LITTLE ROCK — West Memphis stopped Altee Tenpenny and the North Little Rock ground game cold, but the Blue Devils had no answer for Charging Wildcats quarterback Payton Holmes, who threw for 182 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-0 victory on Friday night in North Little Rock.
West Memphis (3-2, 0-2 7A/6A-East) held North Little Rock to 82 yards on the ground and Tenpenny, who is committed to Alabama, had just 45 yards on 16 carries.
It didn’t matter.
Holmes picked the Blue Devils apart, completing 10 of 12 passes to six receivers. The 5-11, 190-pound junior didn’t seem fazed by his numbers.
“If I try harder maybe I can do a little better,” he said.
West Memphis gave North Little Rock prime field position early by coming up short on fourth-and-1 from its 32. The Charging Wildcats pounced on the opportunity and scored seven plays later, converting two third downs and one fourth down. Tenpenny, who had only 9 yards at halftime on nine carries, scored from 6 yards out with 7:15 left in the first quarter.
“[West Memphis] did a great job stopping our running game,” North Little Rock Coach Brad Bolding said. “It’s been our bread and butter, but I was really proud of our passing game. That’s about as well as we can execute the passing game in the first half.”
Holmes’ first touchdown pass came with 11:12 left in the second quarter when he connected with Aaron Adams for 41 yards just one play after a West Memphis turnover.
“We wanted to go for the jugular on that one,” Bolding said.
North Little Rock’s defense scored a second-half touchdown when lineman Jared House picked up a fumble and returned it 14 yards. West Memphis was held to a season low 124 yards on the ground.
SEARCY 44, MOUNTAIN HOME 41
MOUNTAIN HOME - Senior Cam Woodruff’s 19-yard touchdown run with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter gave Searcy a come-from-behind victory.
Antwon Arnold’s run for a two-point conversion provided the final margin for the Lions (3-2, 2-0 7A/6A-East).
Less than three minutes earlier, with 9:13 left, the Bombers took a 41-36 lead when senior quarterback Drake Walker threw a 7-yard scoring pass to Alex Hagaman. Jaden McDonald kicked the extra point.
Hagaman’s touchdown reception was the second score of the fourth quarter for Mountain Home (1-4, 0-2). Chayse Brown scored on a 5-yard run with 11:41 left to make it 36-34.
The first half ended with Searcy up 21-20. The Bombers opened scoring on Walker’s 3-yard touchdown run with 5:51 left in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was missed.
Searcy responded with 2:20 left in the quarter on Matthew Parsley’s 2-yard run.
Arnold scored on a 10-yard run for the Lions in the second quarter and the Bombers responded with Walker’s 1-yard scoring run. Searcy came back with a 5-yard scoring pass from Woodruff to Evan Scarbrough. Mountain Home ended the second-quarter scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run by Chayse Brown.
Mountain Home opened the second half with a drive capped by Drake Walker’s 10-yard touchdown run before Searcy responded with 15 unanswered points. Arnold scored on a 6-yard run, the Lions added a safety when a snap sailed over the punter into the end zone and Karonce Higgins returned the ball 69 yards for another score on the ensuing kickoff.
Sports, Pages 26 on 09/29/2012