Once again Mother Nature was in attendance, but she couldn't put a damper on Arkansas High's reign on Homecoming night.
Under wet conditions the entire game, the Razorbacks were unaffected by the weather and sped out to 37 points-21 in the first quarter-to invoke the mercy rule early in their 37-20 triumph over Hot Springs to remain unbeaten in Conference 5A-South on Friday night at Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas High (7-1, 5-0), which is tied for the No. 3 spot in the Associated Press poll, scored all of its points in the first half, but allowed the Trojans to put up 20 after intermission, mainly due to sitting its starters.
"I hate these types of ballgames," Arkansas High head coach Barry Norton said. "We have to come out in the second half and do good things and build on what we accomplished as a team in the first half, but at the same time you don't want to do anything that's going to embarrass the other team and make things sloppy."
After holding onto a 37-0 lead coming out of halftime, Hot Springs found the end zone three times and held the Razorbacks out of it. Trojans quarterback Santiair Thomas had all three scores on runs of 1, 4 and 6 yards-one of which resulting from an onside kick late in the fourth quarter.
"It got sloppy in the second half and that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth," Norton said. "It's a bitter taste because of the way we started. We got off to a fast start and executed very well, but the second half was something else. Other than that, though, it was good. It was a good ballgame for us."
Hot Springs (1-7, 1-4) finished with 226 yards of total offense, with Thomas and running back Damion Walker accounting for for most of those. Thomas finished 8-of-20 passing for 119 yards and rushed for 39 yards and three scores on 11 attempts. Walker added 64 yards on 19 attempts. Arkansas High on the other hand had 281 yards of total offense, with 264 of that coming in the first two quarters.
Cameron Collier paced the Razorbacks in the running game as he went over the century mark again with 101 yards and a touchdown on a just five carries. Fellow backs Torie Blair and Keandraie Woods combined for another 42 yards.
Arkansas High also found success in the air early on as quarterback Sean Foreback completed four passes for 99 yards and two touchdown passes to DeJordan Mask and Drake Browning. The junior also added 26 yards rushing.
"(Foreback's) feet was much better tonight and he got the ball out on time," Norton said. "When you do that, it's better for everyone involved in your offense, and that's something we have been working on with him is getting his footwork right. He did an excellent job out there for us.
"We made some great plays passing the ball, we ran the ball really well and we done overall good things, including our special teams coverage. I'm proud of these kids, but we have to keep working if we want to get better."
Arkansas High didn't take long to get the game's first score of the game in the first quarter.
Collier took the Hogs' second snap on the their first possession and took it upfield for a 55-yard touchdown to give Arkansas High an early 7-0 lead.
On their next series after the defense forced a Hot Springs three-and-out, the Razorbacks again didn't need many plays to find the end zone as Foreback found Mask on a 43-yard catch and run for a quick 14-0 lead on just three plays.
After a series of punts, Foreback threw his second touchdown pass of the game, this time to Browning on a 36-yard strike for the Hogs' third touchdown of the first quarter to help give the home team a 21-0 advantage.
Mask finished with a game-high 63 yards receiving for the Razorbacks and Browning had 36 yards.
The Trojans threatened to put their first points on the board late in the opening quarter, but a fumble at the Arkansas High 1-yard line stymied its momentum. On a third-and-7, running back Damian Walker found a gap on the right side and took it 38 yards before turning it over at the goal line.
Arkansas High caught another break during the Trojans' opening series of the second quarter when Jaylon Bead jumped on a bad punt snap and returned it 26 yards to paydirt to give the Hogs a 28-0 lead. Taking advantage of the safety, Collier found the end zone for his second score of the game on a 26-yard scamper to help go into intermission with a 37-0 cushion.
"The kids done a great job tonight," Norton said. "I had asked them to start fast and get the game over with as quickly as possible by playing really well and getting us a good lead, and I think they done that. We played really well and I'm proud of them all."
The Razorbacks will be on the road next week when they travel to Hope.
During halftime, Kalex Williams was crowned Homecoming queen. Williams was escorted by her uncle, Reco Boyd, and is the daughter of Keevon Watts and Marcus Maxwell.
#
Hot Springs 0 0 6 14 - 20
Arkansas High 21 16 0 0 - 37
First Quarter
AHS-Cameron Collier 55 run (Patrick Cook kick), 11:35.
AHS-DeJordan Mask 43 pass from Sean Foreback (Cook kick), 10:02.
AHS-Drake Browning 36 pass from Foreback (Cook kick), 5:20.
Second Quarter
AHS-Jaylon Bead 26 fumble return (Cook kick), 8:05.
AHS-Safety, 6:36.
AHS-Collier 26 run (Cook kick), 5:58.
Third Quarter
HS-Santiair Thomas 1 run (kick failed), 4:46.
Fourth Quarter
HS-Thomas 4 run (pass failed), 4:32.
HS-Thomas 6 run (Thomas run), 0:32.
=Hot Springs=Arkansas High
First Downs=9=11
Yards Rushing=31-107=24-182
Yards Passing=119=99
Passes A-C-I=19-8-0=8-4-0
Fumbles-Lost=6-2=3-3
Penalties=4-50=8-83
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Hot Springs, Damion Walker 19-64, Santiair Thomas 11-39, Spencer Johnson 1-4. Arkansas High, Cameron Collier 5-101, Drake Browning 1-13, Sean Foreback 4-26, Torie Blair 7-25, Keandraie Woods 5-17.
PASSING-Hot Springs, Thomas 8-19-0-0 119. Arkansas High, Foreback 4-8-2-0 99.
RECEIVING-Hot Springs, Damian Walker 2-(minus 4), Eddie Miles 2-9, Jordan Baker 3-51, Tyrese Jenkins 1-7, Trent Gordon 1-25, Terrance Floyd 1-31. Arkansas High, DeJordan Mask 3-63, Browning 1-36.