JONESBORO -- Jonesboro senior linebacker, Johnny Hutson intercepted two Forrest City passes, pounced on another fumble and scored three rushing touchdowns in the second half.
Hutson's cousin, Cowan Hutson ran for 154 yards as the Hurricane rallied for a 24-7 Homecoming victory over Forrest City Friday at Cooksey-Johns Field.
For the fourth time in as many games, third-ranked Jonesboro (4-0, 1-0 AAAAA-East) rallied from a deficit or tie in the second half to power past an opponent.
This time the defense set the tone inside the locker room at the half to win its conference opener.
Trailing 7-3 at the break, the Hurricane defense forced three second-half turnovers and the offense converted each into touchdowns.
Led by a strong defensive front, Jonesboro held Forrest City to three first downs and 35 second-half yards while the Mustangs never crossed midfield in the final two periods.
Holding onto a 7-3 lead, Forrest City (1-3, 0-1) received the second-half kickoff but on second down, Brandon Coleman went high on the sideline at midfield for his second interception of the game.
It took the Hurricane just seven plays to take the lead.
Cowan Hutson picked up two first downs, including a nine-yard run on third-and-four, taking the football to the 13 before Johnny Hutson bulled in from two yards out to give the Hurricane a 10-7 lead after Daniel Bell's point after kick,
With two minutes left in the third quarter and Forrest City at midfield, Applewhite knifed through a double-team and stripped fullback Cedric Johnson and Johnny Hutson dove on top of the ball at the Mustang 47.
Forrest City never got out of its 4-4 set and Jonesboro powered away on the ground, making an adjustment running to the weaker side as the Mustangs flipped their linemen.
After Matt McCaughey carried twice for a first down, Carter Harbuck rolled right on play-action on second down and hit Cody Pace crossing the field for a 12-yard pickup.
On first-and-goal at the seven, Cowan Hutson plowed inside to the Forrest City one, knocking a pair of Mustangs down on the play. Linebacker Michael Holland was knocked unconscious and laid on the field for about 15 minutes before being carried off on a stretcher.
After the delay, Johnny Hutson powered in for his second touchdown on third-and-one for a 17-7 lead.
"Jonesboro has a good team, a good running back and those huge defensive linemen," Forrest City coach Donnie Willis said. "They've got the total package -- they're tough. When you're going against those big guys for four quarters, they kind of wear on you."
Then it was that man again who made tackles all over the field.
Johnny Hutson picked off his second pass in Jonesboro territory with 6:30 left and returned it to the Mustang 28.
"We knew that they would try to get some deep passes over the middle so we knew as linebackers we had to drop back deeper in coverage," Johnny Hutson said. "It's like a business. You just have to come out here and handle business. I have to give credit to the defensive line and linebackers."
The Hurricane kept the ball on the ground the next six plays, with Johnny Hutson carrying tacklers the final 12 yards on third-and-four to clinch the victory.
Forrest City finished with five turnovers, including four interceptions.
"Going into this game, we thought we had a chance. I thought we played well enough defensively to win the ballgame but when you put the ball on the ground and throw interceptions -- you can't win ballgames with turnovers," Willis said.
Jonesboro was hampered by six first-half penalties before Bell gave Jonesboro a 3-0 lead with a 39-yard field goal with 3:17 remaining in the first quarter.
Forrest City mounted its best drive of the game early in the second quarter, moving 62 yards in nine plays to take the lead.
Quarterback Marcus Fair was drilled by Johnny Hutson on a third-and-24 incomplete pass at the JHS 26 and had to leave the game.
Third-string quarterback Wilson Parker came in cold and on fourth down hit Lecody Braddock over the middle for a 26-yard touchdown and a 7-3 Mustang lead.
Late in the first half, Forrest City drove to the Hurricane 12 looking to expand its lead but Johnny Hutson picked off a pass at the six-yard line and the Mustangs never threatened again.
Forrest City finished with 208 yards, including 140 through the air.
Jonesboro finished with 239 in total offense.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
The Palestine-Wheatley Patriots are picking up steam as they head for the Oct. 8 meeting against past playoff nemesis Barton.
Friday night, the Patriots found the endzone eight times against Augusta to take a 55-8 win over the Red Devils and move to 3-1 overall for the year and 3-0 in the 6AA Conference.
The Patriots are sitting just ahead of Barton in the conference standings, having played three conference games to Barton's two.
Through four games the Patriots have scored a state-leading 206 points -- more than any other Arkansas high school football team. P-W has put up 42, 62, 47 and now, 55 points.
Senior tailback Rashun Barnes led Palestine-Wheatley's balanced offensive attack against Augusta, running for 157 yards on seven carries and three touchdowns. Senior half back Brad Barton finished with 116 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns while Antonio Leak had 102 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Fred Leak, scored three touchdowns while rushing for 46 yards on eight carries. Leak completed 4 of 5 passes for 54 yards.
As a team, the Patriots finished with 520 total yards (466 of that on the ground).
The Patriots led 14-0 after one quarter getting an 11-yard TD run from Barnes and a three-yard scoring run from Barton.
Augusta scored early in the second quarter on a 45-yard touchdown pass and addded the two-point play to cut P-W's lead to14-8.
The Patriots responded with a two-yard touchdown run by Fred Leak who also added the two-point play and a 10-yard scoring run by Leak with 2:03 to play in the first half to push their lead to 30-8.
Barnes' 45-yard run in the third made it 36-8 and Barton's 50-yard scamper extended the lead to 43-8. Barton added a one-yard TD for a 49-8 lead and Fred Leak closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter with a three-yard run.
The Patriots travel to Elaine on Friday before hosting Barton on Oct. 8 for Homecoming.
Barton roughed up Des Arc Friday, 38-7.
By FRED CONLEY
T-H Sports Editor
HUGHES -- The Harding Academy Wildcats didn't look pretty, but were able to get the job done against 6AA Conference foe Hughes Friday night\ at Blue Devil Stadium.
It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams in football.
Harding tailback Kreg Kell had a huge night for Harding, rushing 21 times for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Kell also caught four passes for 38 yards and a touchdown in the Wildcats 27-13 victory.
The first half was played in a steady rain which caused problems for the Harding passing game -- at least on the receiving end.
Quarterback Zack Tribble was on target most of the game, his receivers just didn't hang on the slippery ball -- dropping several first half passes that could have gone for points. He would finish the game by completing 14 of 33 passing attempts for 253 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
The Wildcats scored first, going 71 yards on four plays with kell covering the final 14 yards for the score and the 7-0 lead with 8:37 to play in the first.
Hughes tied the game at 7-7, using a 16-yard touchdown run by Johnny Payton and the PAT by Cory Scarbrough with 7:17 to play.
The Wildcats answered quickly with 3:42 to play in the first, as Kell hauled in a 34-yard pass from Tribble on a third and 20 play. The PAT made it 14-7 HA.
Kell made it a 20-7 Harding lead with 1:39 to play in the first quarter, breaking free for a 90-yard touchdown straight up the middle.
Hughes fumbled with 55seconds left in the first half and Harding recovered.
Neither team scored in the second period but Hughes closed the gap with 8:46 to play in the third quarter when Marcus Washington scored on an 88-yard run, getting a key block downfield by Clifton Smith. The PAT failed and Hughes trailed 20-13.
Tribble found Kurt Adams for a 42-yard touchdown pass with 59 seconds to play in the third and added the PAT for 27-13 lead.
Adams caught six passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.
The Blue Devils slip to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the 6AA Conference. Hughes suffered five turnovers.
The biggest statistic for the Wildcats was causing five Hughes turnovers.
Hughes will play at Augusta Friday night.
The Forrest City JV Mustang football team will host Wynne tonight at Sam Smith Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.for the JV team's first home game.
The junior varsity Mustangs are 1-1 for the year, losing to Wynne three weeks ago and defeating West Memphis 12-6 on the road last week. Rylan Nimcoks caught a touchdown pass in the win.
The Forrest City youth flag football league will open play tonight at the Sports Complex.
The league has increased to eight team this season and has an earlier start time at 5:30 p.m.
All flag football games will be played on Monday nights on Field No. 8.
The youth soccer league will return to action Tuesday night at the Sports Complex after opening last Thursday.
The 12-under youth baseball fall league will play Tuesday night beginning at 6 p.m. onField 6.
Calvary Christian defeated Covenant Christian two games to one Thursday in elementary volleyball action.
Calvary's varsity squad swept Covenant in three straight games, winning 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18.
Meredith Borden, Amber Hart and Hannah McMahand led the scoring for Calvary.