CONWAY -- Benton quarterback Cason Maertens made sure his West All-Star team was in control Friday night.
Maertens threw three touchdown passes to lead the West All-Stars to a 31-21 victory over the East on Friday night in the 61st Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star game at Estes Stadium on the University of Central Arkansas campus.
Maertens, who will play college football at Arkansas Tech, completed 19 of 25 passes for 266 yards. It was a sweet ending to a high school football career for Maertens, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in May 2015 and missed the first half of Benton's 2015 season.
"It felt awesome to put these pads back on," Maertens said. "I never thought I'd be chosen for the All-Star game. But it was awesome to be here."
Episcopal Collegiate's Allie Freeman, who will play at Ouachita Baptist, earned the game's MVP award. Freeman caught 6 passes for 51 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Friday's victory extended the East's series lead over the West to 33-26-1. Last year's game was canceled because of weather conditions.
Maertens threw all three of his touchdown passes in the first quarter, with two of them to Freeman and one to Little Rock Christian's Joe Hampton. The West outgained the East 192-52.
"It was a great first quarter," West Coach Tony Travis, who left Pea Ridge earlier this year to coach at Rogers Heritage, said. "In these games, you never know what's going to happen. There's good players everywhere."
Hampton caught 4 passes for 96 yards and 1 touchdown. Fayetteville's Tyson Morris had three catches for 87 yards. Also, Nashville's Leonard Snell rushed 10 times for 55 yards.
The West drove 63 yards in six plays on its first drive to take a 7-0 lead. Maertens' 41-yard pass to Tyson Morris of Fayetteville set up his 6-yard touchdown pass to Freeman at the 10:01 mark.
Central Arkansas Christian's Justin Flanigan missed a 34-yard field goal attempt for the East, and the West quickly made it 14-0. Maertens found Hampton down the left sideline for a 75-yard touchdown pass with 6:00 left in the first quarter.
Maertens found Freeman again, this time on a 9-yard touchdown pass, to extend the West's lead to 21-0 with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
The East made it 21-7 when Little Rock Catholic's Lance Harville-Thomas scored from 15 yards out with 8:16 left in the first half.
Pea Ridge's Jake Edwards kicked a 20-yard field goal to stretch the West's lead to 24-7 with 2:06 left in the third quarter.
Conway's Breylin Smith, who completed 9 of 16 passes for 154 yards, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Pulaski Academy's Tre Bruce to open the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to 24-13. But the point-after attempt was no good, leaving the deficit at 11 points.
The East pulled within 24-21 with 5:43 left on McCrory's Cade Campbell's 15-yard touchdown pass to Bruce and a two-point conversion run by Gosnell's Carlos Blackman.
The West sealed the victory with a 6-yard touchdown run by Lafayette County's Tre'Darius Burks with 2:52 left that made it 31-21.
East Coach Chris Kennon, who led McCrory to its first state championship last season, saw his team outgain the West 354-338. But a 21-point first quarter deficit was too much to overcome.
"We made a couple of mistakes early," Kennon said. "Don't take anything away from their guys. They made two great throws and catches. They made plays. We dropped two touchdown passes in the first half. If we don't drop those, then it's a totally different ballgame.
"We had our chances, but sometimes, things don't go your way."
Three interceptions helped the West. Dardanelle's Chris Kershner had a 27-yard return in the second quarter and Gurdon's Jackie Harvell and West Fork's Preston Russell had interceptions in the fourth quarter.
"The defense came up big for us," Travis said. "It was a fun night."
Blackman led the East with 73 yards on 10 carries. Harville-Thomas had 55 yards on 10 carries.
Cabot's Holdyn Barnes and Cross County's Holden Byassee were the East's most outstanding players. The West's most outstanding players were Maertens and Kershner.
Sports on 06/25/2016