For the first time in over a decade, Arkansas High will have the luxury of entering postseason play as conference champions.
And a top seed to go along with it.
The Razorbacks once again got off to a hot start and scored 35 unanswered points in the first half to overpower De Queen, 42-9, during Senior Night to claim the outright conference title on Friday night at Razorback Stadium.
And, along with that feat, the fourth-ranked Hogs will own a No. 1 seed going into next week's playoffs.
"Being the conference champions is a big deal to our kids," Arkansas High head coach Barry Norton said. "It's the first one for the program in 12 years and the first one since these seniors were in kindergarten.
"So, yes, it's big. It's one of the goals we set out at the beginning of the season in becoming conference champions and getting a top seed going into the playoffs, and now we will see what we can do."
Wideout DeJordan Mask and quarterback Sean Foreback, along with a stingy defense, helped Arkansas High set up the big lead and to solidify the 5A-South crown.
Mask finished with a game-high 72 yards receiving and had three touchdowns, including a pick-six on De Queen's opening drive. Foreback threw for three touchdowns on just five completions and finished with 150 yards.
"I'm really excited right now," senior receiver Mask said. "We haven't won a conference championship in a long time, so I'm happy that my class is the ones who got to do it. This was a goal for us, and now our second goal of winning state is next."
Arkansas High's defense helped set the tone early, and finished with two scores.
The Razorbacks held De Queen to just 10 yards through the first two quarters and found the end zone twice off of Mask's interception return and Demetrias Charles' fumble recovery for scores.
"That's something we work on," Norton said. "We are proud of this defense. We do drills all the time for our defense on catching balls and returning and it has paid off. Both Charles and Mask made great plays to put points up."
On the Leopards' first possession of the game, quarterback Isaiah Williamson threw a deep pass over the middle but landed into the hands of Mask, who returned it 49 yards to paydirt to help the Hogs take an early 7-0 lead. Williamson completed four of his 16 passes for 13 yards and had two interceptions.
On the ensuing drive, De Queen took advantage of some Razorback penalties and got into the red zone, but could only come away with a 28-yard field goal by Edward Garcia.
After that, however, it would be all Razorbacks for the remainder of the half.
Foreback hurled all three of touchdown passes and Collier broke open for a 77-yard touchdown run to help the home team score 35 unanswered points before intermission.
"Sean played really well for us because we wanted to start fast tonight like we always do," Norton said. "We wanted to limit some of the touches to our running backs because we wanted to avoid them from getting banged up.
"And with that, I think Sean only made one bad play and that was on the interception. But if he didn't get hit on that throw, I think he would have completed it, but he was on the wrong side of the play."
Foreback found Mask on a 57-yard strike in the first quarter and later again in the second quarter with a 15-yarder. He later connected with Torie Blair on a 43-yard catch-and-run.
De Queen's Alexis Luna led the rushing attack with 28 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Fellow running back Adrian Mendoza added 17 yards on eight attempts.
"I couldn't be happier with these kids," Norton said. "They earned the right to win, which is something we have talked about all the time. I'm proud of all of them."
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De Queen 3 0 6 0 - 9
Arkansas High 14 28 0 0 - 42
First Quarter
AHS-DeJordan Mask 49 interception return (Patrick Cook kick), 9:59
DQ-Edward Garcia 28 FG, 5:27
AHS-Mask 57 pass from Sean Foreback (Cook kick), 3:07
Second Quarter
AHS-Mask 15 pass from Foreback (Cook kick), 11:49
AHS-Cameron Collier 77 run (Cook kick), 8:02
AHS-Torie Blair 43 pass from Foreback (Cook kick), 6:12
AHS-Demetrias Charles 32 interception return (Cook kick), 4:38
Third Quarter
DQ-Alexis Luna 4 run (kick failed), 2:58
=DQ=AHS
First Downs=8=6
Yards Rushing=35=98
Yards Passing=13=155
Passes A-C-I=16-4-2=11-5-1
Fumbles Lost=1-1=1-1
Penalties=2-15=9-103
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-De Queen, Adrian Mendoza 8-17, Marquez Ester 8-(minus 10), Mack Carver 3-(minus 10), Isaiah Williamson 4-(minus 6), Quinshawn Bennett 1-6, Kade Martin 1-8, Alexis Luna 8-28, Ryan Vance 1-2. Arkansas High, Cameron Collier 3-81, Drake Browning 1-17, DeQuan Williams 2-0.
PASSING-De Queen, Williamson 4-16-2-13. Arkansas High, Sean Foreback 5-11-1-155.
RECEIVING-De Queen, Vance 1-(minus 5), Marquez Ester 1-6, Dailey Nickerson 1-7, Malik Beasley 1-5. Arkansas High, DeJordan Mask 2-72, Drake Browning 1-35, Torie Blair 1-43, Ray Howard Jr. 1-5.