By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
The outcome was never in doubt Friday night as the Nashville Scrappers inaugurated their new synthetic turf field at Scrapper Stadium with a 47-8 win over De Queen.
Nashville (2-0) scored early and often to earn the win and retain possession of the Saline River Walking Stick, a traveling trophy awarded annually to the winner of the contest with De Queen. The Scrappers have won the trophy 16 of the 17 times it has been presented.
“We did some good things. We scored early and led 40-0 at halftime. I’m happy with the way our starters played,” Coach Mike Volarvich said.
Trent Harris opened the scoring for Nashville on a 2-yard run in the first quarter. Jose Hernandez’s PAT was no good, making the score 6-0.
Darius Hopkins followed with a 1-yard TD run. Hernandez made the PAT for a 13-0 lead.
Ty Pettway closed out the scoring in the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hanson. The extra point was good, and Nashville led 20-0.
Hopkins picked up another score early in the second quarter, this one on a 43-yard pass from Hanson. With the PAT, Nashville led 27-0.
TK Hopkins added the next touchdown for the Scrappers on a 1-yard run. Hernandez made the extra point for a 34-0 lead.
Harris wrapped up the first half scoring on a 7-yard run. The PAT missed, making the halftime score 40-0 Nashville.
The only touchdown in the second half came on a 31-yard pass from Hanson to Pettway in the third quarter. Hernandez added Nashville’s final point of the night for a 47-0 lead.
The Leopards scored late in the game on a 20-yard run and made the 2-point conversion for a 47-8 final.
On offense, “With our one group, we scored on 7 of 7 drives. They’ve scored on 16 of 16 on the season,” Volarvich said.
Hanson completed 16 of 17 passes for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Darius Hopkins was the leading rusher with 5 carries for 44 yards and a TD.
TK Hopkins had 8 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Harris ran the ball 6 times for 29 yards and 2 TDs.
Garrett Lance added 1 run for 21 yards.
Zach Jamison was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 59 yards.
Pettway caught the ball 4 times for 64 yards and 2 TDs.
Darius Hopkins had 1 catch for 43 yards and a score.
Jhalon Finley, CJ Spencer and Dominick Kight had 2 catches each for 36, 24 and 16 yards, respectively.
“I’m happy with our ball distribution. We had 8 players with 2 or more touches. A total of 14 players total touched the ball,” according to Volarvich.
“Defensively, the coaches did a good job of game planning to let our guys be successful,” Volarvich said. “We held De Queen to 15 yards in the first half, with 6 sacks in the first half. You can’t ask for better football than that.”
Austin Gibbs was the leading tackler with 9 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks.
Hunter White had 8 tackles, 6 assists, 2 sacks and a tackle for a loss.
Garrett Gordon recorded 7 tackles and 5 assists.
Xavier Nunally had 6 tackles, 3 assists, a sack and a TFL.
Mace Green added 4 tackles, 2 assists, a sack and a TFL.
Dennis Scott picked off a De Queen pass.
The Scrappers played everybody Friday night, Volarvich said. “It was good to see the young guys out there.”
