Senior Senators outgain Badgers

Arkadelphia may have just been six yards shy of Joe T. Robinson on its aerial game, but the Senators tallied more than three times the Badgers' yardage on the ground as they cruised to a 42-14 win over the defending Class 4A state champions.

The first half was close as the Senators (4-1, 2-0 4A-7) led the Badgers (0-5, 0-2) by just one touchdown, 13-7, but Robinson more than made up for it in the second half as it put up two touchdowns in each of the remaining two quarters.

"We had our chances," Arkadelphia head coach J.R. Eldridge said. "At halftime, we were going in to score, ... we get called for offensive pass interference, and then we don't get any points off that drive."

The Badgers got on the scoreboard first with a 67-yard run by senior Zion Hatley followed by a kick from senior Gabe Goodman, but the Senators knotted the score later in the first quarter with a three-yard pass from Greyson Tackett to Mekel Kentle followed by a successful kick.

"We come back out, and they get the ball after the half. They score on their opening drive. ... Defensively, we didn't make the plays that we needed to make in the second half. They're a good football team. I felt like we had our chances, especially toward the end of the first half. At the end of the first half, I felt that would have been a momentum changing play because we could have gone up by one at the end of the first half."

Arkadelphia junior quarterback Cannon Turner and Hatley led the offense for the Badgers. Turner completed nine of 20 passes for 141 yards and a score while rushing nine times for 25 yards, and Hatley had 12 carries for 65 yards and two catches for 70 yards, scoring both touchdowns.

"Cannon did (have a good game); Zion did," Eldridge said. "We were able to establish a little bit of a running game with Cannon and Zion, but we weren't able to hit our playaction passes. They were getting pressure, and we weren't connecting downfield on our playaction passes. We have to do a better job offensively to stay ahead of the chains, being able to connect on those opportunities when we get them downfield."

The Badger defense however, was unable to stop the Senators' top rushing seniors Mekel Kentle and Tyler Jones. Kentle had 16 touches for 205 yards and two touchdowns while Jones had 114 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown.

"Really, we were in position to make some plays," Eldridge said. "We did not tackle very well defensively. They're good runners. ... We just didn't finish."

The Senators tallied 533 total offensive yards on the night, led by the two senior rushers while Arkadelphia garnered just 239 yards.

Junior Jayson Campbell led the Badgers' defensive corps with eight tackles, while classmates Cole Turner and Kyren Harrison added seven each of the team's 49 tackles.

Senior Zach Williams led Robinson with nine tackles while classmate Seth Watson added eight of the Senators' 57 tackles.

Robinson will travel to Nashville (5-0, 2-0) Friday night, while Arkadelphia will visit Fountain Lake (2-3, 0-2) for the Cobras' homecoming game.

Sports on 10/01/2018

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