By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
Seven different Scrappers touched the ball and four scored Friday night as Nashville opened the Class 4A state playoffs with a 49-7 victory over Dover at Scrapper Stadium.
The Scrappers, top ranked in Class 4A by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and most other polls and 10th overall by the Democrat-Gazette, scored all their points in the first half and substituted freely against the Pirates.
Nashville is 11-0 for the season and has a 26-game winning streak, the longest in the state.
“I was happy with the way we came out and handled business,” Coach Mike Volarvich said. “We started a little slower than I would have liked, but that happens when you play a Wing T-based team. They got a first-quarter score, but I was happy with the way our defense bounced back and held them scoreless the rest of the game.”
For the night, the Scrappers limited the Pirates to 188 yards total offense on 52 plays, about 3.6 yards per play.
Nashville’s offense dropped a couple of passes on the first and second drive but settled down and made “a bunch of big plays,” Volarvich said, including an 81-yard touchdown pass to Dominick Kight in the second quarter.
All 7 Scrappers who touched the ball touched it more than once, Volarvich said.They included Darius Hopkins, Nadorian Morrison, TK Hopkins, Dominick Kight, Zach Jamison, Ty Pettway and CJ Spencer.
Offensive touchdowns came from Darius Hopkins, 3; Kight, 1; Jamison, 1; and Pettway, 1. Dividing the scoring among several players “is kind of what we look for,” Volarvich said.
Kailus Hughes returned a punt 47 yards for a score.
Jose Hernandez was 7 of 7 on PATs against Dover.
Darius Hopkins opened the Scrapper scoring on a 5-yard run in the first quarter.
Dover responded with a 23-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.
Hopkins put the Scrappers ahead to stay with another TD later in the first quarter.
Tyler Hanson threw 3 touchdown passes in the second quarter, including the 81-yard strike to Kight, 39 yards to Jamison and 30 yards to Pettway.
The Scrappers recorded 410 yards total offense on just 32 plays against the Pirates, averaging 12.8 yard per play.
Hanson completed 12 of 16 passes for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Nashville had 152 yards rushing. Darius Hopkins carried the ball 8 times for 104 yards and 3 touchdowns. Morrison had 3 carries for 40 yards, and TK Hopkins ran the ball 4 times for 8 yards.
Kight was the leading receiver with 3 receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. “He played hard and blocked well,” Volarvich said.
Jamison had 2 catches for 48 yards and a touchdown. Pettway had 3 receptions for 48 yards and a TD. Darius Hopkins made 1 catch for 37 yards, and Spencer had 3 catches for 31 yards.
Defensively, Garrett Gordon recorded 8 solo tackles and 3 assists, with 3 tackles for losses.
Xavier Nunally made 7 total tackles and had a sack. Jordan White and Austin Gibbs had 7 tackles each. Michael Bevill had 6; Marquell McFalls 5; Jordan Summers 2; Kailus Hughes 4 and the punt return for a touchdown.
Other Scrappers who recorded tackles included Robert Dunham 2 and a sack; Kalob Carpenter 3; Jamison 2; Shun Childress 4 and a TFL, Jacoree Walker 4 and a TFL; Dalton Smead 2; Hunter White 2; Davion Holmes 1; Dennis Scott 1; Armani Hatchett 2 and Nick Garcia 1.
Hughes intercepted a Dover pass.
Jamison had 1 kickoff return for 22 yards. Hughes had the punt return for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Jake Moorer punted once for 32 yards.
Nashville had 10 first downs, with 11 for Dover.
The game’s only turnover came on the Dover pass which was picked off by Hughes.
Nashville was penalized 3 times for 24 yards total. Dover was not penalized during the game.
