Blue Devils roll past Central

Blue Devils roll past Central

The West Memphis defense stole the show as the Blue Devils moved up a weight class defeating 7A Little Rock Central

WM School District LITTLE ROCK — After wreaking havoc on two 5A opponents to open the season, the West Memphis Blue Devils moved up two notches and destroyed 7A competition.

Junior reserve running back Rodney Doby rushed for 106 yards and the West Memphis defense apparently got dissatisfied with just stopping opponents and instead put up two touchdowns last Friday night at Quigley Stadium in a 41-15 Blue Devil victory over Little Rock Central.

The victory sets up this Friday night's big Crittenden County rival game with Marion. The game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Hamilton-Shultz Field, but there will be plenty of tailgate options and pregame festivities on the field 30 minutes prior to kickoff.

West Memphis' defense took all of 2:30 to score a touchdown as junior Curtis Hill picked off a Jacob Howard pass and returned it 57 yards.

By the 3:55 mark of the first quarter the Blue Devils (3-0) were up 19-0 thanks to some aggressive moves by the coaching staff which called for an onside kick after the first touchdown and then a long pass into the end zone on the next play call.

'We wanted to take the chances there to start the game and it looked like we pushed all the right buttons,' said West Memphis head coach Billy Elmore.

'It kind of snowballed on Central from there.'

Dylan Wiggington's onside kick after the first touchdown looked more like a 60-degree wedge the way it backed up once it hit the turf.

'That was something we saw on film,' said Elmore.

'(Central's) kickoff return didn't have anybody in the middle of the field, so we thought we might could get one. Dylan kicked it perfect.'

The tone-setter for the Blue Devils, once again, was the defense. It allowed just two yards rushing and one first down in the first half and it allowed only 64 yards on the ground for the game.

The other score by the defense came on a 50-yard pick-six by sophomore Kendarius Moore, who also collected a fumble recovery on the night.

West Memphis found itself just two points shy (33-0) of gaining a secondhalf mercy rule after ensuing touchdowns by senior running back Quincy Marshall and two by way of senior quarterback Michael Troxler, one in the air (to Steven Stone) and one on the ground.

But late in the first half the Blue Devil offense suffered a big blow when senior center Caleb Clark limped to the sideline after getting his leg rolled. His absence resulted into some sloppy play by the Blue Devils in the second half.

The Blue Devils line gave up three sacks and two other plays for lost yardage without Clark anchoring the trenches.

'His coming out was a factor, but only because there's a difference between somebody getting 90 percent of the reps in practice and other folks getting the other 10 percent,' said Elmore. 'I think he's OK, but yeah it set us back there for a little while. But he's a tough kid and I think he'll be fine.'

Meanwhile, the defense keeps running smoothly.

Senior Verndarious Hodges kept his streak alive at three games with at least one sack. He had three more at Little Rock Central one week after he compiled three-and-a-half against Blytheville.

'We knew they were good on defense,' Tigers head coach Scooter Register said of West Memphis.

'They're pretty solid, they're well-coached. Of course Coach (Butch) Gray (defensive coordinator) coached with me at El Dorado, so I know full well what they're capable of doing.'

West Memphis' final score of the night came on an offensive package with senior Amaruius Stinnett lined up in some variation of the Wildcat. He scored a 2-yard touchdown with 24 seconds left in the third quarter.

Then Stinnett ran for the two-point conversion.

The Blue Devils welcome Marion (1-2) into Hamilton-Shultz Field seeking to extend their winning streak over the Patriots to 14 games. West Memphis is 13-0 all-time over Marion, including 11 straight in as many years.

Tickets are already on sale for the game at both schools. The West Memphis School District's Administrative office on South Avalon will have tickets available for early sale.

By Billy Woods