By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The past decade has produced very few season-opening victories for the Forrest City Mustangs.
Going into Friday's game against Poplar Bluff, Mo., the Mustangs had won just two of their past 10 openers -- 1995 and 1997 -- both against Wynne.
Led by an inspired defensive effort and senior tailback Terrance Ware, the Mustangs changed all that by breaking a six-year, opening game drought by putting away the Mules 27-14 in front of a vocal Sam Smith crowd.
Not only did the Mustangs end their streak, they ended Poplar Bluff's streak of 14 consecutive season-opening victories dating back to 1989.
The Mules are now 7-2 against out-of-state opponents over the last five seasons.
The Mustang defense held Poplar Bluff to minus 14 rushing yards as a team by shutting down senior running back Todd Tinsley. Tinsley was the only Poplar Bluff back to finish with positive yardage with 15 rushing yards. His total was negated by the rest of the Mules backfield who were held to minus yardage.
The Mules got 165 passing yards, but that total was downgraded to 151 after adding in the minus rushing yards.
The Mustangs, behind Ware's 178 rushing yards, finished with 347 total yards of offense -- 242 on the ground and 105 through the air -- while picking up 11 first downs.
If their was a catch to the Mustangs impressive overall effort, it was the 13 penalties which resulted in losing 85 yards. The Mules were flagged seven times for 55 yards.
Ware carried the ball 25 times and scored once -- a 48-yard run to tie the game at 14-14 midway through the second quarter.
Ben Wright, seeing his first start in the offensive backfield for the Mustangs, finished with 65 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns. Wright's 11-yard scoring run in the second quarter tied the game at 7-7 and his 30-yard run just before the half gave Forrest City a 21-14 lead.
Senior kicker John Scott Carroll was perfect on his three point after attempts. The snap on the final PAT was fumbled and Carroll never had the chance to get the kick on its way after junior quarterback Marcus Fair scored on a four-yard run on the first play of the final quarter. Fair completed 8-of-16 passes.
Willie Berry led the Mustangs with seven solo tackles while Preston Echols and Richard Flenoy had six solo take downs each.
The Mules took a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game when senior quarterback Mark Gum threw a 33-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Whalen George.
Wright's touchdown early in the second quarter tied the game at 7-7 before the Mules regained a 14-7 lead when Gum hit wide receiver Nick Smith for a 10-yard score.
Ware broke free on a second and eight play from the Poplar Bluff 48 yard line, outracing the Mules defenders to tie the game at 14-14.
After forcing a Poplar Bluff punt, Wright gave the Mustangs a lead they would not relinquish, scoring from 30 yards out to give Forrest City a 21-14 halftime lead.
The Mustang defense did the rest in the second half consistently pressuring Gum and forcing the Mules into "3-and-out" possessions.
The Mules' only offensive spark in the second half came with 8:22 in the third period, when kicker Trell Edington missed a 24-yard field goal try.
"We woke up tonight and we grew up," said Forrest City defensive coordinator Chuck Sartain, talking about his defense. "We did exactly what we talked about doing in practice. We needed to keep the pressure on their quarterback and we did that. And boy, did our guys delivers some hits. I thought a couple of times they were going to break the Poplar Bluff running backs in half."
Berry led the defensive charge, sacking Gum twice in the second half while Flenoy and Jimmy Bean came up with big interceptions and Wright recovered a fumble.
Gum finished by completing 12-of-29 passes against the Mustangs with the two touchdowns.
"The kids rose to the challenge," Mustang Coach Donnie Willis said after the game. "I couldn't be prouder of the effort they gave. It seems like they have had their backs against the wall since the first day of summer practice and I guess they got tired of it. It was a great effort and now we just need to keep it going."
Friday's meeting against Poplar Bluff was the third between the two schools but the first since 1982.
The Mustangs face West Helena on the road Friday. The Cougars opened the year with a 39-0 shut out win over Marianna.
Prior to Friday's win, the last Forrest City season-opening victory was in 1997 when they defeated Wynne 26-14.
The Mustangs lost their next six openers, losing to Wynne five times and Osceola once.
Osceola eventually had to forfeit the victory after head coach Clinton Gore admitted to using an illegal player.
The Mustangs will host Osceola on Sept. 17, at Sam Smith.
By JEFF HALPERN
Special to the Times-Herald
JESSIEVILLE -- The Jessieville Lions' 27-20 season-opening win over Hughes was not secured until the final second.
Andy Ault's four-yard touchdown run and Michael Wallace's extra point with 19 seconds left gave the Lions the winning margin, but not before Jessieville sweated out the remaining seconds.
After a timeout, Hughes' Marcus Washington returned a squib kick 21 yards to the Jessieville 44 with 12 seconds left. On the next play, Johnny Payton's pass was intercepted by Jessieville's Kevin Bourland, who returned the ball to midfield but fumbled at the Lions' 49 with one second left, giving the Blue Devils one last chance.
This time, Payton rolled left and picked up five yards before being met by several Lion defenders to end the game.
The win gave Jessieville a measure of revenge for a 40-20 loss in the second round of the 2002 Class AA playoffs.
It was Jessieville's 13th consecutive regular-season home victory since October 2001.
Surprisingly, for two run-oriented teams (Jessieville from the Wing-T, Hughes with the Single Wing), pass plays figured heavily in the outcome.
"I guess if you wanted your money's worth, this had the ending you wanted," Jessieville coach Don Phillips said. "The kids played a great game and we found a way to get it done. With Hughes' speed, there's no safe place to kick the ball and if you give them some room, they can break a big play. You could have seen the fumble coming on Bourland's interception because you wanted him to get down, but he was doing what he was supposed to do in any situation."
Two big defensive plays set up the winning touchdown.
Ault stopped Hughes' Kerrick Scofield for no gain on fourth and one from the Jessieville eight with 6:27 left. After Bourland's 48-yard punt return Jeremy Castleberry recovered Cliff Smith's fumble with 3:32 to play.
The Lions scored in eight plays with Bates throwing 19 yards to Bourland, Ault picking up eight yards and Bates carrying twice for 10 on two carries before Ault scored.
Hughes took a 20-13 lead on the second-half kickoff, which Payton returned 83 yards for a touchdown and Washington followed with a two-point conversion.
Jessieville scored the tying touchdown five plays after Bourland recovered Payton's fumble at the Hughes 44.
Ault ran eight yards to the one, and Bates scored on the first play of the fourth quarter. Wallace's kick knotted it at 20.
Jessieville turnovers led to both of Hughes' first-half touchdowns but the Lions led 13-12 at the break.
Bates was the victim of a Hughes' blitze on Jessieville's third play and Hughes' Cory Scarbrough recovered the quarterback's fumble at the Lions' 28. Smith scored from the three with 8:35 left; the conversion attempt failed.
Jessieville led 7-6 when Bates passed 15 yards to Ault with 5:49 left in the first quarter and Wallace converting. A 27-yard pass from Bates to C.J. Duncan carried to the Hughes 19.
Hughes' Justin Allen intercepted a tipped pass at the Jessieville 33 with 1:37 left in the half. One play later, Payton found Washington, who cut left to the middle of the field and scored with 1:29 on the clock.
A pass-interference call against Hughes gave Jessieville the ball at its 48 with 45 seconds left. From there, Bates found Corey Hinton open deep for a go-ahead touchdown.
The Blue Devils will now have two weeks to regroup before facing Marvell on Sept. 17.
Junior running back Stanley Edwards broke free for a 10-yard scoring run with 10 seconds left in the game and the Carlisle Bison shocked Palestine-Wheatley 45-42 Friday at Patriot Stadium.
The Patriots led 41-23 with seven minutes to play in the game before the Bison rallied to score 22 unanswered points for the season-opening victory.
The Patriots, ranked in the top 10 in Class AA, led 22-15 at the half.
Rashun Barnes led the Patriots with 105 yards on eight carries while senior quarterback Fred Leak threw for 112 yards.
As a team, P-W finished with 310 total yards.
Carlisle led 7-0 early when quarterback Heath Hawkins fired a TD pass to T.J. Powell with 5:10 left in the opening quarter.
The Patriots took an 8-7 lead in the second quarter on a two-yard run by Antonio Leak and a two-point conversion pass from Leak to Barnes.
The Patriots were penalized several times in the game including seven times in the fourth quarter.