By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
FORREST CITY -- Sitting atop his doghouse, Snoopy always began his story this way: 'It was a dark and stormy night....'
For the Forrest City Junior Mustangs, Tuesday was a cold and rainy night.
Hosting Jonesboro Annie Camp for their season finale at Sam Smith Stadium, the Junior Mustangs were as cold offensively as the light rain which fell for most of the four quarters.
Never able to get untracked, the Junior Mustangs fell 6-0 to the AAAAA-East Conference's second-best junior high team.
West Memphis West wrapped up the regular season league title last week.
A win over Annie Camp would have given the Junior Mustangs a tie for second place with the Whirlwinds in the final season standings.
Instead, Annie Camp finishes 7-1-1 and 4-1 in the league. Forrest City finishes 3-6 and 2-3 and in fourth place.
Defensively, both teams played well.
Annie Camp held Forrest City to just 86 total yards.
"We had a couple of good runs, but that was about all," said Forrest City Coach Rich Trail. "We got down inside the red zone but couldn't score."
Trail said the field conditions proved to be most of his team's undoing.
"We have cutters and slashers, and the field last night did not favor our running game," Trail said. "We spent too much time trying to run east and west instead of north and south. On a dry field, the outcome might have been different."
The field did favor Annie Camp, who used a straight ahead style of run offense.
The Junior Mustangs gave up a lot of yards, but only allowed six points, which in the end, proved to be more than the Junior Mustangs could overcome.
It was the second meeting between the two teams this season. The first, a nonconference affair, was played at Jonesboro. Forrest City played well in that game, but lost 7-0.
Tuesday, the game didn't start well for Forrest City or Annie Camp.
Junior Mustang quarterback Antonio Smith threw an interception on the third play of the game but Annie Camp fumbled the ball right back to Forrest City on their first play from scrimmage.
Forrest City gave it back to Annie Camp when Smith tossed his second interception of the game late in the opening quarter.
Annie Camp maintained control of the ball into the second quarter and moved to the Forrest City 13 yard line on a big run by Lynell Currie which was aided by a facemask penalty against Forrest City.
From the six, Annie Camp quarterback Josh Calamese hooked up with his brother, Jonah for the only points of the game, a touchdown pass with 4:19 to play in the first half. The point after kick failed when the snap from center was fumbled.
The Whirlwinds held the ball for more than seven minutes of the third quarter but could not score, turning the ball over to Forrest City when a fourth down pass fell incomplete.
The Junior Mustangs took over with 1:13 to play and kept the ball in their possession into the fourth quarter when they were forced to punt after the drive stalled.
The Junior Mustangs recovered an Annie Camp fumble with about three minutes to play in the game but a defensive stand by Annie Camp and mistakes by the Junior Mustang offense forced a fourth down punt.
Forrest City had one last chance after Annie Camp ran three plays and gave the ball back to Forrest City with 1:14 to play, but a reverse yielded little and an incomplete pass left the Junior Mustangs short.
Currie led the Whirlwinds with 186 yards rushing on 17 carries and came through with eight solo tackles.
Currie never left the field, playing the entire game on both sides of the football.
"Our kids played hard and didn't quit," Trail said. "They were a better football team than our final record reflects."
*MacArthur's Josh Chalk broke free for 70 yards and a touchdown on the opening kickoff, sparking the Cyclones to a 28-6 victory over West Memphis Wonder in junior high football at Cooksey-Johns Field Tuesday.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
Buffalo Island Central is picking up steam as the Mustangs' first trip to the Forrest City Grocery/Rumble on the Ridge tournament gets closer.
Brooks Taylor scored 24 of his 29 points in the first half to help Buffalo Island Central build a big lead which let the Class AA Mustangs cruise to 97-66 senior boys' victory over Maynard Tuesday night.
BIC (5-0, 1-0 3AA-North) literally shot their way 31-13 first-quarter lead and led 59-37 at the half and 83-54 entering the fourth quarter.
Brandon Ballard scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half for the Mustangs, while Derek Rolland chipped in with 13 points and Cord Rose 11.
Cory Watson led Maynard (0-4, 0-1) with 20 points while Mark Blackwell scored 18 and Trent Melton 10.
BIC will be making its first appearance at the Rumble when the eighth annual boys basketball tournament tips on Thanksgiving Day at Mustang Arena.
But they won't be the only Mustangs on the floor joining Forrest City which carries the same mascot.
BIC will play Richwood High School from Monroe, La. in their opening game Thursday, Nov. 25, at 5 p.m.
Richwood, making its first trip to the Rumble, has won 75 games over the past two seasons and is led by Terry Martin and Kenneth Cooper. Martin has verbally committed to Texas Tech.
Forrest City draws Lanier High School from Jackson, Miss., in their opening day game at 6:30 p.m.
Lanier is depending on the trio of Monta Ellis, Al Graham and Samuel Walton this season. Ellis is headed to Mississippi State while Graham is listed as one of the top sophomores to watch this season.
Forrest City will counter with a pair of heralded sophomores as well -- Stephon Weaver and Marcus Britt.
The remainder of the 2004 Rumble on the Ridge field includes Denham Springs, La., last year's runner-up; Bolivar High School (Tenn.); Poplar Bluff, Mo.and Reserve Christian High School from Louisiana.
The Forrest City Ponys won their sixth straight Super Bowl title last Saturday by defeating the Forrest City Titans 13-6. The Super Bowl game officially ends the East Arkansas Youth Football Association season. The Ponys, coached by Jackie Cunningham, won three Super Bowl titles playing within the West Memphis Youth Football league and three Super Bowl titles with the East Arkansas league. The Ponys have never lost a season game and ended this year at 10-0. The Titans finished second, the Forrest City Razorbacks third and the Caldwell Gators fourth in the six-team league which also include Earle and Marianna. Cunningham is assisted by Maurice Lowe and Larry Smith. The East Arkansas league played its regular season games at Palestine-Wheatley this season.