By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
FORREST CITY -- File this one under police report.
Forrest City was robbed Friday night, right in the middle of Sam Smith Stadium and the official perpetrators got away with the crime.
In what may go down in Forrest City history as one of the worst officiated football games ever, the Mustangs felt the sting of having two touchdowns called back -- each on controversial calls by the same official -- that eventually cost Forrest City a 14-7 loss to Jonesboro in the AAAAA-East Conference opener for each team.
The better team did not win the game, reflected by the game stats which show that Forrest City had 235 total yards to Jonesboro's 202; 13 first downs compared to Jonesboro's five and were better through the air with 103 yards to Jonesboro's 23.
Twice, however, the Mustangs were victimized by the officiating crew.
The first one in the first half when a Jonesboro fumble was recovered by the Mustangs and returned for the touchdown.
Trailing 7-0, Forrest City punted and Jonesboro's Cowan Hutson fumbled the kick at the Jonesboro 20.
Forrest City's Lee Bonner, who was involved in both controversial plays, picked up the loose football and rambled 20 yards for a touchdown.
The touchdown, however, was brought back as the officials ruled that Hutson's knee was down and he had control of the football when he was hit and fumbled.
After a lengthy discussion between themselves and a meeting with Joneboro coach Jim DeVazier, the officials took the call a step further, giving possession back to the Hurricane, even though Forrest City had recovered the fumble.
The second call came early in the third quarter on a 45-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Horton to Bonner when the same official who made the first call, inadvertently blew the play dead and nullified the touchdown.
Horton, who was scrambling, appeared to be in trouble when he ducked under a Jonesboro defender and then launched a touchdown strike to Bonner. But the whistle had blown and the ball was returned to the original line of scrimmage.
"That should have been a touchdown," Willis said. "He (the referee) came back and he apologized and said 'I blew it too quick,' but still said he had no choice but to call the touchdown back. But that's beside the point, that's after the fact."
Those calls helped Jonesboro improve to 3-1 overall, and 1-0 in AAAAA-East.
"We dodged a bunch of bullets," DeVazier said. "That's part of football. Sometimes there are mistakes made. I don't know if you can say they were questionable calls. Everybody out there is working hard. Things just kind of fell our way. Fate was in our corner, I guess, and we came away with the win."
Willis saw it much differently, calling the officiating one of the worst he could remember.
"I thought the referee job was awful," Willis said. "That's the worst I've ever seen. ... I feel bad for the kids because it shouldn't be the refs playing the role in them winning or losing. There were some plays we should have made that we didn't but the kids are not dumb. They knew what was happening on the field and it's tough to regroup after having two touchdowns called back, when you know they shouldn't have been."
The Mustangs slip to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the league.
The Mustangs trailed 14-0 at the half but cut the Hurricane lead to 14-7 with 5:48 to play in the game when Demarcus Sinclair ran two yards for the touchdown and John Scott Carroll added the kick.
Sinclair's touchdown capped an 84-yard drive in nine plays which included a 15-yard pass interference call against Jonesboro, a 14-yard reception by Preston Echols and a 38-yard catch by split end Lee Bonner.
Jonesboro had to start from their own four on the ensuing kickoff after returner Avery Taylor slipped while trying to make a cut.
The Hurricane possession ended in a punt and the Mustangs started from the Jonesboro 39, after a 12-yard return by Tae Chism.
Horton was sacked on first down and the Mustangs were hit with an off-sides call on second down. Horton found Bonner for a 13-yard gain before coming up short with third and fourth down passing attempts and having to punt.
Jonesboro ran three plays, getting the clock down under one minute before punting back to the Mustangs.
Chism, though, fumbled the kick and Jonesboro's Murray Watts recovered to put an end to Forrest City's comeback.
"We had opportunities," Willis said. "We still, almost came back. That's what I really take my hat off to my kids for. In the past, we would have laid down. But they didn't lay down. They came back and came back and came back. Our defense put us in a position to at least tie the game or even win the game."
Jonesboro scored both its touchdowns in the first half as Hutson found the end zone both times and finished the game with 111 yards on 14 carries.
Hutson's first score and seventh touchdown of the year came on Jonesboro's third play from scrimmage as he dashed 76 yards off-tackle, breaking clear and running away from the Mustangs for an early 7-0 lead.
Hutson put Jonesboro ahead 14-0 with 5:17 to go in the first half as he took a pitch on a sweep to his left and found the corner of the end zone on a 12-yard run. Jonesboro quarterback Jim Harris had a 36-yard run on the option to set up Hutson's second TD of the game.
Sinclair finished with 78 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries to lead Forrest City.
CHERRY VALLEY -- Hughes senior tailback Johnny Payton had a huge night against Cross County on Friday, scoring three rushing touchdowns and throwing a touchdown pass as the Blue Devils stayed unbeaten in 3AA Conference play with a 33-7 win over the Thunderbirds.
It the Cross County's first conference loss leaving the Thunderbirds at 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the league.
Payton scored on touchdown runs of 58, 10 and 31 yards and then completed a 65-yard touchdown pass to senior Andre Walker with 2:43 left in the first quarter.
Payton finished with 159 yards rushing on 16 carries for the Blue Devils, who improve to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Ayodele Ogunsakin scored Hughes' other touchdown run with 11 minutes left in the game on a four-yard run.
Hughes led 20-7 at the half after taking a 6-0 lead with 7:12 to play in the opening quarter.
Cross County's Rolandis Hill tied the game at 6-6 with a one-yard touchdown run with 2:57 to play in the first quarter and kicker Patrick Jones out the TBirds in front 7-6 with his extra-point attempt.
Hughes regained the lead at 12-7 on the next possession and did not trail again.
Hill finished the game with 61 yards rushing on 16 carries while Kendole Boydin led the Thunderbirds with 78 yards on 10 carries.
The Blue devils host Salem Friday.
*The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots offense continued to put up big numbers Friday in a 69-0 whipping of Rector.
The Patriots ran for 527 yards and scored nine touchdowns.
The P-W defense held Rector to just 46 yards of total offense.
Palestine-Wheatley improves to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the 3AA Conference.
Rashun Barnes scored twice on runs of 40 and 71 yards and also returned three punts for a total of 170 yards. Brad Barton scored twice and finished with 115 rushing yards while Elisha Duncan, Orlando Bell and Doug Taylor and Jonathan Wheeler scored single touchdowns.
Antonio Leak returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.
The Patriots will travel to Walnut Ridge Friday. Walnut Ridge lost to Earle 54-13 Friday night.
The Forrest City youth flag football league kicks off tonight at the Sports Complex.
The Vikings and the Tigers will play at 6 p.m. followed by the Bears taking on the Lions at 7 p.m., and the Razorbacks and the indians kicking off at 8 p.m. All games will be played on Field 8.
Also on tap tonight at the Sports Complex is a full schedule of adult men's fall softball games, beginning at 6 p.m., on Field 3.
Gym 2000 leads the fall league and is the only unbeaten team at 6-0 after defeating previously unbeaten Elaine last Thursday.
M&T Paving is in third place at 4-2, while Subway and the Head Hunters are both 3-3 for the year.
The league will play through Oct. 23.