HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Junior QB delivers for Southside

Fort Smith Southside’s Immanuel Martinez (1) tries to break away as Warren defenders Ardarrius Harding (left) and D’angelo McCoy try for the tackle at Golden Lion Stadium in Pine Bluff on Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams. The high school football season continues its early start with three games Thursday and a full slate Friday.
Fort Smith Southside’s Immanuel Martinez (1) tries to break away as Warren defenders Ardarrius Harding (left) and D’angelo McCoy try for the tackle at Golden Lion Stadium in Pine Bluff on Tuesday night in the season opener for both teams. The high school football season continues its early start with three games Thursday and a full slate Friday.

PINE BLUFF -- Fort Smith Southside's hot hand came through when needed.

Junior Cooper Johnson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior Andrew Barley with 31 seconds left and Johnson ran in the two-point conversion to lift Class 7A Fort Smith Southside to a 29-22 victory over Class 4A Warren on Tuesday night at Golden Lion Stadium.

The Rebels (1-0) went 77 yards in 11 plays in 3 minutes, 6 seconds to overcome a 22-21 deficit.

Southside's defense sealed the victory when Lumberjacks quarterback Justin Gorman fumbled and linebacker Andrew Clark recovered.

Johnson, who completed 5 of 5 passes for 48 yards and 2 touchdowns and had 89 rushing yards on 17 carries, replaced senior Clay Tyler in the second half after Tyler threw an interception that was returned for a 17-yard touchdown by Warren's Calyx Hendrix.

"He sparked us," Southside Coach Jeff Williams said. "He had a couple of big pass plays there. He came in and made some big short-yardage first downs. He's a more versatile, dual-threat guy that came in with poise in his first varsity game. He did a great job for us."

Kilay Cox scored on a 1-yard run and Darveon Brown threw a two-point conversion pass to Franklin Gilmore with 3:37 remaining to give Warren (0-1), ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a one-point advantage with 3:39 left, capping a 13-play, 91-yard drive.

Depth ultimately caught up to the Lumberjacks, who were outgained 314-241.

"Our defense played great all night. We were just on the field too long," Warren Coach Bo Hembree said. "They lined up and ran at us. They kept running waves at us. You saw them sub. We didn't sub any.

"It caught up with us, and we knew it would, but our kids fought. They played hard. We had our chances."

D'erek Fernandez scored on a 3-yard run and caught the two-point conversion pass from Johnson to give Southside a 21-14 lead with 9:24 remaining.

After Hendrix' touchdown broke a 7-7 tie, the Rebels responded with Johnson, who threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Deyon Jordan. But the Rebels missed the extra point, which left the score at 14-13 at the 2:23 mark of the third quarter.

Jaylon Marshall returned the opening kickoff 66 yards and then caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Brown on the Lumberjacks' first offensive play for a 7-0 lead.

Southside answered with a 1-yard run by Tyler that tied the game at 7-7 with 4:54 left in the first quarter.

Marshall and Southside cornerback Juwuan Campbell were ejected with 3:26 remaining in the second quarter.

"That wasn't a good situation for both of us," Williams said. "[Marshall] is one of their best players, and Juwuan is one of the top corners in the state. We had some guys come into situations and step up and fill that void and play really well. I'm proud of them."

Cox finished with 18 carries for 94 yards and 1 touchdown and caught 3 passes for 36 yards. Brown accounted for 74 yards, including 47 passing. Gorman finished 8 of 18 passing for 106 yards.

"We have to get better," Hembree said. "We'll have to correct the mental mistakes and get ready to play Stuttgart next week."

EPISCOPAL COLLEGIATE 34, DEWITT 13

PINE BLUFF — Episcopal Collegiate (1-0) forced four turnovers Tuesday night in a rout of DeWitt (0-1) at Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Golden Lion Stadium. The Wildcats intercepted DeWitt quarterback Jake Rieves four times. Cornerback William McCastlain returned one of the interceptions for a 48-yard touchdown in the Wildcats’ 19-point fourth quarter.

Douglas Munson completed 17 of 25 passes for 235 yards with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions for Episcopal (1-0), which led 15-0 going into halftime. Allie Freeman caught 6 passes for 129 yards and 1 touchdown, a 15-yard reception in the second quarter. Nick Becton caught two touchdown passes for the Wildcats on a 1-yard pass in the first quarter and a 17-yard pass in the fourth quarter.

Kelvin Robinson added a 41-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats.

Jamari Bradford ran 32 times for 173 yards and 1 touchdown for De-Witt. Rieves finished 9-of-24 passing for 77 yards. Tavius Fowler had a 29-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

Sports on 09/03/2014

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