Big plays highlight Blue Devil preseason win over Chicks

Coach Hooks pleased with West Memphis’ performance in first action this season

WM School District Almost eight months removed from a nightmare season, one in which the West Memphis Blue Devils do not want to repeat, the team took the first step to putting that 2-9 2020 campaign in the rearview mirror on Tuesday night at Hamilton-Shultz Field.

In the only dress rehearsal before opening the regular season on Aug. 27, the Blue Devils defeated Blytheville 21-0 in a preseason scrimmage.

Tuesday’s first half put the spotlight on both teams’ first-teamers while the second half was a mix of starters with the reserves.

Despite clearly outplaying the Chicks through all four quarters, Blue Devil head coach Robert Hooks was non-committal on handing all-out praise for his troops. “Very, very sloppy,” Hooks said in assessing his offense’s execution. “And we’ve got to get special teams cleaned up in a hurry. Offensively, we saw some good things, but we’ve got to be able to run the ball. Still not able to run the football. This here helped us to learn that we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

The Blue Devils, who travel to Southwest Little Rock, a team that served as one of the two wins from 2020, say they are read to start the 2021 season a week from Friday.

With returning starter Bryson Jenkins at the controls on offense at quarterback, the Blue Devils hit the Chicks with some big plays on their second offensive series.

Jenkins hit Dylan Greer with a long pass that set up Jarrell Shepherd’s 34-yard touchdown with 6:02 left in the first quarter to give the hosts a 7-0 lead after Luke Smith’s PAT.

While Hooks was critical of his offense, his defense gave him plenty to be excited about. Jalen Turner picked off a Terry Northern pass and returned it 26 yards for the second West Memphis touchdown with 2:19 left in the first quarter. “I love where our defense is right now,” Hooks stated. “We’ve just got to help them on special teams and on offense.”

Hooks began the second half with his first-team offense and Jenkins at quarterback after the starter was relieved briefly in the second quarter by senior Brandon Peters, who will

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be utilized more on defense this season. Jenkins responded by hooking up with Greer once again, this time for a 40-yard touchdown pass with 9:26 left in the third quarter to close out the scoring in the contest.

“Greer and Shep are guys we know and who can do a lot for us this year,” said Hooks. “They stood out tonight, and they’ve been doing that all spring and all (fall) camp. You only saw half of what we can do on offense. We have some receivers who can make some big plays.”