By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
It was all Forrest City Tuesday night as the eighth-grade Mustangs romped to a 28-0 win over West Memphis East.
Outsized by West Memphis East, the Mustangs used the quickness from their backfield to control the game.
"The kids practiced hard and they came out and carried that over onto the playing field," said Forrest City Junior High Coach Rich Trail. "You can't ask for a better effort."
Xavier Jones put the eighth-graders on the scoreboard in the first quarter with a touchdown run and Anthony Smith added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.
Cameron Norris scored in the second quarter and the eighth-grade Mustangs led 14-0 at he half.
Leonard Banks scored with 1.2 seconds to play in the third to make it 22-0 and Demetrius Hunter, the team's back-up quarterback, put up the final points, scoring with 2:25 to play in the fourth.
Tyrice Bradley started at quarterback for the eighth-graders and also had a big night defensively intercepting a WME pass. Jimmy Sinclair had an interception for Forrest City as well.
Rico Troup ran well for Forrest City, helping to set up two of the Junior Mustang touchdowns with long runs from scrimmage.
"It was just a fun game to coach and to watch," Trail said.
The ninth-grade Junior Mustangs will host Wynne Thursday night at Sam Smith and will be looking for their first victory of the season.
The Junior Mustangs tied Marianna 14-14 in last week's opener.
"We're ready for Wynne," Trail said. "We've had a good week of practice and I think we have corrected some thngs."
In the seventh-grade game Tuesday, Forrest City jumped out to an 8-0 lead on a 62-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game by Antonio Mitchell. Lee Smith added the two-point conversion.
West Memphis East rallied with a touchdown in the second quarter and then scored 22 unanswered points in the second half to take a 28-8 victory.
"Overall, I'd say we were pleased with the effort," said seventh-grade coach Lewis Etheridge. "I thought all of the kids gave a good effort, even after they fell behind, they kept playing hard."
With close to 70 seventh-graders dressed out, Etheridge and coach John Burgess got everyone in the game.
"We did our best," Etheridge said. "I think all the kids had fun. At least they looked like they were having fun. It would have been great to have won the game, but right now it's still a learning tool for the kids."
The seventh and eighth-grade teams have an open date next Tuesday and both teams will return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 23, when they host West Memphis West.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Season three for the Forrest City Mustangs Cross Country team begins Saturday, Sept. 20.
Coach Lewis Etheridge will field 10 runners this season -- eight girls and two boys -- for the cross country season which runs through early November.
Etheridge returns four girls from last year's squad -- sophomores Randal Ross and Leigh Anna Taylor and juniors Krystal Long and Betsy Stone. It will be Long's third year to run.
Newcomers include freshmen Randi Gibson, Melanie Cook, Alyssa Aldridge and Keri Shepherd.
Both of the boys are first-timers to the sport -- sophomores Zack Jones and Thomas Broussard.
In cross country, a school must field five runners to qualify as a team. Etheridge said all eight Forrest City girls will run the 2.5-mile course and the top five times will be used in the scoring. Both Jones and Broussard will run as single entries in the 3-mile boys' course.
"They've been working hard and I believe we can compete," Etheridge said. "The four returning girls all ran well last year and the incoming freshmen have potential to become good cross country runners."
The Sept. 20 meet will be held at Hendrix College in Conway and the meet is a combined high school/college event.
"Our goal is to finish in the top 15 at the state meet this year," Etheridge said.
A year ago, Forrest City finished the season in the 18th slot at the state meet.
The Calvary Christian School Elementary Eagles soccer team notched another victory Monday, defeating Faith Heritage Chrstian Academy 7-0 at Eagle Field.
Seth Smith scored three goals while Fletcher Myers had two and Hunter McMahand and Ryan Lee scored single goals.
Jonesboro High School's boys' golf team boosted their record to 4-0 Tuesday afternoon at Jonesboro Country Club, beating Searcy's 161-stroke total with a count-four, nine-hole team round of 151 in AAAAA-Est Conference matches.
Jonesboro medalist Willie Little fired a round of 34 to lead the Hurricane, followed by Stephen Cox's 35, Kyle Goldman's 40, Marcus Huffer's 42 and another 42 by Jonathan Davidson.
In girls' action, Jonesboro won a count-three showdown 137-153, as medalist Cassie Huffer finished with a low round of 43.
Hannah Martin followed for Jonesboro (2-1) with a 44. Lauren Copenhauer had a 50, Michelle Gipson carded a 56 and Jordan Tyler left the course with a 65.
Jonesboro capped the night with a 159-181 victory over Searcy in junior varsity play, as Klayton Seyler and Jake Henderson each led JHS with rounds of 38.
Nathan French followed with a round of 41, John Williams 42 and Zach Luster 48.