Pulaski Robinson waited almost a full year to get another crack at Dover.
The Senators didn't waste the opportunity .
Brennen Johnson passed for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 93 yards and another score as the Senators scored touchdowns on five of their first six possessions and remained unbeaten with a 40-7 victory over the Pirates on Friday night at Charlie Georgie Stadium.
"It's been talked about since we first started coming in that locker room since we came back in the summer," said Johnson, who threw touchdown passes of 32 and 62 yards and had a 4-yard touchdown run. "They've been trash-talking. The media downplayed us. We knew what we had to do."
Robinson (5-0, 2-0 4-4A Conference) won its first four games last season before Johnson was stopped on the Dover 1 in a 26-20 loss that started a string of five losses in Robinson's last seven games. Coach Todd Eskola said the slide sparked by Dover, which operates a run-heavy Wing-T offense, attached an unwanted label to his team.
"We've heard for a year that we can't defend a smash-mouth football team," Eskola said.
Robinson held Dover (4-1, 1-1) to 233 yards Friday night, all of it rushing, while piling up 523 yards.
"To shut out their first-team offense after hearing for a year that we're not physical and we can't defend against smash-mouth, we couldn't be happier for our defensive staff," Eskola said.
T.J. Hammonds, who has committed to Arkansas, scored on runs of 22 and 4 yards to give the Senators a 13-0 lead, and Myles Fells' 1-yard run made it 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. Johnson then connected with Nathan Page for a 62-yard pass in the third quarter and scored on a 4-yard run to make it 33-0 going into halftime.
Johnson connected with Trenton Dunn on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, his final pass on a night in which he completed 13 of 15 and connected with five different receivers. Page caught six passes for 201 yards, and Dunn caught four passes for 102 yards.
"If they double cover one of us, I'll look to the other side and they're leaving one of us open," Johnson said. "They can't cover all of us."
Dover hurt itself by fumbling four times, three of which Robinson turned into touchdowns. Dover Coach Greg Smith said that hadn't been an issue through the first four weeks of the season when his team was averaging 52.5 points per game and allowing an average of 6.8.
Ben Dale rushed 28 times for 131 yards, but only three of those went for more than 10 yards. The one time Dover tried to pass, quarterback Seth Cheak was sacked.
"They were swarming us," Smith said. "Somehow it seemed like every time we tried to run a play, they knew what we were fixing to run."
ASHDOWN 45, BAUXITE 19
ASHDOWN — Brandon Northcross returned a punt 58 yards and Ashdown (4-1, 2-0 7-4A) beat Bauxite (0-5, 0-2). Kirkland Threadgill had a 2-yard touchdown run and Bryson Haskins scored on runs of 2 and 7 yards. Haskins led Ashdown with 80 yards on eight carries.
Tre Green added a 30-yard fumble return for the Panthers. Charlie Trammel had a 1-yard scoring run.
MALVERN 28, MENA 6
MALVERN — Devin Shaw scored on a 2-yard run and returned a kickoff 85 yards for another touchdown as Malvern stayed unbeaten in the 7-4A Conference.
Jamari McCollum added 150 yards rushing and 1 touchdown for Malvern (4-1, 2-0), which scored a touchdown in every quarter in beating Mena (1-4, 0-2). Trace Gollie gave Malvern a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 35-yard touchdown pass to Tevin Smith. Shaw’s 2-yard touchdown run came in the second quarter, and returned his kickoff for a touchdown in the third. McCollum scored on a 4-yard run in the fourth quarter.
NEWPORT 36, LONOKE 18
LONOKE — Carl Turner rushed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead Newport (1-4, 1-1) to a 2-4A Conference victory over Lonoke (2-3, 0-2).
Turned carried 28 times and scored on runs of 42, 10 and 33 yards.
Quavion Harris passed to Darrin Moore for a 68-yard touchdown and the game’s first points. Lonoke’s Justin Meadows ran 22 yards for a touchdown to tie the game. Turner’s 42-yard scoring run as time ran out in the first quarter gave Newport a 12-6 lead.
Harris added a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter for an 18-6 lead going into halftime.
Turner scored on his 10-yard run midway through the third quarter, but Lonoke’s Casey Martin ran back the kickoff 87 yards to put the margin back to 12. Darrion Roddy had a 5-yard touchdown run for Newport with 1:06 left in the quarter for a 30-12 lead.
Martin scored again for Lonoke, this time on a 9-yard run. Lonoke failed to recover an onside kick, and Turner ran 33 yards on the next play for his third touchdown.
PEA RIDGE 35, LINCOLN 13
LINCOLN — Zane Holley ran for four touchdowns, including three in the first quarter, as Pea Ridge (5-0, 2-0 1-4A) jumped on Lincoln (1-4, 0-2) and never let up.
Holley scored on Pea Ridge’s first snap of the game, breaking loose for a 50-yard touchdown. He added touchdown runs of 2 and 21 in the quarter and capped his night with a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
PINE BLUFF DOLLARWAY 22,
DEWITT 19
DEWITT — Markell Scott scored the game-winning touchdown on a 74-yard run with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter to lift Pine Bluff Dollarway (4-1, 2-0 8-4A) to a come-from-behind victory over DeWitt (3-2, 0-2).
Simeon Blair scored on a 2-yard run and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Devontra Curry as the Cardinals came back from a 19-0 deficit.
The Dragons built their lead in the first quarter. Malik Brasfield scored on runs of 2 yards and 4 yards and Jamarious Bradford rushed 6 yards for another touchdown.
POCAHONTAS 54,
HARRISBURG 19
POCAHONTAS — Reece Coates rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more to help lead Pocahontas (5-0, 2-0) to a 3-4A conference victory over Harrisburg (1-4, 0-2).
Dillon Russell returned two punts for touchdowns for the Redskins. The first one went for 75 yards in the first quarter, the second for 70 yards in the third.
Russell also caught a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Coates finished with 146 yards passing, completing 7 passes in 8 attempts, and rushing for 102 yards on 10 carries. Josiah Marlow bolstered the Pocahontas offense with 63 yards rushing on 3 carries and 76 receiving yards, 58 coming on a touchdown.
Dakota Lee led Harrisburg with two touchdown passes, 70 yards to Gavin Casebier and 57 yards to Weston Standford.
POTTSVILLE 35,
BAPTIST PREP 14
Josh Duggar rushed for two touchdowns and Jake Duggar passed for two more scores to lead Pottsville (3-2, 1-1 4-4A) over Baptist Prep (0-5, 0-2).
Austin McNeely added 158 yards and 1 touchdown on 16 carries for the Apaches.
Josh Duggar finished with 61 yards on 16 carries, including a 12-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and a 1-yard touchdown run in the fourth.
Jake Duggar threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Prince in the second quarter and a 33-yard touchdown pass to Austin Bell in the third.
RIVERVIEW 17,
SOUTHSIDE BATESVILLE 0
SEARCY — Defense was all the offense Riverview needed (3-2, 1-1 2-4A) in its victory over Southside Batesville (3-2, 0-2).
Dondre Spears tackled a receiver in the end zone for a safety for the game’s first points.
Kirby Keeney returned an interception 13 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 9-0 lead after the extra point. Keeney also had three quarterback sacks. J.P. Smith scored on a 47-yard return of an interception. Riverview’s two-point conversion made it 17-0.
Riverview did have success on offense. Edy Mejia rushed for 108 yards on 13 carries and quarterback David Lee passed for 94 yards on 13 of 25 passing. Keeney added 6 receptions for 57 yards.
Sports on 10/03/2015