By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
PALESTINE -- The familiar four fingers signal went up on the Palestine-Wheatley sideline just as the third period ended Friday night at Patriot Field.
The four fingers have signified all year long that it was indeed the fourth period and that the game was not over.
The Patriots have used that as a rallying cry since an opening season loss to Carlisle in which the Patriots led 41-23 with seven minutes to play in the game and Carlisle scored 22 unanswered points to take a 45-42 win.
That might have been the best thing that happened to the Patriots this season.
Friday night, hosting Lavaca in the second round of the Class AA state playoffs, Antonio Leak ran for 287 yards in just three quarters and scored four touchdowns, including an 87-yard run in the second quarter and two long TD runs in the third quarter to lead the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots past the Golden Arrows 46-34.
The Patriots, ranked No. 3 in Class AA, move into Friday's quarterfinal game against Rison, Class AA's No. 1 ranked team.
The game will be played at Rison and has the potential to be the biggest game in the state -- certainly in the Class AA playoffs.
Palestine-Wheatley took the opening possession 75 yards in eight plays Friday and Leak capped the drive with a one-yard run. He also ran for the two-point conversion to give Palestine-Wheatley an early 8-0 lead.
After the teams exchanged possessions, Palestine-Wheatley got another big play from Leak when he scored on an 87-yard run with 2:28 to go in the first quarter. Quarterback Fred Leak, Antonio's brother, ran for the two-point conversion to put the Patriots in front 16-0.
Lavaca got on the board in the second period when quarterback Jeff Powers capped a 12-play, 63-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run. The two-point attempt failed, leaving the Golden Arrows trailing 16-6.
The Patriots answered with a 75-yard drive in eight plays. This time it was Fred Leak scoring on a 12-yard run. His two-point conversion pushed Palestine-Wheatley's lead to 24-6 with 7:32 remaining in the first half.
Lavaca's Casey Champion took the next kickoff and returned it 82-yards for the touchdown. Powers' two-point pass to Champion cut Palestine-Wheatley's lead to 24-14.
After forcing a Palestine-Wheatley punt, Lavaca took the football 71 yards in six plays and got within three of the Patriots' lead when Powers found Kevin Ray for a 17 yard touchdown pass with 28.9 seconds to go in the half. The extra-point kick cut Palestine-Wheatley's lead to 24-21 at halftime.
Palestine-Wheatley, after changing from blue jerseys to red jerseys at halftime, scored on the first possession when Fred Leak passed complete to Brad Barton for an 11-yard touchdown pass capping a 62 yard, eight play drive.
The Patriots led 30-21 with 6:39 left in the third quarter after the two-point attempt failed.
Lavaca continued to pound away and drove to the Palestine-Wheatley 19, where Rashun Barnes intercepted Powers' pass in the end zone and returned to the 20. Four plays later, Antonio Leak broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run. Fred Leak added the 2-point conversion to push the lead to 38-21.
Brad Barton intercepted Lavaca on the next possession and once again, it was Antonio Leak breaking loose for an 85-yard touchdown three plays later as time expired in the third period. Fred Leak ran for the two-point conversion and Palestine-Wheatley led by 25 at the end of the third quarter, 46-21.
Lavaca scored twice in the fourth quarter but came up short when Palestine-Wheatley recovered a fumble with 37 seconds to play.
Fred Leak ran for 90 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries and completed 5 of 9 passes for 109 yards and 1 touchdown.
*Arkansas Baptist made only two mistakes against Hughes Friday in the second round Class AA playoff battle at Little Rock.
The Eagles defense kept Hughes' bottled up on all but two plays. That was all the opening the Blue Devils needed.
Johnny Payton spun and dashed through the heart of the defense for two touchdowns that gave Hughes a 14-12 victory over the 4 AA champion Eagles at Eagle Field in Little Rock in the second round of the Class AA playoffs. Hughes, the third seed from the 6AA, will play at 1AA champion Charleston next Friday.
"We were just playing our offense," Hughes Coach James Wright said of the scoring plays. "Sooner or later, something will break usually."
The Blue Devils broke through for their first touchdown with Arkansas Baptist (9-3) leading 9-0. Payton spun with a fake handoff and ran virtually untouched up the middle for a 62-yard touchdown. After pass interference gave Hughes a second chance on the two point conversion attempt, Payton faked the spin-and-run and passed to Eric Fesperman to cut the lead to 9-8 with 11:04 left in the first half.
Payton's second touchdown came after Cameron Jackson recovered a fumble by Eagles quarterback Rhett Hatcher at the Arkansas Baptist 19.
Following an incomplete pass, Payton again spun into the open and raced up the middle to score, putting Hughes ahead to stay with 37 seconds left in the third quarter.
Other than the two scoring plays, Hughes averaged just 3.4 yards per carry (38 for 129) and Payton didn't complete any of his five passes. Payton finished with 101 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Hughes also kept Arkansas Baptist's offense under wraps for most of the game. The longest drive by the Eagles was 27 yards, resulting in their only touchdown on a 22-yard run around the right side by Hatcher with 11:54 left in the first half.
Paul Bucari missed the extra point for a 6-0 lead after giving Arkansas Baptist its first points on its previous possession with a 28-yard field goal. That field goal followed a fumble recovery by Brandon Schaller at the Hughes 35.
Bucari also kicked a 32-yard field goal with four seconds left in the half to give the Eagles a 12-8 lead.
Hughes is headed to the Class AA quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
This time, however, the Blue Devils finally get to face someone different.
Hughes has been eliminated the previous two playoff years in the quarterfinals by Junction City.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
LITTLE ROCK -- The veteran and the new kid combined to lead the Forrest City Lady Mustangs to a 70-39 win over North Pulaski Saturday in the consolation game of the Heavenly Hoops tournament played at Mount St. Mary's in Little Rock.
Senior forward Sequoria Grady threw in 26 points while sophomore guard Fareeda Washington added 16 points as the Lady Mustangs improved to 3-1 for the year. Grady had four rebounds and three blocks in the game while Washington had seven rebounds and four assists.
The Lady Mustangs took the floor against North Pulaski less than 24 hours after defeating Marianna 65-17 Friday night in their home opener at Mustang Arena.
"Against North Pulaski, we played our best game of the year so far," said first-year Lady Mustang Coach Jacky England. "They (North Pulaski) didn't have anyone who could guard Grady."
Forrest City led 14-10 after one period but outscored North Pulaski 21-to-7 in the second period to lead 35-17 at the half. A 20-to-11 third period put the Lady Mustangs in front 55-28 to start the final quarter.
Lashundra Rogers added eight points in the win while Viveca Kimble added six. Shari Rogers, Nicole Parker and Torrie Willis each finished with four points.
Playing just one complete half against Marianna Friday, Grady finished with 18 points while Washington had just three. Shari Rogers finished with 12 points while Willis added seven and Lashundra Rogers and Chari Agnew each had six points. Tiara Ebron helped with four points.
The Lady Mustangs led 21-0 before Marianna scored their first points of the game and went on to lead 40-9 at the half.
The Lady Mustangs led 57-17 at the end of three periods as England rested his starters almost the entire second half.
The 48-point win was the most lop-sided win for the Lady Mustangs since the 2000 season when Forrest City opened with a 65-21 win over Hughes, a 44 point victory.
They followed that with a 55-17 win in the rematch.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
When Forrest City forced overtime Friday against Marianna, it was the Mustang sophomores responding to the call.
Tied at 65-65 at the end of regulation, Marcus Britt and Stephon Weaver accounted for all nine Forrest City points in the overtime period lifting the Mustangs to a 74-73 win over Marianna at Mustang Arena.
Forrest City improves to 2-0 for the year and will head into the upcoming Forrest City Grocery Rumble on the Ridge tournament with an unbeaten record for the first time since the Rumble began in 1997. It is only the third time the Mustangs will open Rumble play with a win under their belts.
Last year, Forrest City was 1-1 going in and in 1999, the Mustangs started tournament play with a 2-1 mark.
Trailing 65-63 with 4.8 seconds to play Friday night, Chris Williams hit two free throws to force overtime.
"Chris went off in the third period," said Forrest City Mustang Coach Dwight Lofton. "He had a pair of slam dunks and a big three. He took the game and ran with it."
Williams, a senior, finished with 19 points, 17 of that total coming in the second half. His three got the Mustangs within 48-45 to end the third period.
Leading 72-71 in the overetime period, Weaver hit two free throws to put the Mustangs in fron 74-71. Marianna hit a two-point field goal late but it was not enough for the win.
Marianna led 13-6 after the first period and 35-27 at the half.
Britt led the Mustangs with 23 points while Weaver finished with 13.
Forrest City opend the year Thursday with a 20-point win over Little Rock Central. The Mustangs will open Rumble on the Ridge play Thursday, Nov. 25, against Lanier, Miss. at 6:30 p.m. at Mustang Arena.
"What a game," Lofton said. "The sophomores came through and Jarvis Palmer came in and played well for us. Friday was a character check for us. The kids responded and that's what I was looking for."
Every Calvary Christian School basketball team played Saturday at Covenant Christian in Bald Knob and each one came back with a win.
The Calvary elementary girls defeated Covenant 34-0 in the season-opener for the tea,
The elementary Eagles downed Covenant 24-18 using 14 points from Blake lester, eight points from Weston Hess and two points from Trenton Neeley.
Calvary led 8-2 after the first period, 16-7 at the half and 20-12 after three periods.
The elementary Eagles will play Saturday, Dec. 4 against Central Baptist at 5 p.m.
The Junior Lady Eagles got 18 points from Ashley Austin to help take a 43-16 win over Covenant's junior high girls.
Summer Hess added nine points, Lindsey Poe had six, Katie Borden four while Megan Best, Kaitlyn Hill and Christy Tittle all finished with two points.
Calvary led 8-6 after one period and 19-10 at the half.
The Junior Eagles used 18 points by Sam Hoffman to cruise to a 38-18 win over Covenant.
Ethan Weatherford added nine points in the win while Taylor Neeley scored four and Aaron Austin had three. Chad Phillips and Josh Hicks finished with two points each.
The Junior Eagles led 8-1 after one period and 19-12 at halftime.
The Calvary Lady Eagles ran their season mark to 3-1 by defeating Covenant 56-21.
Meredith Borden led the Calvary scoring with 19 points while Katie McNair added 16. Katie Hornbeak and Amber Hart finished with eight points each while Hannah McMahand had four and Megan Best had one point.
The Lady Eagles ran to a 16-3 lead after one period and led 33-9 at the half.
The Eagles got 27 points from Kyle Smith and 10 points from Chad Philips in a 50-47 win over Covenant.
Aaron Austin and Sam Hoffman had four points each in the win.
Calvary trailed 12-6 after one period and were behind 27-13 at the half.
The Eagles improve to 3-1 for the year.