race for the 3AA Conference title heads into the week 7.
The Patriots took apart Turrell 62-18 while the Blue Devils shut out Parkin 65-0.
Both teams are locked in a three-way tie for first in the conference along with Cross County, who defeated Earle 21-8 Friday at Earle.
Earle, drops out of the tie for first and into a tie for third with Marked Tree and Turrell. Salem, a 44-8 winner over rector moves into second place.
At Parkin, the Blue Devils faced a Tigers team which had only 10 players dressed out as the team arrived. By kickoff Parkin had 13 players in uniform.
It didn't matter as the Parkin players repeatedly stepped aside on almost every snap of the football to let Hughes run at will.
Things were almost as bad at Turrell as Palestine-Wheatley scored nine touchdowns in their win over the Rockets.
Brad Barton ran for 131 yards on nine carries -- scoring three of the four TDs in the first half. Elisha Duncan finished with 100 yards on seven carries and three touchdowns while his brother Elijah, returned an interception 35 yards for a score.
Back-up quarterback Brad Zamora, who played the entire fourth quarter, scored the final P-W touchdown.
Antonio Leak converted six point After kicks while his brother, Fred leak, the starting quarterback, added a two-point conversion and finished with 72 yards on four carries. Rashun Barnes had 40 yards on seven carries.
As a team, the Patriots rolled up 407 total yards while holding Turrell to 102 yards total.
The Patriots led 27-0 at the half.
Palestine-Wheatley will host Parkin Friday night.
Cross County improved its standing in a crowded 3AA conference race with Friday night's 21-8 victory over Earle.
The Thunderbirds improve to 5-2, 5-1 3AA while Earle slips to 4-3 and 4-2.
Cross County notched the first score on special teams in the first quarter. Patrick Jones blocked a punt, picked up the ball and sprinted 22 yards for the touchdown, also adding the point-after kick for the early 7-0 lead.
Earle answered with 11:50 left in the second, to hold a brief 8-7 lead before Cross County regained the lead on a 1-yard run by Rolandas Hill for a 13-8 Thunderbirds lead in the third.
Earle was held to 76 total yards and three interceptions, while Cross County recorded 293 total yards.
In other 3AA games played Friday, Chae Bellah ran for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19 carries to lead Walnut Ridge by Marked Tree 29-15 Friday.
Bellah's 8-yard TD run with 7:33 left in the second quarter broke an 8-8 tie and put Walnut Ridge (2-5, 2-4 3AA) ahead to stay.