Vilonia rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns en route to a 26-0 win over Conway White in its Central Arkansas Junior High Conference opener at John McConnell Stadium on Thursday.
The Junior Eagles (2-2, 1-0) wore down the Kittens' defense on long and methodical scoring drives for most of the night. Vilonia's Trevor Martin stepped up for injured wingback Trey Smith, while rushing for a game-high 91 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. His touchdown came on a 27-yard run, which was final score of the game with 5:22 left. James Sax scored twice, once on a 6-yard run in the first half and the other on a 17-yard reception late in the third quarter. Sax ended with 45 yards on 15 carries.
"We had two down weeks before coming in here," Vilonia coach Michael Stout said. "We really had to do some soul-searching this week. All of our backs really had a good game. Conway White has a very good defensive line. They'll probably be one of the best that we see all season."
Conway White (1-3, 0-1) had some missed opportunities early, including a would-be touchdown on a 48-yard pass in the first half. The Kittens were led in rushing by Edward Hays' 19 yards on four carries.
"Playing against a team like Vilonia and the way they run it, you have to be able to stop the run," Conway White coach Trent Mallett said. "That offense is so ball control, ball control, ball control, and we had some busted assignments. Our kids are trying to stop the run and they know they have to stop it, then (Vilonia) sneaks somebody out."
Conway White returns to John McConnell Stadium next week to face Greenbrier in a North division bout. The Junior Panthers have been putting up some points on offense and their defense has surrendered few scoring drives this season.
"I told the guys, 'Yeah, we're 1-3, if you have a job, are you going to quit and go home?'" Mallett said. "Athletics are good and bad, and bad and good. It's about how you learn and adjust to it. You just have to get better. We face different extremes in this conference. We have to face the run here, the run-and-shoot next week, and then back to a running team, then back to run-and-shoots the rest of the season."
EIGHTH GRADE
Carl Stuart had enough in the tank to defeat Vilonia, 21-8.
Carl Stuart's Brian Cox scored twice in the first half, once on a 25-yard scamper, and the other came on a 25-yard pass from Timothy Boyd. Boyd added a 55-yard run late in the game.
"For what Vilonia does, it's hard to practice against, and it's hard to defend," Carl Stuart coach Barry Lueders said. "They made it really tough on us and it's really hard to find the ball with them."
Defensively, Lueders was impressed with the play of Joey McMahan, Jordan Williams, John Robinson and Drew Lamprecht.
"Our defense was able to force three turnovers, three fumbles I believe," Lueders said. "After that first possession where they went down the field, we started bowing up a little bit. Then they started doing the things that we have been coached to do."
Lueders noted the backfield, along with the offensive line's play in the second half helped give the Kittens the win. Lueders mentioned that Brannon Kotch, Josh Hillis and Blake Farris opened the holes on the strong side.
"Timothy Boyd is really starting to get a grip on what we do here at Carl Stuart," Lueders said. "He's a dual weapon on the outside. He can either throw it or he can run it. I haven't had a quarterback who can throw it and run it since Justin Hargis, and that's been a while."
Cox scored on the 2-point conversion play, and Connor Prout added an extra point kick.
