By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
HUGHES -- Johnny Payton's 48-yard field goal with 1:03 left to play gave Hughes a stunning, but thrilling 29-28 win over Palestine-Wheatley Thursday as both teams closed out 6AA Conference play at Blue Devil Field.
It was Hughes' first field goal attempt this season and the play -- which came with the Blue Devils facing a fourth and seven -- was called by the Hughes seniors.
"I had something else in mind for the fourth down play," Hughes Coach James Wright said after the game. "But during the time out, the players said they wanted to let Johnny try the field goal. He has been kicking field goals in practice every day and we knew he could kick it a country mile, we just didn't know how straight he could kick one."
Payton's kick would have been good from another five yards away, clearing the upright with room to spare.
The longest field goal by an Arkansas high school team was 57 yards by Hackett's Andrew Miller in 1998.
The loss to Hughes leaves Palestine-Wheatley and the Blue Devils with identical conference marks, both teams at 7-1. Harding Academy can force a three-way tie for the league's top spot by defeating Des Arc tonight in their conference final.
Should that happen, the seeding into the Class AA state playoffs will be determined by the Arkansas Activities Association tie-breaker rule.
In conferences with three teams that have identical conference records:
1. If one team has beaten the other two teams the winner is the first qualifier for the playoffs.
2. If there is a perfect triangle (A beat B, B beat C, and C beat A) the 13-point system is used to determine which two teams are first considered for head-to-head competition.
In this system the two teams with the most points are matched to see which team won in the regular season conference game. The winner is the first qualifier for the playoffs.
The loser from this game is then matched with the remaining team from the triangle and again head-to- head competition is used to determine the second qualifier for the playoffs. If a third qualifier is needed, it shall be the remaining team in the triangle.
A Harding win tonight would create the "perfect triangle."
Palestine-Wheatley defeated Harding; Harding defeated Hughes and Hughes defeated Palestine-Wheatley.
P-W and Harding will end with the two highest point totals and Palestine-Wheatley will get the No. 1 seed into the playoffs based on their win over Harding.
Harding will be the No. 2 seed based on their win over Hughes and the Blue Devils will be the No. 3 seed.
P-W will host their first round game on Friday, Nov. 12, against the 3AA Conference's No. 4 seed, probably Cross County.
Hughes will travel to Earle for their first round game on Friday while Harding stands to meet Salem in the first round.
Following the field goal, the Patriots, 7-2 overall and 7-1, drove deep into Hughes territory before a half back pass was intercepted by Hughes' Justin Allen to seal the win with 10 seconds to play.
The Patriots took an 8-0 lead with 8:20 in the first when Brad Barton broke free for a four yard run. Rashun Barnes passed complete to Barton for the two-point play.
Hughes made it 8-6 with 3:23 to play when Payton went up the middle for a 21-yard touchdown.
P-W stretch the lead to 16-6 on Barnes' 55-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion with 55 seconds to play in throe first quarter.
Again, Hughes closed the gap to 16-12 in the second quarter when Payton scored on a 65-yard run and then took a 19-16 lead on Marcus Washington's 54-yard burst up the m middle. Payton's PAT was good.
Hughes got the ball back when Palestine-Wheatley's pass off a fake punt fell incomplete and capitalized on Payton's 27-yard touchdown run on a fourth and four with 2;14 to play in the first half. The PAT gave Hughes a 26-16 lead.
The Patriots answered when Antonio Leak ran 80 yards for the score on the first play following Hughes' kickoff. Hughes led 26-22 at the half.
Leak put the Patriots in front 282-26 with 8:15 to play in the third quarter on a 53-yard touchdown run.
Hughes game-winning field goal was set up when P-W fumbled the snap on a fourth down punt attempt.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
WEST MEMPHIS -- The West Memphis Blue Devils clinched at least a share of the AAAAA-East Conference championship with a 38-13 victory over Forrest City.
The Blue Devils had some unexpected help from Jacksonville, a 22-7 winner over Cabot.
West Memphis, coming off an undefeated October run, heads into the Class AAAAA state playoffs. A year ago, West Memphis lost to Little Rock Central in the Class AAAAA state championship game. The Blue Devils, 7-3 and 6-1, will host their first-round playoff game.
Forrest City finishes the year at 2-8 and 1-6.
West Memphis opened a 20-0 lead before the Mustangs got on the scoreboard with a 13-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Wilson Parker to Preston Echols that capped a 56-yard scoring drive in the first quarter.
West Memphis led 20-7 at the half and went up 26-7 in the fourth before Parker connected with Echols in the fourth quarter for another scoring pass.
Senior quarterback Ben Horton, who broke his collarbone in the preseason scrimmage at Little Rock Fair and missed the entire season, entered the game late in the fourth and took a couple of snaps.
West Memphis junior fullback Xavier Murry rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns, all of which came in the first half as West Memphis rolled up a 26-7 lead at halftime.
*At Cabot, the Jacksonville Red Devils earned a playoff spot by beating No. 7 Cabot 22-7 Thursday night.
Jacksonville (6-4, 4-3 AAAAA-East ) will be fourth seed from the AAAAA-East while Cabot (7-3, 5-2) is waiting for its seeding to be determined in next week's Class AAAAA playoffs.
The Jacksonville victory broke an eight-game Cabot winning streak in the series, handing Cabot its first AAAAA-East home defeat since 1999. Jacksonville last beat Cabot 1995.
The Red Devils made Cabot pay for its mistakes. The Panthers turned the ball over on downs at the Jacksonville 23-yard line with 4:50 left in the first quarter. On the next play.
Terrod Hatcher broke through the line for a 77-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Daniel Hubbard threw to Justin Akins for the two-point conversion to give Jacksonville an 8-0 lead.
Cabot turned the ball over on the first play of the second half. Two plays later, Hubbard hit Carlton Moragne over the middle.
Moragne took the pass and ran 33 yards for the Red Devils touchdown with 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Hatcher led Jacksonville with 131 yards rushing on 21 carries.
*Senior quarterback Chris Bryant ran for a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass as Searcy (2-8, 1-5 AAAAA-East) rallied to beat Mountain Home (4-6, 2-5).
Mountain Home took a 7-0 lead on senior Tommy Epps' 9-yard touchdown run 11:33 left in the first half. Bryant followed with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Evans with 47 seconds left in the first half.
Searcy took the lead for good when Bryant ran 1 yard for a touchdown with 7:03 left in the third quarter. Senior Will Moore kicked a 36-yard field goal with 9:42 remaining to close the scoring.
SEARCY -- The Harding Academy Wildcats look to be on the brink of something special.
After handing down one of the worst defeats in the history of the storied Barton football program, 36-0, last week, the Wildcats seem to be primed for a playoff run.
The final tune-up for that run comes tonight at home against Des Arc.
The Wildcats haven't been tested since their 47-44 overtime loss to Palestine Wheatley in Week 3 and a win will lock up the No. 2 seed in what looks to be a favorable region.
If the Wildcats win, they will sit as the second seed in a region that will most likely not include powerful Rison or Palestine-Wheatley but will include Jessieville, Dierks and Charleston
The Wildcats biggest concern will probably be Charleston (7-0-1) who is ranked second in Class AA by Hootens.
All of this is contingent upon a victory tonight, though.
Des Arc started the season strong, but has proven to be a couple notches below the elite teams in 6AA. They lost to Hughes, 20-7, and Palestine-Wheatley, 44-13, before mauling Marvell last week.
The Mid-South Championship Marathon and Half-Marathon will be run Saturday, at Wynne.
The race, in its sixth year, serves as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.
Approximately 500 runners from across the nation, including a few from overseas, are expected to compete in wither the 26.2-mile full marathon or the 13.1 half marathon.
The race starts at 8 a.m. by the Wynne High School.
A pancake breakfast for the public will be served during the race at the First United Methodist Church in Wynne. Music and food will also be available after the race for the racers and the community.
For more information about the marathon, check the website at www.midsouthmarathon.com or contact Karen and David Reagler at 870-238-5528.