Red Wolves falter against Cajuns

By Andrew Wilson

Despite a disappointing early season, ASU came into Saturday’s game holding out hope of winning out and finishing with a winning record. Those hopes are now dead.

Louisiana-Lafayette dominated ASU in nearly all categories through three quarters, before ASU made a late game charge led by redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Aplin. The comeback attempt fell short though and the Cajuns prevailed on ASU’s home turf 21-18 Saturday night at ASU Stadium.

“Obviously disappointed with the loss here at home,” ASU head coach Steve Roberts said. “My responsibility was to get our team to play for four quarters, but I failed in that the last two weeks.”

Through three quarters, the Cajuns had out-gained the Red Wolves 302-101 in yardage and ran nearly 25 more plays from scrimmage en route to a 21-3 lead entering the final period.

Trailing by that score with just under three minutes left in the third quarter, Aplin engineered a 16-play, 68-yard drive that included some key conversions. After facing 3rd and 28 from the ASU 24-yard line, Aplin found Taylor Stockemer for a 25-yard gain and then scrambled for a first down on the next play. Then facing a 4th and 15 from the ULL 21-yard line, Aplin found Taylor Clements at the two-yard line to set up a first and goal. The next play Reggie Arnold bounced around the left end on an option carry to cut the ULL lead to 21-10 with 12:39 left in the game.

On the very next drive it only took Aplin and the rejuvenated offense two plays to cover 69 yards. The redshirt freshman scrambled left and found Stockemer running free up the sideline for 64 yards, the last ten of which Stockemer dragged defenders with him. Arnold scored again on the very next play from five yards out, and Aplin scrambled in for the two-point conversion to pull the Red Wolves within three at 21-18 with just over 10 minutes left.

“I just wanted to go in and do my job and get the ball to the playmakers,” Aplin said. “We all started to click and get it in gear around the same time.”

Friday Night Scoreboard Week 10

A look around the football gridirons on the last night of the regular season - Compiled by Andrew Wilson

Wynne 41 Nettleton 13 – Wynne ran by the Raiders 41-13 Friday night from Cross County. The victory ties the Yellowjackets (5-5, 4-3 5A-East) with Blytheville for the fourth and final playoff spot from the 5A-East, but the Chickasaws will get the berth based on their victory over Wynne earlier this season. Nettleton ends their season at 1-9 overall and 0-7 in 5A-East play.

GCT 42 Paragould 7 – The Golden Eagles won back The Bell trophy from Paragould and secured their first playoff berth since 1991 with a 42-7 victory over the Rams Friday night. GCT (8-2, 5-2 5A-East) will be the third seed from the 5A-East when the playoffs open next Friday. Paragould’s rebuilding season comes to an end at 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the 5A-East.

Blytheville 28 Forrest City 12 - After an up and down year, the Chickasaws needed to upset the conference champion Mustangs to have any chance at the playoffs, and they did just that. Blytheville upended Forrest City 28-12 to clinch the fourth and final playoff berth from the conference. Forrest City (8-2, 6-1 5A-East) will be the top seed from the conference, while Blytheville (4-5-1, 4-3 5A-East) will go on the road in the first round next week.

Thursday Night Scoreboard Week 10

A look around the football gridirons on a Thursday night in Week 10 - Compiled by Andrew Wilson

Jonesboro 41 LR Hall 6 – The Hurricane led 14-6 at halftime, but poured on the points in the second half to win their ninth game of the season. Jonesboro (9-1, 6-1 6A-East) will have a bye next week in the first round of the 6A State Playoffs.

Valley View 45 Westside 6 – The Blazers won their fourth consecutive game Thursday, beating rivals Westside 45-6. Next up for Valley View (6-4, 4-3 4A-3) is a trip to the state playoffs, while the season comes to an end for Westside (3-7, 1-6 4A-3).

Gosnell 14 Highland 6 – The Pirates rebounded in Week 10 with a 14-6 defensive battle over the Rebels. Gosnell (7-3, 5-2 4A-3) enters the playoffs as the No. 3 seed out of the conference.  Highland (3-7, 2-5 4A-3) finishes their regular season with back-to-back close losses.

stAte GameWeek Report: Lousiana-Lafayette

The Red Wolves return home this week for a Sun Belt Conference showdown with Louisiana-Lafayette.

ASU (2-5, 1-2 SBC) will look to build some momentum for the stretch run while the Ragin’ Cajuns (4-4, 2-2 SBC) look to win their fifth game of the season.

“We have talked about playing one game at a time and doing everything you can to make that play successful,”ASU head coach Steve Roberts said. “That is what we are about as a team and the rest of the season.”

Kickoff is set for 2:30 at ASU Stadium.

Scouting the Cajuns: Louisiana-Lafayette has a big non-conference win to their credit this season, after upsetting Big XII North Division-leading Kansas State 17-15 at home. Since that game, however, the team is just 2-4 with their victories coming over North Texas and Western Kentucky.

GameFace NEA Football Rankings – Nov. 2

Each week of the high school football season, GameFace will release their rankings of the best teams throughout NEA. The rankings will freely change from week to week and are the subjective opinion of the GameFace staff. Disagree with what you see? Feel free to post your feelings and comments below and let us know where we went wrong. We’ll gladly listen, and if you’re convincing enough, you might even sway our opinion. (For reference sake, the rankings cover teams within the 6A-East, 5A-East, 4A-3, 3A-3, and 2A-3 conferences.)

6A/5A Rankings

1. West Memphis (9-0, 6-0) NC The Blue Devils are a win away from a perfect regular season.

2. Jonesboro (8-1, 5-1) NC The Hurricane’s three-point win over Marion wasn’t always pretty, but it worked and with it JHS clinched a first round bye in the upcoming playoffs.

3. Forrest City (8-1, 6-0) NC The Mustangs surprised us this year, and now have sealed up an outright conference championship. What else might be in store for Forrest City?

4. Greene County Tech (7-2, 4-2) UP 1 Jeff Conaway’s GCT Golden Eagles rebounded in a big way this week with a critical road victory at Batesville. GCT can not only win The Bell from Paragould this week, but if they do, they can also punch their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 1991.

Westside tops Valley View for state title

Westside rejoices after winning their sixth state volleyball title | Photo by Ashley Helliwell

By Andrew Wilson

A sixth state volleyball championship banner can soon hang from the rafters at Warrior Gym.

The Westside Lady Warriors used a new tactical scheme, crisp passing and an inspired performance on an early Halloween evening to defeat rival Valley View in straight sets to win the 2009 state championship at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.

The Westside victory will read 25-22, 25-22, and 25-18 in the record books, but each set was competitive throughout. Westside took the first set 25-22, riding the momentum from nine first-set kills from senior middle-blocker Mollie Arnold.

The Lady Blazers jumped out early in set two, leading by as many as four at 9-5 and then 10-6, but Westside would answer. The Lady Warriors scored five straight points, helped along with some mis-hits from Valley View to take their first lead of the set at 11-10.

“Volleyball is a game of mistakes, and we made some mistakes today,” Valley View coach Margie McGee said.

The set would go back and forth the rest of the way. Ahead 21-20, Arnold put away three of the next four points, including the deciding point to give Westside a two-set lead. The Lady Warriors knew they couldn’t relax.

“We knew they could still comeback,” senior Kelsey Dement said.

Playoff Picture: 5A-East

Breaking down the playoff possibilities with one week remaining in the high school football regular season. Compiled by Andrew Wilson.

5A-East

Forrest City (8-1, 6-0 5A-East) – The Mustangs are conference champions and hold the No. 1 seed from the 5A-East heading into the playoffs.

West Helena (5-4, 4-2 5A-East) – West Helena can secure their playoff trip with a win next Friday over Batesville at home. The Cougars could also guarantee themselves the conference’s No. 2 seed and a home playoff game if they beat Batesville by nine points or more. If West Helena looses to the Pioneers, they can still get in the playoffs outright with a Wynne loss to Nettleton AND a Blytheville loss to Forrest City. If West Helena looses and a tiebreaker situation occurs, then the playoff points system tiebreaker would take effect. Through Week 9, West Helena has 44 Tiebreaker Points to their credit.

GCT (7-2, 4-2 5A-East) – The Golden Eagles can guarantee a playoff spot with a win over their in-town rival Paragould next week at home. GCT can also clinch the No. 2 seed in the conference with a win AND a West Helena loss. If they fail to win, GCT can still get in the playoffs without a tiebreaker with two of the following three scenarios happening: a Wynne loss to Nettleton, a Batesville loss to West Helena or a Blytheville loss to Forrest City. If GCT looses and a tiebreaker situation occurs, then the playoff points system tiebreaker would take effect. Through Week 9, GCT has 39 Tiebreaker Points to their credit.

Friday Night Scoreboard Week 9

A look around the football gridirons after the rain cleared (finally) around NEA. (Compiled by Andrew Wilson)

Jonesboro 18 Marion 15 – The Hurricane picked up another win on their way to the playoffs Friday. Jonesboro scored first on the road, but by halftime the Patriots held a 9-7 lead. The Hurricane fought back in the second half and took the lead for good on a fourth-quarter field goal. Jonesboro (9-1, 6-1 6A-East) will close out the regular season next week at home against Little Rock Hall.

Valley View 34 Pocahontas 14 – Valley View controlled the action tonight on the road at Pocahontas, winning by 20 and. The Blazers (5-4, 3-3 4A-3) will close the regular season at Westside, while Pocahontas (1-8, 0-6 4A-3) will host Osceola.

West Helena 48 Nettleton 6 – West Helena scored six first-half touchdowns, throttling Nettleton 48-6. The Cougars (5-4, 4-2 5A-East) will close out the regular season against Batesville, while Nettleton’s (1-8, 0-6 5A-East) year will come to an end at Wynne.

Greene County Tech 28 Batesville 14 – Greene County Tech took a monumental step toward going to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years. Jeff Conaway’s crew got a huge road win at Batesville to solidify their playoff chances. The Pioneers scored first and took a 14-7 halftime lead when time expired on a GCT drive inside the Batesville 5-yard line. The Golden Eagles would not be denied in the second half though, outscoring the Pioneers 21-0 in the half to seal the win. GCT (7-2, 4-2 5A-East) closes out their regular season next week hosting Paragould, while Batesville (5-3-1, 3-3 5A-East) will need a win next week at West Helena to keep their playoff streak alive.