By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
ARKADELPHIA – The Nashville Scrappers did something no other team had done before Friday night – scored on Arkadelphia – but the Badgers overcame a 10-point deficit in the second half and defeated Nashville 34-24 in the District 7-4A opener for both schools.
Arkadelphia had held three teams scoreless before Friday night.
“It was a disappointing loss,” Coach Mike Volarvich said. “You have to give Arkadelphia credit. They’re a really good football team. I thought our kids played hard, but we made too many mistakes on both sides of the ball.”
After trailing early, Nashville (2-2, 0-1) came back to lead 17-14 at halftime. The Scrappers extended the lead to 24-14 in the third quarter before Arkadelphia (4-0, 1-0) put up the game’s final 20 points to take the win.
The Scrappers “wore down in the second half a little bit. That was one thing we talked about all week – be a second-half team. We knew going in that was one of the things they [Badger coaches] preach – win in the second half,” Volarvich said.
The difference between the first and second half “was their execution. They played the same defense. They ran the same offense they ran every game. They just executed better,” Volarvich said.
Turnovers were a factor, according to Volarvich “The first half, we had zero turnovers. The second half, we had two. On the first interception, we were driving. The ball bounced off [Jhalon] Finley’s shoulder to their safety. That swung the momentum.”
The Scrappers “did a poor job in the red zone. Twice we came away with no points. We had a chance to take a big lead before halftime” but didn’t score. “That was a big turning point. It was a huge momentum boost before the half for them. I need to do a better job play calling down there, but we called 3 plays that we run every day, but we didn’t block right,” Volarvich said.
Despite the loss, there were positives for the Scrappers, according to Volarvich.
Quarterback Tyler Hanson passed for 445 yards, a school record in a single game. The previous mark was 427 yards set by Jared McBride in 1996.
Hanson completed 27 passes, second all-time in Scrapper history. Joel Hendry holds the record for completions.
Hanson attempted 42 passes, tied for fifth in pass attempts during a game.
Domonick Kight “had a good night” with 5 catches for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns, Volarvich said.
Finley made 9 catches for 146 yards. “Those guys had a good offensive performance.”
Scoring
Arkadelphia took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 4-yard run by Zion Hatley.
The Scrappers came back with a 21-yard field goal by Jhonny Pioquinto and cut the margin to 7-3.
Hatley put the Badgers on top 14-3 on a 42-yard run in the second quarter.
Hanson threw touchdown passes of 16 yards and 57 yards to Trent Harris and Kight, respectively, and built a 17-14 lead at halftime. Pioquinto kicked 3 of 3 PATs.
In the third quarter, the Scrappers went ahead 24-14 on a 76-yard pass to Kight.
Arkadelphia scored on a 1-yard run by Jack Burnham to pull to within 3 points, 24-21.
Two touchdowns in the fourth quarter sealed the win for the Badgers. Sophomore quarterback Cannon Turner tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to Burnham, and Turner himself scored on a 21-yard run. Gabe Goodman converted on 4 of 5 PATs for Arkadelphia.
For the night, Hanson completed 27 of 42 passes for 445 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Kight was the leading receiver with 5 catches for 196 yards and 2 TDs.
Finley caught 9 passes for 146 yards. Ty Pettway made 5 receptions for 64 yards.
Harris had 3 catches for 25 yards and a touchdown. Garrett Lance recorded 3 catches for 11 yards. Levester Gillard had 1 reception for 4 yards.
The Badger defense held Nashville to 41 rushing yards. Harris ran the ball 13 times for 22 yards. Carmillias Morrison had 2 carries for 8 yards. Hanson ran 6 times for 11 yards.
Nashville posted 14 first downs, with 18 for Arkadelphia.
Jordan White was the leading tackler for Nashville with 12 solo tackles, 4 assists and a tackle for a loss.
Pettway had 7 tackles and 3 assists with 2 TFLs.
Isaac Johnson had 7 tackles, 2 assists and 4 TFLs.
Kight recorded 3 tackles and 2 assists along with an interception.
Other Scrapper tacklers included Lance Easter with 4 total tackles, 1 sack and 1 TFL; Darren May, 3; C.J. Adams, 4 tackles, 1 TFL; JJ King, 2; Davion Holmes, 1; Kailus Hughes, 5; Gillard and Miguel Hernandez, 1 each; Jamarte Gilliam, 2; Dalton Potter, 3; Aaron Lott, 1.
Jake Moorer punted twice for 39 yards.
Nashville was penalized 3 times for 23 yards. Arkadelphia had 6 penalties for 27 yards.
• • • • • • • • • •
By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
After three straight road games, the Scrappers will be back in town Friday, Sept. 29, to host the Fountain Lake Cobras. Kickoff at Scrapper Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
The Scrappers enter the game following a 34-24 loss to Arkadelphia last week. Fountain Lake fell to Joe T. Robinson 49-14. Both the Scrappers and Cobras are 2-2 overall, 0-1 in District 7-4A.
“It’s going to be good to be back home after a 3-week road stretch,” Coach Mike Volarvich said. “This is a big game for us after dropping 2 of the last 3. We need to improve. We need to focus on ourselves, not as much on our opponent, and control our own actions.”
Offensively, the Scrappers must “block the right people. If you’re asked to block a certain guy, go to who you’re coached to block. Do it with good technique,” Volarvich said.
Defensively, “Be in the correct gaps. We need to play fast with good technique. The last couple of games, we’ve had guys trying to do things their way instead of the way they’re being coached,” Volarvich said.
“We have to do a better job as coaches of getting our point across. The coaches’ responsibility is to coach and demand that players do it that way. The players’ responsibility is to do it the way they’re supposed to do it. Now, there’s a lack of both.”
Fountain Lake likely will present a different look offensively and defensively with new head coach J.D. Plumlee, who came to the Cobras after working as an assistant with Coach Billy Dawson at Russellville. He’s also coached at Malvern and Harrison.
The Cobras will come to Nashville with identical season and conference records to those of the Scrappers. “They’re in the exact situation we’re in,” Volarvich said.
“This is a really big game. I think it’s a big week for both teams. We’ll see which one bounces back and responds better.”
Fountain Lake has gone from the Wing T “to more of a Spread-look offense,” Volarvich said. “They’ll have 4 wides or 3 wides and a fullback. They’ll use empty 5-receiver sets. They’ll throw a whole lot more” under Plumlee.
On defense, the Cobras “have been 4-2. Now they’re 3-4. They’re very multiple out of the 3-4. They’ll line up in different places. They’ll bring a bunch of different pressures. We have to work on getting better,” Volarvich said.
The Scrappers lead the series with Fountain Lake 14-1. Nashville won last year’s meeting 65-29.
Cobra quarterback Stephen Turner has completed 44 of 90 passes for 879 yards, 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Scrapper QB Tyler Hanson is 79 of 130 for 1,350 yards, 12 TDs and 10 interceptions. He broke the school passing record last week with 445 yards. Jared McBride set the previous record of 427 yards in 1996.
The Scrappers are scoring 44.5 points per game and allowing 33.3. Fountain Lake has scored 24.3 points per game and allowed 29.8.
Other conference games Friday night include Arkadelphia at Robinson, Bauxite at Ashdown and Mena at Malvern.
Three teams from District 7-4A continue to be ranked among the top 5 or 6 in state Class 4A polls, including Ashdown, Arkadelphia and Robinson.
