JONESBORO, Ark. – A-State women’s soccer squared-off against the Appalachian State Mountaineers for a matchup at A-State Soccer Park on Senior Day, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. The Red Wolves were defeated 2-1 during their last home match. The team will travel to Mobile, Alabama Thursday to face off against the South Alabama Jaguars for their last game of the season.
A-State Red Wolves’ Phoebe Harpole (13) moves the ball down field against the App State Mountaineers during the first half of an NCAA women’s soccer match at A-State Soccer Park in Jonesboro, Ark., Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023.
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Atsuki Ohbuchi | 大渕純暉
Atsuki Ohbuchi | 大渕 純暉 is a junior in the Neil Griffin College of Business at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He can be reached at: atsuki.ohbuchi@smail.astate.edu
JONESBORO, Ark. – Nettleton’s offensive trio helped edge Batesville as the Raiders beat the Pioneers 34-20 Saturday night at Raider Stadium.
Quarterback Maddox Hampton, running back TJ Brown and wide receiver Curtez Smith combined for four of the five Raider touchdowns.
Nettleton Head Coach Steven Hampton discussed his offensive trio and their performance.
“They ran hard, they ran great tonight and Maddox throwing the ball as well. We feel like we have some weapons and we just have to figure out ways to utilize them,” Hampton said.
“They ran hard, they ran great tonight and Maddox throwing the ball as well. We feel like we have some weapons and we just have to figure out ways to utilize them,” Hampton said.
Nettleton Head Coach Steven Hampton
After Nettleton failed to execute on their second drive of the game, they were forced to punt but recovered a fumble by the returner to put the Raiders at Batesville’s 20-yard line.
Brown converted on third down to put Nettleton in a goal-line situation. Smith then punched in a rushing touchdown to tie the game at seven early in the second quarter.
On Batesville’s next drive, they took advantage of the Raiders’ penalties allowing them to drive down the field . Running back Owen McLaughlin scored his second rushing touchdown for 15 yards as the Pioneers led 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
Batesville’s Owen McLaughlin (7) runs the ball against Nettleton during first-half action in Jonesboro, Friday, September 22, 2023.
Hampton connected with Smith for a 10-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14 late in the second quarter.
Right before halftime, Batesville found a way to kick a field goal to put them up 17-14.
The Raiders came out with a bang in the second half, with Hampton throwing a 40-yard pass to wide receiver Quordarius Thompson. Hampton ended the drive with a goal-line touchdown to put Nettleton up 20-17.
After the Raider defense stopped the Pioneer offense, a string of short plays for Nettleton resulted in another goal-line situation where Brown scored a rushing touchdown on a wildcat formation to increase Nettleton’s lead 27-17.
Back-to-back-to-back turnovers occurred on three straight drives between the two offenses, as Batesville eventually got the ball midway through the fourth quarter.
After a fourth down conversion by the Pioneers, their offense could not get anything else going as they had to settle for a field goal. Batesville minimized Nettleton’s lead 27-20.
The Pioneers were forced to kick an onside kick late in the fourth quarter, as the Raiders recovered at Batesville’s 45-yard line.
Running back Xavier Harrell sealed the win with a 22-yard rushing touchdown, putting Nettleton up 34-20 with about a minute left in the game.
Coach Hampton shared his positive takeaways from the win.
“The first half was about as ugly as it could be. There were not any pointing fingers, it was a lot of pulling together. There were a lot of guys saying hey we got this and we just need to clean it up. That is the biggest takeaway, it is just the mindset. If our guys can grasp a hold of that and come together as a team, I think the sky is the limit for this group,” Hampton said.
Nettlelton looks to get their second-straight conference win next game, as they travel to play Brookland.
JONESBORO, Ark. – The rushing attack helped Heber Springs dominate in Westside’s senior night massacre as the Panthers defeated the Warriors 42-8.
All seven of the Panthers’ touchdowns were rushing by four different players.
On the Panthers’ first drive of the game, they scored on three plays consisting of runs by running back Weston Warden, fullback Eli Buffalo and running back Parker Brown capping off the drive with a red zone touchdown.
The Warriors’ second drive was also a string of run plays that ended on a turnover on downs around the goal line to give the Panthers the ball back.
Heber Springs took advantage of Westside’s turnover on downs with an 82-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Liam Buffalo, to put the Panthers up 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Westside’s Colton Carter (19) looks for an opportunity to pass the ball against Heber Springs during first half action in Jonesboro, Friday, September 15, 2023.
Westside Head Coach Bobby Engle discussed his thoughts on the defensive side during the first half.
“On defense, we have got to tackle better. We put ourselves in the right position, we just did not make the tackles,” Engle said.
“On defense, we have got to tackle better. We put ourselves in the right position, we just did not make the tackles,”
Coach Bobby Engle, Warriors Head Coach
Turnovers were also another issue for Westside with a fumble and interception on back-to-back drives.
Running back Dakota Neely fumbled at the 20-yard line with the Panthers recovering in excellent field position. Heber Springs would go on to score another rushing touchdown from running back Eli Buffalo.
Warriors quarterback Colton Carter rolled out of the pocket throwing an interception, while the Panthers once again took advantage of the Warrior turnovers with Liam Buffalo scoring his second rushing touchdown and a 28-0 lead late in the second quarter.
Heber Springs would eventually get the ball back before halftime, as Eli Buffalo scored a 62-yard rushing touchdown.
“We have got to play a complete game. We have not done that in three weeks in three games and we have lost. It shows. When we put it together and we do things right then we will win football games,” Engle said.
Not much scoring happened in the second half, but Warden found his way into the endzone to join the four-player touchdown club as the Panther’s domination continued with a 42-0 lead.
The Warriors scored their one and only touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Carter connected with tight end Jordan Hall to get Westside in scoring position, then running back Gavin Nets finished the drive off with a rushing touchdown.
Both teams will be on the road for their first conference matchups, as Westside will play Trumann and Heber Springs will play Cave City.
Coach Engle had some words for their upcoming game against Trumann.
“The game plan is to do what we are coached to do. That is something we have to do,” Engle said.
JONESBORO, Ark. – DeSoto Central capitalized on Jonesboro’s turnovers and penalties with multiple scores to give the Jaguars a 29-13 victory over the Golden Hurricane Friday night at Cooksey-Johns Field.
Jonesboro quarterback Terrance Brown threw two costly interceptions to give DeSoto Central the ball in excellent field position throughout the game.
Jonesboro’s Chris Stacy (3) makes a touchdown after catching a pass during first-half action against DeSoto Central on Friday, September 8, 2023. Atsuki Ohbuchi
Brown’s first interception and a team fumble resulted in the Jaguars scoring twice as well as a two-point conversion to give them a 15-0 lead before halftime.
With 11 seconds remaining in the first half, Brown rolled out of the pocket and redeemed himself with a 42-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Stacy for a 15-7 score.
DeSoto Central’s starting quarterback Eric Perry Jr. was injured in the first half and replaced by Jaden Norwood. Perry Jr. then returned for the second half of play.
Running back/kick returner Lenden Fairley returned a kick for 80 yards to put the Jaguars in the red zone. Running back Jordan Cannon capped off the drive with a goal-line rushing touchdown, DeSoto up 22-7.
The Hurricanes responded with their own long kick return by Avion Jones right at the 50-yard line, but the next play was a fumble recovered by the Jaguars.
DeSoto’s next drive ended quickly with a botched snap, giving them a fourth and long situation and a punt back to Jonesboro.
The very next play that the Hurricanes got the ball back, Brown threw his second interception of the night.
Perry Jr. then led his team down the field with Cannon scoring another goal-line rushing touchdown, DeSoto up 29-7 in the third quarter.
Stacy caught his second receiving touchdown but this time it was from backup quarterback Asa Myers to minimize the Jaguars’ lead 29-13 late in the fourth quarter, but not enough time left to come back for a miracle win.
The Hurricane will play its fourth straight home game against Cabot for the team’s first conference matchup of the season while DeSoto Central travels to Malvern in a non-district matchup.
JONESBORO, Ark. – On Saturday, July 22, Ag for Autism held its first Autism Community Fest from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Central Baptist Church. The purpose of the event was to connect families with service providers and award the nonprofit’s annual grants.
During the event, families dealing with autism got a chance to meet and connect with representatives of various service providers. The event included several food vendors and a variety of entertainments geared toward those with autistic family members. Along with festival staples such as bounce houses, the event included a “sensory tent” to offer to kids who needed a break from the noise and other stimulation.
Several grants were awarded to families and those aiding the autistic community. Families receiving aid and guest speakers discussed the way in which Ag for Autism impacted their lives.
According to Daniel Pieroni, an Ag for Autism board member, the organization was established in 2012 by a small group of agriculture businesses, which has since expanded. Armor Seed initiated it because they had many employees with children who have autism. They partnered with Farm Credit of Mid-America and Cache River Valley Seed.
“I have a son with autism, so the cause is near to my heart,” Pieroni said.
The main purpose of the organization is to raise money for families who have children with autism and to connect such families with available resources. The group arranges events every year, such as their Super Bowl Sunday event where they partner with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
All of the group’s proceeds go to fund their grants and endeavors to help the autism community. This year, they received 91 grant applications and approved 75 of them. Overall, a little over $172,000 in grants were awarded. To date, the organization has awarded $1 million dollars in grants.
“We’ve gained a lot of traction in only two years,” said Danny Graham, the president of Ag for Autism. “Just three years ago, we didn’t have nearly that much money.”
“We’ve gained a lot of traction in only two years. Just three years ago, we didn’t have nearly that much money.”
– Danny Graham, President of Ag for Autism
The group also partners with fraternities and sororities like Alpha Gamma Rho at Arkansas State University. Several of the Greek members often volunteer and host fundraisers such as rodeos which raised $8,000 for the organization.
Members of the Fortenberry familys have benefited from the organization for their own kids as well as an organization they’re involved with called the Lighthouse Education Cooperative.
“We’ve been getting grants since 2018,” said Rhiannon Fortenberry, an attendee at the event and employee at the Lighthouse Education Cooperative. “When I was in grad school, I received an individual grant…to continue my master’s degree in ABA. My son…this will be his third grant that he’s received, and then the company I work for also receives a grant every year…”
ABA (applied behavior analysis,) is a type of therapy that treats autism in which the child works one-on-one with a therapist to reinforce positive behaviors. ABA studies how behavior works in real life situations to determine which behaviors are positive and which are harmful in school, work, and relationships.
Service providers included Social Space, a new ABA therapy clinic in Paragould designed specifically for kids and teenagers.
They do mental health counseling as well as ABA therapy. Their main goal is to provide a fun and engaging safe space for children with ABA needs to learn and play alongside others with the same needs. Additionally, they provide an after-school teen program and one-on-one support from therapists for teens.
The H.O.W.L Transition Programfrom Arkansas State University provides support and tutoring for students with intellectual disabilities who need help transitioning to independent lives.
The David E. Puryear Center in Jonesboro provided by The Learning Center. The Center is a long-term care facility for adults of varying ages with developmental disabilities.
The Center provides 24-7 care and support that includes domestic skills training, social activities, leisure activities, and vocational training. All of the patients are expected to keep up with cleaning, cooking, and laundry to the best of their ability.
There are also a couple of programs available for those who are low-income. The Arkansas Autism Partnershipin Little Rock is a Medicaid waiver program that provides in-home intervention for young children with autism.
Parents will also be trained in this program to use the same strategies; they’re expected to be active in their child’s treatment. They also get to select the agency that they work with.
A similar program is Summit Community Care The organization helps those who are eligible for Medicaid figure out the resources they need and form a care plan. They work with anyone who needs it, including those with mental disabilities.
The patient can choose their provider, and they get unlimited medicine and doctor visits without copays. Additionally, the patient can get training and support for an independent life, like getting guidance with housing, employment, school, relationships, and mental health.
There were several other organizations in attendance, all of which work in some capacity with children who have autism. By noon, the entire gymnasium was almost entirely full of not only businesses displaying their support, but also attendees learning about resources and enjoying the food and games.
Avery Jonesis a junior in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu
JONESBORO, Ark. – The Crowley Ridge Cloggers have began an 8-week cycle of beginner classes for people interested in the dance stye. The first held last month is just the first in an 8-week session of lessons that will prepare dancers for upcoming events.
First established in 1980, the dance group competes at both the regional and national level. events and competitions. The group transitioned to clogging from square dancing.
Leona Miller and Kathey Wilson are the instructors of the group. They are both certified clogging instructors by the National Clogging Organization. Both have been with the group since its inception.
Every Tuesday, the group meets to practice at the Earl Bell Community Center in Jonesboro. Practice begins at 6 p.m. and usually last a couple of hours.
“We’re trying to teach these young ones…” Wilson said. “It is an American folk dance, a tradition that we love.”
“It’s a good family activity that typically anybody can do,” Miller said. “You can do it on any level. Start out as a beginner, and some people never get past that and they don’t want to.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the group had a seniors only group . Most participants within the group were 70 years old and up.
Although seniors continue to perform, clogging is not age-specific. Miller said they have had hundreds of people cycling through the group. They don’t have many kids right now but have had them in the past.
In the beginner classes, students learn the basic steps that are the foundation of clogging. Upon completion, participants earn a graduation certificate and the opportunity to join the team for events, workshops, and competitions.
Currently, the group consists of 14 active dancers that put on community performances and workshops, alongside competitions.
They do several events per year. They most recently attended The Arkansas Traveler Workshop in Mountain View and did a performance at The Bungalows, a senior living community in Jonesboro.
Th is fall, the group is set to perform at the Arkansas Rice Festival in Weiner, the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock, The Harvest Festival in Bono, and the Foothills Festival in Black Rock.
Veteran member Shaina Morgan is pursuing her certification as a clogging instructor. She’s been clogging for 32 years and has been with the team since she was a kid.
Morgan developed a love for the dance while clogging as a child alongside her mother. The duo will often pair together in competitions.
As an instructor, Morgan hopes to not only teach, but share the love of clogging. “I think the main thing is…being able to share my love for clogging and just how fun it can be,” she said. ” I don’t think anyone realizes just how good it is to dance…clogging has always kind of been like a therapy for me.”
“I think the main thing is…being able to share my love for clogging and just how fun it can be. I don’t think anyone realizes just how good it is to dance…clogging has always kind of been like a therapy for me.”
– Shaina Morgan, NEA Clogger
After certification, Morgan plans to stay with the Crowley Ridge Cloggers and become involved with teaching workshops at bluegrass festivals.
“[I just want to] keep it relevant, keep it where people actually know what clogging is and be able to partake…in that whole experience, even if it doesn’t mean that they get to go dance with the team,” Morgan said. “…Maybe it will get them motivated to go find a team in their town to just bring some attention to it.”
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Avery Jones is a junior in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: averysjones@protonmail.com
JONESBORO, Ark. – The community of traditional maternal care known as midwives and doulas, is currently growing in Arkansas. Conventional maternal care, such as OBGYNs and hospital births, are the typical choices presented to expectant mothers, but the high maternal mortality rate in Arkansas along with the high costs of conventional care are causing people to seek other options.
Similar in nature, midwives and doulas differ in practice, albeit with a common goal of providing the best support for an expecting mother. Midwives are trained and licensed to offer medical advice and do examinations while doulas focus more on offering emotional support, coaching, and care. Quite naturally, the two communities often intersect.
Cassi Mason is a midwife in Fayetteville that works with a team of doulas and midwife apprentices. Nicolle Fletcher in Conway is a doula that is also Mason’s apprentice. Taylor McGinnis, Ariel Wisdom, and Dillon Harvey-Williams, all located in the Northeast Arkansas area, are doulas as well. Harvey-Williams and McGinnis are also currently in training to be midwives.
Mason works as The Rural Midwife and has been a midwife since 2017. She travels throughout Arkansas to see her clients. Fletcher, who works through her company Nurturing Arrows, has been a doula since 2009 and started her midwife apprenticeship in 2020.
Fletcher also founded Ujima, a nonprofit organization that aims to address the maternal health issues that black women face by increasing the number of black birth workers in the community. She attends speaking engagements to raise awareness, and the organization does maternal care outreach events in Arkansas.
Taylor McGinnis
McGinnis is the owner of His Hands and Feet doula services and has been a doula since 2019. Wisdom of Womb Wisdom Doula Services has been a doula since 2022. Harvey-Williams, Taking Root Birth, has been a doula since 2017 and started training as a midwife in December 2022.
Mason was inspired to become a midwife after she experienced a home birth with a midwife herself. When she had her first child, she suffered from postpartum depression and struggled nursing. Mason decided to do a home birth for her second child and hired a midwife. She didn’t experience postpartum depression this time and fell in love with the concept of midwifery.
“I found a midwife in Northwest Arkansas, and she made my experience a hundred times better,” Mason said. “It was like a night-and-day difference, and after my experience, I just fell in love with the care that I received…you see one person throughout your entire pregnancy, and we really got to know each other, and I just honestly felt safe.”
“I found a midwife in Northwest Arkansas, and she made my experience a hundred times better.”
– Cassi Mason
Nicholle Fletcher
Fletcher originally wanted to be a midwife, but there were no midwife training programs at the time, so she decided to become a doula first. She felt that it was what she was made to do.
“My objective is to be a part of the solution to the problem which is maternal mortality,” Fletcher said.
McGinnis wanted to become a doula after the birth of her fifth child. It was her first VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean), and she felt underprepared and under supported. She wished that her provider had explained the situation to her more thoroughly.
“I left that birth with quite a lot of birth trauma,” McGinnis said. “In my heart, I was feeling like, if I’m struggling with this, if I had this experience, then I know I’m not the only one.”
In a similar way, Wisdom wanted to become a doula so that women like her would have a better birth experience than she did. For Harvey-Williams, the more she learned about how the medical system treats mothers, the more she realized that being a doula was her calling.
Most doulas go through either Birth Arts International or DONA (Doulas of North America) International for their training. McGinnis and Harvey-Williams went through Birth Arts while Wisdom enrolled in DONA. Both programs are similar in that the students do assignments online, read textbooks, write papers, and attend a certain number of births before they’re certified.
The standard education that most midwives take is the PEP (Portfolio Evaluation Process) established through NARM (the North American Registry of Midwives). To start, the student has to find a preceptor, which is an experienced, NARM-certified midwife, for their apprenticeship.
Ariel Wisdom
The student studies textbooks and shadows their preceptor to births as well as pre-natal and postpartum appointments. The preceptor decides when the apprentice had learned enough to become certified. To become officially certified, the student must pass a 300-question exam, which is taken in 2 4-hour segments.
Mason stated that she was fortunate to have a great support system during her training so that she could work and study. However, it was often difficult to connect with physicians who would treat her clients well and were willing to work with a midwife.
“You don’t want somebody to be treated badly just because they made a choice to have a baby at home,” Mason said. “I’ve actually had some people who, maybe they wanted a circumcision for their child after postpartum, and they were calling up pediatricians in different places, and they actually said, we don’t take home-birth babies. Because sometimes they’re considered dirty babies.”
It can also be difficult to connect with preceptors according to Fletcher. In the early stages of her apprenticeship, she had to train with a preceptor three hours away because there aren’t many midwives, and some midwives don’t want to train new midwives due to competition for business.
Doulas have similar problems in how it can be difficult to find clients who will trust them and to compete with medical providers who don’t want to work with doulas, according to Wisdom, Harvey-Williams, and McGinnis.
Dillon Harvey-Williams
A further complication is that in Arkansas, patients legally must have a risk assessment in the beginning and near the end of their pregnancy if they plan to work with a midwife for a home birth. They have to see a third party, either the health department or a nurse-midwife, that will look over their history to make sure that they won’t have any complications.
“It’s just like a routine prenatal that’s not needed,” Mason said. “It’s like an extra step that our patients have to do that they don’t really need because we are the ones that are assessing care. Most states don’t require that, but Arkansas does.”
Midwives and doulas offer many types of care, and they can overlap sometimes, but the two are very different. Doulas focus on emotional support and typically don’t offer medical advice or treatments, while midwives focus more on physical and medical services.
Both midwives and doulas typically offer some form of preconception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum support. During preconception care, Mason focuses on detoxing the body, cleansing the lymphatic system, and making sure the patient’s body has the best start possible.
McGinnis offers a similar service. She does fertility support, which means she goes with her clients to fertility appointments and helps them learn how to track their cycles. Fletcher does fertility and nutrition coaching.
Mason also offers regular prenatal appointments with the patient. She does all of her patients’ labs, knows what their diet is like, knows what their family and home is like, knows if they have good support or not, knows how they react to different medications, etc. She tailors her services individually for each person.
“It’s kind of like if you have a whole team of people—the doctor, the nurses, the APRNs, the billing, all of those things—and you wrap it all into one person,” Mason said. “Also, we don’t take as many people as OBs do…whereas you would go to an OB and spend fifteen to twenty minutes in their office, we spend an hour doing our prenatals, educating and making sure that they’re not afraid and whatever their fears are, we can address…we can really tailor that to each individual person.”
Fletcher, McGinnis, Harvey-Williams, and Wisdom also offer prenatal appointments. As doulas, they provide comfort, guidance, and education regarding pregnancy and birth.
“Doulas are huge advocates,” Fletcher said. “I am having conversations that are empowering you to understand what is your baseline, what is normal for you…then you can have a leg up, and you have information, so any time you have information, you have power…the truth is, this is your body…that’s where the midwifery model of care and doula support separates from the medical model of care because it’s individualized.”
Towards the end of a patient’s pregnancy, Mason listens to the baby more, does non-stress testing to make sure the baby sounds good and blood flow is sufficient, and sends off biophysical profiles to analyze amniotic fluid levels and make sure the placenta is still doing what it should.
Mason’s clients get unlimited postpartum support, so she helps with whatever they need regarding the baby. She checks up on them to make sure they’re doing well emotionally and can get them support from a lactation specialist if need be.
McGinnis, Harvey-Williams, and Fletcher also provide postpartum support. For a certain amount of time, McGinnis and Harvey-Williams will cook small meals, care for children and pets, do household chores, or run errands to let the new mother recuperate. Fletcher is also a lactation specialist.
According to Mason, the difference between traditional maternal care and conventional maternal is choice. She makes sure to educate her patients about their body, but she doesn’t force them to do something they don’t want to do, like STD testing for example.
“A lot of my patients have said, They [doctors] made me feel stupid for my choices or they made me feel like I didn’t know what I was doing. When you are instilling fear upon somebody, fear can do a lot of different things to the brain,” Mason said. “If you think about animals, they want to go the most secluded place where they can protect their baby…if they don’t feel safe, they just won’t [go into labor] or things will not happen the way it needs to happen.”
“A lot of my patients have said, They [doctors] made me feel stupid for my choices or they made me feel like I didn’t know what I was doing. When you are instilling fear upon somebody, fear can do a lot of different things to the brain.”
– Cassi Mason
In addition, Arkansas is almost 50% maternal health care deserts according to Fletcher. What this means is there are several areas where maternal health care isn’t offered, and so a patient has to drive hours away into a bigger town. For some, this isn’t possible because they don’t have time outside of work or it’s too expensive.
Fletcher founded Ujima to address this issue and provide more maternal health care options in those areas, focusing specifically on black mothers. Midwives used to be prolific before the advent of modern medicine, especially in black communities where the “grand midwives”—mostly grandmothers—were professionals of birth, medicine, and counseling, and all of this was done in the home.
Since the shift from this mindset, the rate of black maternal mortalities has increased significantly. However, according to Fletcher, 90% of maternal mortalities—not just for black mothers but for everyone—are preventable.
The cause of higher maternal mortality rates for black women are often due to systemic racism, lower socioeconomic status, and lack of education. Within the healthcare system, the mother’s problems and preexisting conditions are sometimes brushed off because of falsities spread about black people, like they supposedly have a higher pain tolerance.
According to Wisdom, it’s been statistically proven that mothers who hire a birth worker are less likely to need a caesarean and rate their birth experiences higher. Additionally, Mason stated that birth is 80% mental, 20% medical. In other words, the more educated and emotionally prepared a mother is for birth, the smoother the birth will go. That’s where midwives and doulas come in.
Avery Jonesis a sophomore in the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. She can be reached at: avery.jones@smail.astate.edu
Note: Feature photo courtesy of Dillon Harvey-Williams.
JONESBORO, Ark. – Defense and special teams dominance helped the Valley View Blazers to victory over the Forrest City Mustangs on homecoming at Central Dealerships Stadium on Friday night.
Valley View had three defensive touchdowns in the first quarter and two special teams touchdowns in the first half.
Blazers Head Coach Sean Cockrell addressed his thoughts on the defense and special teams in the first half in the 54-20 win.
“It was awesome. I thought we played well on all sides of the ball, but to get three defensive touchdowns in the first quarter is crazy. Kickoff return was great, the overhead punt getting out of the endzone. We scouted really well and had a great gameplan. The kids executed it,” he said.
Forrest City fumbled on their first drive of the game with Valley View linebacker Brian Huff recovering for a 25-yard touchdown with eight minutes left in the first quarter, taking a 14-0 lead.
Valley View’s Zane Guthrie (9) tries to shake Forrest City’s Lee Smith (28) during first half action in Jonesboro, Friday, September 29, 2023.
The Mustangs responded back with a 73-yard touchdown pass, for their first of three touchdowns of the game.
The very next kickoff, Blazer kick returner/wide receiver TJ Starks scored on an 81-yard return. Forrest City got the ball back and fumbled again, while Valley View free safety Laird Cullen recovered. The Blazers once again had great field position.
Valley View capitalized with a 17-yard rushing touchdown from running back Zane Guthrie, leading 28-6 midway through the first quarter.
The Blazers added two special teams touchdowns back-to-back punts. Linebacker Jayde Taylor recovered and scored the first, while cornerback Kenneth Robinson scored the second.
The score was 48-6 at halftime, so it was time to take the starters out.
“We wanted to take them out and did in the second quarter. They scored a couple late in the second half and we got kind of nervous. We had a lot of guys play tonight, probably about 70 guys so we are excited about that,” Cockrell said.
“We wanted to take them out and did in the second quarter. They scored a couple late in the second half and we got kind of nervous. We had a lot of guys play tonight, probably about 70 guys so we are excited about that.”
– Sean Cockerel, Blazers Head Coach
Valley View went on to score only one touchdown in the second half but ran the ball majority of the time to drain the clock while leading big. Forrest City fought hard for their two touchdowns in the second half but did not have enough time on the clock to complete a comeback.
The Blazers will travel to play Wynne next Friday at 7 p.m. Coach Cockrell gave his thoughts on how to relay this win to next week’s conference game.
“We said we wanted to be 2-0 (in conference) and we are. We know Wynne has so much tradition and they are a really good football team. It is going to be tough so we know we are going to have to focus next week to go down there and try to get a win,” he said.
Delta Digital News Service 