By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
SEARCY -- A late fumble left the Forrest City Mustangs a few yards shy and two points short of a win over Searcy Friday night.
With 4:30 left in the game and trailing by two points, Forrest City had a first-and-goal at the Searcy 3-yard line Mustang quarterback Ben Horton lost the handle on the football after the snap from center.
Searcy recovered and ran out the clock to preserve a 14-12 win over the Mustangs.
The Mustangs got within two points with 6:02 to play in the fourth quarter when Andrew Embry scored from 6-yards out -- his second touchdown of the night -- but the two point conversion attempt failed.
Forrest City got the ball back after holding Searcy on a third-and-nine and started at their own 47 following the punt.
Embry picked up seven yards on first down and Horton got 12 for a first down at the Searcy 34. On back-to-back runs, Embry got three and 26 yards to the Searcy 5, A penalty against the Lions took the ball to the three before the Mustangs suffered the turnover.
The loss leaves Forrest City 0-2 in the AAAAA-East Conference and 2-3 overall. Searcy evens their conference mark at 1-1 and improves to 2-2-1.
In other AAAAA-East Conference games played Friday, Cabot, Forrest City's next challenge, defeated West Memphis 34-14, Jonesboro rolled over Jacksonville 37-6 and Mountain Home picked up a 21-18 win over Blytheville.
The Mustangs out-gained the Lions in total yards 301-to-271 with 253 of that total coming on the ground. Forrest City had 16 first downs to Searcy's 13 and had 48 passing yards compared to Searcy's 29. But the Mustangs lost three fumbles -- two of those leading directly to Searcy scores.
But it was Searcy's senior All-State fullback Weston Dacus who carried the Lions.
Dacus finished with 154 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
Dacus' first carry of the game went for 54 yards as the Lions needed less than a minute and a half to put up their first points. Dacus scored on runs of 14 and 5 yards.
Searcy led 7-0 after one quarter. The Mustangs got within 7-6 in the second when Embry scored with 1:34 to play on a 3-yard run. The Mustangs missed the extra point kick.
The Lions made it 14-6 midway through the third quarter before the Mustangs scored late in the final quarter.
Tae Chism led the Mustangs with 115 yards rushing on 16 carries while Embry finished with 96 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
The Mustangs were playing without starting senior tailback Demarcus Sinclair, who was out with a separated shoulder.
"We missed Demarcus," said Forrest city Coach Donnie Willis. "Tae and Andrew did all they could do and I couldn't ask for any better an effort. But it was clear we missed Demarcus."
Horton completed just 3-of-10 passing attempts in the game.
The Mustangs fumbled on their opening possession which led directly to Searcy's first score. later in the quarter, the Mustangs had a punt blocked.
The Mustangs' first touchdown capped a 16-play drive in the second quarter which began at their own 20.
The Lions missed a 40-yard field goal in the second which would have pushed their lead to 10-6 at the half instead of 7-6.
The Mustangs' second fumble came in the third quarter and stopped their opening possession of the second half. That turnover also led to Searcy's second touchdown, Dacus' 5-yard run that capped a 10 play drive.
Forrest City will host the Cabot Panthers Friday, Oct. 10, for the annual Hall of Fame football game.
Following the Hall of Fame banquet and induction ceremonies, which begin at 5 p.m., at the Forrest City Civic Center, the game will kick off at 7:30 p.m., at Sam Smith Stadium.
*The Forrest City Junior Varsity football game tonight, originally scheduled against Brinkley, has been cancelled, according to Willis.
The JV Mustangs are undefeated this season and will return to action next Monday (Oct. 13) when they play on the road at West Memphis.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WALNUT RIDGE -- Brad Barton rushed for 231 yards and scored five touchdowns as the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots defeated Walnut Ridge 39-8 in 3AA conference high school football Friday night.
Palestine-Wheatley (4-1, 3-1 3AA conference) led 26-0 at halftime.
The Patriots finished with 385 total yards while the Bobcats (1-4, 1-3) gained 267 yards, 247 on the ground.
Walnut Ridge's only touchdown of the game occurred in the third quarter on a 1-yard dive by Jeremy George. George added the two-point conversion run. Corey Rainwater led the Bobcats with 115 yards on 21 carries.
The Patriots are in a three-way tie for second place in the league with Earle and Cross County.
Meanwhile, the Hughes Blue Devils stayed unbeaten in the 3AA Conference by taking a 34-7 win over Salem on the strength of senior tailback Ayodele Ogunsakin's rushing and the running of quarterback Johnny Payton.
The Blue Devils improve to 4-1 overall for the year and stand at 4-0 in the conference.
Both teams will play each other Friday night at Palestine-Wheatley in a game that could very well determine the conference championship.
Hughes won last year's matchup played at Blue Devil Stadium and went on to finish second in the conference and reached the quarterfinals of the Class AA state playoffs.
*The Palestine-Wheatley seventh-grade Patriots completed their season Saturday with a pair of games against Marianna and Barton.
Coach PWJH Terry Clardy said he has seen a lot of improvement with the seventh-grade squad and singled out running back Justin Wheeler, younger brother of Patriots' senior fullback Jonathan Wheeler, and quarterback Kenny Smith.
"I think there is a lot of promise with this young group," Clardy said. "They have worked hard and now they will go on and play junior high football next year.
*The Junior Patriot football team will host Turrell Thursday in the school's annual homecoming game.
*The unbeaten Hughes Junior Blue Devils will host the Parkin Junior Tigers Thursday in a 3AA game beginning at 6 p.m.
SEARCY -- The Forrest City Mustang Cross Country team finished sixth in Saturday's 14-team field at a high school meet held at Harding University in Searcy.
Freshman Melanie Cook shaved 10 minutes off her time two weeks ago at the Orange Crush Invitational, pacing the Mustangs with a time of 24:01 in the girls' 2.5 mile course.
Alyssa Aldridge ran second in the team event with a time of 27:39 while junior Krystal Long ran third in 28:16. Randi Gibson finished in a time of 28:56 and Keri Shepherd bettered her time from the first meet of the year, finishing the course in 33:59.
To compete as a team in cross country, a school must field either five boys or five girls running at the same time. The individual times are used to determine the overall team finish.
In the boys' 3-mile run, Thomas Broussard was the only Forrest City entry and completed the course in 25 minutes.
The Mustangs will run at Hot Springs, Saturday, Oct.11, and
will compete in the conference meet on Oct. 27, at Cabot.