JONESBORO -- Demekko Clark rushed 24 times for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Blytheville avoided an 0-2 start in the 5A-East with a 46-0 victory over Nettleton.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
Clark scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half when the Chickasaws built a 40-0 lead. Blytheville totaled 361 yards of offense for the game.
"I thought he ran the ball hard," Blytheville Coach Ben Fisher said of Clark. "I knew they were going to key on him, but you know he's so hard to tackle. And that was a lot of the difference in the ballgame because Nettleton did a good job of hitting him."
Blytheville (3-2, 1-1) bounced back from last week's loss to Wynne; Nettleton (3-2, 0-2) has conference losses to Batesville and Blytheville.
"It was huge to get the win this week," Fisher said. "We both had tough losses last week and knew the winner of this game was going to have the upper hand in making the playoffs."
Clark scored twice in the opening minutes to lift Blytheville to a quick 14-0 lead.
Clark's 3-yard finished off the Chicks' first drive with 9:32 to play in the first quarter.
A Nettleton fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave the ball right back to Blytheville, which scored three plays later on an 8-yard run by Clark.
Blytheville got the ball back after three Nettleton plays and a punt. Malik Smith capped an 8-play, 50-yard drive with a 5-yard run before the first quarter ended.
Blytheville finished the first quarter with 120 yards, 116 rushing; Nettleton gained 77 yards in the first half. Blytheville Blytheville rushed for 308 yards in the first half.
"We get the ball first and score, and to me. one of the biggest keys of the game was the turnover on the kickoff," Fisher said. "And that was huge for us just to get the momentum."
Blytheville struck with the passing game for its next touchdown, a 33-yard pas from Desmond Moore to Corey Weatherspoon with 6:40 to play in the half.
Jalen Gumby added a 15-yard scoring run up the middle for Blytheville just over a minute later, but it was Clark providing the final highlight of the first half when he broke through Nettleton's defense for a 70-yard score with 25 seconds left in the half.
On second and 15, Clark busted up the middle and into the secondary, where he outran the lone defender to put his team up 40-0 at halftime.
Sports on 10/01/2016