CONWAY -- Springdale High has faced some of the state's best quarterbacks this year in 7A-West action.
None of them had a performance like Conway's Breylin Smith did Friday night in the first round of the playoffs.
Smith totaled 334 yards and six touchdowns in the first half as Conway raced to a 42-0 lead at intermission in a 42-7 blowout victory.
"They got out to a very fast start," Conway coach Clint Ashcraft said of his Wampus Cats. "Breylin's arm strength is very evident when you watch him. I'm proud of the way he played tonight. He was very accurate."
Conway (6-5) outgained Springdale 428-158, including 391-107 during a first half in which it averaged 13 yards per play.
Smith completed 16 of 19 passes for 303 yards and 4 touchdowns -- on completions of 71, 50, 54 and 23. He also ran for 31 yards on four carries and scored on runs of 12 and 8 yards.
Conway beat Springdale's defense deep early and often, with Smith throwing his three longest touchdowns in the game's first six minutes.
His primary target was senior Brayden Leach, who caught 8 passes for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns.
"That was his best game of the year, so far," Ashcraft said. "He's a good player. He's really smart. He runs great routes and it showed tonight."
Leach scored on the first play of the game when he turned a short pass into a 71-yard score after a Springdale defender fell down, the first of several busts for the Bulldogs' secondary.
"We're at the point where we can't just realize that, hey, we played it well, we just fell down" Springdale Coach Zak Clark said. "When that happened, kind of reverted back to early in the season when something like that would happen first play or second play and that just set the tone instead of calming down."
Conway led 28-0 after a quarter and Springdale never seriously threatened without injured junior receiver Kyler Williams (finger), who leads the 7A-West in catches and yards.
The Bulldogs (2-9) moved the ball into Conway territory four times in the opening half, but an interception and drives halted by Conway's five first-half sacks kept them off the scoreboard. The Wampus Cats finished with eight sacks, the third game this year in which Springdale allowed eight or more sacks.
"Their quarterback's really good and we talked all week about not letting him get comfortable and set his feet," Ashcraft said. "We knew he could make some throws, so we just needed to keep him moving around."
Conway will face No. 1 Springdale Har-Ber in the second round in a rematch of a nonconference game Har-Ber won 37-7.
Sports on 11/14/2015