By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
LITTLE ROCK -- The Forrest City Mustangs got their first tests of the 2004 season Tuesday competing in a four-team preseason scrimmage at Little Rock Fair.
The Mustangs lost to Fair 7-0 and tied Little Rock Hall 0-0 in two, 20-minute halves of football.
"We got a chance to look at a lot of kids last night," said assistant coach Tommy Wheetley. "We found out there were some bright spots, but we have a lot of work to do before the opener next week."
Losing more than 20 seniors to graduation a year ago, left a lot of holes for the Mustang coaching staff to fill this season.
"We have a little better idea of what we have to do now and which kids we need to have on the field," Wheetley said. "The scrimmage was what we needed. We saw some good things and we saw some not so good things."
One of those not so good things was senior quarterback Ben Horton going down on the third play of the scrimmage against Fair.
Horton, also a starting linebacker on defense, broke his collarbone making a tackle on the Fair quarterback, landing on the asphalt strip where the benches sit.
"The doctors said it was a hinge break," said Horton's father, Steve. "If I understand that it means the bottom half of the collarbone is intact but the top part is broken."
Horton was the projected returning starting quarterback going into the opener and also a starting linebacker. He is expected to miss at least five weeks.
Horton was one of three quarterbacks on the Mustang roster this season -- but the only senior. Junior Marcus Fair and sophomore Wilson Parker also got plenty of playing time in Tuesday's scrimmage.
"Marcus was shaky in the first series he played but he regrouped and went out and played well," Wheetley said. "Parker played a couple of series against Hall and threw the football well. If Horton can't return, I will probably have to find a third quarterback somewhere. It would be tough to go through a Class AAAAA season with just two quarterbacks."
The Mustangs are scheduled to open the season on Sept. 3, when they host Poplar Bluff, Mo.
While the senior high Mustangs were on the field in central Arkansas, Rich Trail's Junior Mustangs were in Osceola for their preseason scrimmage.
The Junior Mustangs played Osceola to a scoreless tie and then tied Blytheville 8-8.
Freshman tailback Larry Banks scored from about 10 yards out against Blytheville and freshman back Xavier Jones added the two-point conversion for the Junior Mustangs only points of the night.
"I had been told going in that Osceola was down a little this year but that Blytheviile was really good," Trail said. "I didn't know what to expect from our kids."
He found out quickly Tuesday.
"We saw a lot of good things," Trail said. "The kids played hard and they hit hard. They made some mistakes but nothing that we can't correct. We moved the ball well and the times that our drives stalled were because of things we did."
Against Osceola, the Junior Mustangs were moving the ball consistently 6-to-7 yards per carry using as many as seven backs.
One drive ended in a penalty, two others ended with fumbles and another ended when Osceola intercepted a pass.
"Blytheville was big and they had some good backs," Trail said. "but our kids bowed up and played well. I was really pleased with the linemen. They got a little tired so we need to beef up the conditioning process a little."
The Junior Mustangs are scheduled to open the 2004 season on Thursday, Sept. 2, when they host Marianna.
"We did what we wanted to do at the scrimmage," Trail said. "We wanted to show that we could compete and we did that. That was our goal."
Palestine-Wheatley will be at Mountain View Thursday for a preseason scrimmage while the Hughes Blue Devils will go to Trumann.
WALNUT RIDGE -- Cross County kept Walnut Ridge scoreless in a 32-0 preseason football scrimmage victory Monday.
Courtney Robinson had two touchdown runs for Cross County in the third quarter, including a 54-yard scamper and a 34-yard run.
John Jennings started the offensive output early in the first minute of the first quarter with a 67-yard run.
Cody Coley scored on a 3-yard touchdown run and Aaron Bowles scored on a 40-yard run. Patrick Jones added one with a successful PAT.