By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
MOUNTAIN HOME -- last year, Forrest City manhandled Mountain Home 49-14 at Sam Smith Stadium to keep alive hopes for postseason.
Friday, at Bomber Stadium, Mountain Home returned the favor, nailing the Mustangs 35-19.
Mountain Home's Tommy Epps scored three touchdowns and quarterback Evan VanDolah ran for 150 yards and a touchdown to keep the Bombers playoff chances alive.
It was the Bombers' first win over Forrest City in three tries since moving into the AAAAA-East in 2002.
Mountain Home improved to 4-5 on the season and 2-4 in the AAAAA-East Conference.
The Bombers win coupled with Jonesboro's 17-10 loss to Cabot in overtime Friday night moves Mountain Home into a tie for fifth in the conference.
Both Mountain Home and Jonesboro are one game behind Jacksonville, which suffered a 14-6 loss to West Memphis.
To reach postseason, Mountain Home must beat Searcy Thursday and Jacksonville must lose at Cabot. If Jonesboro falls at Sylvan Hills, the Bombers will tie Jacksonville for fourth and earn the playoff spot due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. If Jonesboro wins, all three teams tie for fourth and the tiebreaker point system will be used.
For Forrest City, Friday's loss was the fourth straight for the Mustangs, who slip to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the conference and out of any postseason picture. Forrest City will conclude the season Thursday at West Memphis in the annual Cotton Bale battle.
A Forrest City loss to West Memphis would leave the team with the worst finish since 1999, when the Mustangs ended the year at 1-9.
Mountain Home set the tone for the game on the opening series, pulling off a fake punt that saw VanDolah race 51 yards for a first down at the Forrest City 10-yard line. Epps covered the distance from there and Jake Young nailed the PAT kick for a 7-0 lead with 9:54 left in the first quarter.
Forrest City tied the game at 7-7 late in the first quarter when senior tailback Terrance Ware got free for a 32-yard touchdown run and John Scott Carroll kicked the extra point that capped a 73-yard scoring drive by the Mustangs.
Mountain Home answered with a 10-play scoring drive, helped by VanDolah's 41-yard touchdown run The touchdown came when VanDolah moved to halfback and took the ball from sophomore quarterback Jake Haynes. The Bombers led 14-7 at the half.
Forrest City opened the second half with Ware returning the opening kickoff 98 yards for the touchdown. Mountain Home's Joe Schmitt blocked Carroll's PAT kick to preserve the 14-13 lead.
With their playoff hopes on the line, the Bombers regained control of the contest with a 46-yard scoring drive that saw Epps bull his way into the end zone from 3 yards out. Young's PAT kick pushed the lead to 21-13.
Mountain Home would send its lead to 15 points at 28-13 with 5:59 left on the scoreboard, courtesy of a 1-yard Epps plunge. Young nailed the PAT.
Forrest City continued to nip at the Bombers' heels as backup quarterback Wilson Parker came off the bench and connected on passes of 10, 1 and 48 yards to set up a 2-yard score by Larry Brown. The 2-point conversion failed, leaving the score at 28-19 with 2:32 remaining.
Mountain Home fumbled the ball right back to the Mustangs, but the Bomber defense forced four consecutive incompletions for a turnover on downs.
Desperately seeking a 13-point margin of victory for the playoff tiebreaker system, Mountain Home rushed downfield on the strength of a 22-yard run by VanDolah and found the end zone with :07 remaining when Haynes hit Kyle Byrd with an 8-yard touchdown pass. Young's PAT kick set the final score at 35-19 and allowed Mountain Home to net the 13 tiebreaker points.
The Bombers' Wishbone offense unofficially produced 351 yards of total offense, including 324 yards rushing on 50 attempts. VanDolah finished with 150 yards on 16 totes, Epps ran 23 times for 94 yards and Kevin Plumlee produced 80 yards on 11 carries.
Patrick was impressed with the effort of the entire team, especially the offensive line.
"They did a great job, our quarterbacks did a great job reading it and our backs did a great job running. I was just real proud of everybody."
Mountain Home held Forrest City to 174 yards, 94 of which came on the ground.
Palestine-Wheatley's stage is set for Thursday's showdown at Hughes. yes, Thursday, not Friday.
The two schools officially announced today that the game, originally set for Friday, will be played Thursday (Nov. 4) at Blue Devil Stadium. Kick off is 7:30 p.m.
The game will decide the 6AA Conference champion and the No. 1 seed into the Class AA Playoffs.
The Patriots, ranked No. 3 in Class AA, are unbeaten in the conference and are trying to complete an undefeated run through the 6AA. P-W was idle Friday night.
A Palestine-Wheatley win over Hughes would give them home field advantage in the first and second rounds of the playoffs and a possible first-round matchup against Marked Tree, the fourth-place team from the 3AA Conference.
A possible second-round matchup for Palestine-Wheatley involves Lavaca or Hazen.
Hughes, ranked ninth in Class AA and coming of Friday's 49-0 win over Clarendon, remains tied for second place in the 6AA Conference with Harding Academy, who engineered a shocking 36-0 win over Barton Friday at Barton.
"It's been a long time since we've been shut out," said Barton coach Frank McClellan. "I can't remember the last time, but it has happened, just not very often."
McClellan's Bears are fighting for the fourth playoff spot in the 6AA and will finish out conference play Friday at Augusta.
A fourth place finish for Barton puts them on the road against either EPC or salem in the first round of the playoffs.
Harding Academy, ranked No. 5 in Class AA, needed only 2:24 to get on the scoreboard. Quarterback Zach Tribble capped off a seven-play, 54-yard drive with a one-yard run to score. Tribble kicked the extra point to give Harding Academy (8-1, 6-1) the early 7-0 lead.
Barton drove 67 yards in 11 plays with the help of 30 yards of penalties against the Wildcats. The drive stalled at the Harding Academy 24 after Barton failed to convert on fourth-and-seven.
Three plays later, Barton (5-3, 4-3) missed another scoring opportunity when an apparent 45-yard punt return for a touchdown was nullified by a clipping penalty.
Harding Academy got on the board again when Tribble hit Ryan Higginbotham from 40 yards out.
Barton cam up just short on a fourth-down try at the Wildcat 31.
Harding Academy took over and drove 69 yards using eight plays. Kell ran for the five-yard touchdown and Tribble kicked the extra point to push Harding Academy's lead to 22-0 with 2:13 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats invoked the mercy rule with 8:15 remaining when Kyle Tiffee scored on a 19-yard run and Tribble kicked the extra point for the final margin.
A second-place finish for Hughes would give the Blue Devils home field against Earle in the first round while a third-place finish sends Hughes on the road for a possible matchup against either EPC or Salem.
A year ago, both Hughes and Palestine-Wheatley advanced as far as the quarterfinal round of the Class AA playoffs before being eliminated.
MONETTE -- Brandon Ballard scored 25 points and Brooks Taylor chipped in with 22 Friday night as Buffalo Island Central routed Abundant Life of Little Rock 76-58 in senior boys' basketball at Mustang Athletic Complex.
Josh Nettles and Jordan Rose scored 12 points apiece as BIC stayed unbeaten at 4-0.
BIC will be among the eight-team playing in the Forrest City Grocery/Rumble on the Ridge Thanksgiving tournament, Nov. 25-27, at Mustang Arena. It will be BIC's first appearance in the Rumble.
BIC won the senior girls' game 67-34 over Abundant Life. Freshman Jessica Shepard led BIC (3-0) with 18 points.