Once again, Mother Nature was in attendance Friday, but she couldn't put a damper on Texarkana's reign on homecoming night.
Under wet conditions the entire game, the Razorbacks (7-1, 5-0 5A-South) 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 (1-7, 1-4) Friday night at Razorback Stadium to remain unbeaten in conference play.
Texarkana, which is tied for No. 3 in the latest Arkansas Sports Media High School Football 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," said Texarkana head coach Barry Norton. "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 one, four and six 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 ball game for us."
Hot Springs finished with 226 yards of total offense, with Thomas and running back Damien Walker accounting for for most of the yards. 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.
Texarkana had 281 yards of total offense, with 264 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 just five carries. Fellow backs Torie Blair and Keandraie Woods combined for another 42 yards.
Texarkana 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 were 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."
Texarkana did not 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 for an early 7-0 lead.
On their next series after the defense forced a Hot Springs three-and-out, the Razorbacks again did not need many plays to find the end zone. 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.
Mask finished with a game-high 63 yards receiving for the Razorbacks. 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 Texarkana 1-yard line stymied its momentum. On a third-and-seven play, running back Walker found a gap on the right side and took it 38 yards before turning it over at the goal line.
Texarkana 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."
Hot Springs will host Camden Fairview (5-3, 4-1) on Friday before closing out the season on Nov. 2 at Lakeside (4-4, 3-2).
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q -- Final
Hot Springs 0 0 6 14 -- 20
Texarkana 21 16 0 0 -- 37
First Quarter
T-Cameron Collier 55 run (Patrick Cook kick), 11:35
T-DeJordan Mask 43 pass from Sean Foreback (Cook kick), 10:02
T-Drake Browning 36 pass from Foreback (Cook kick), 5:20
Second Quarter
T-Jaylon Bead 26 fumble return (Cook kick), 8:05
T-Safety, 6:36
T-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
HS T
First Downs 9 11
Yards Rushing 31-107 24-182
Yards Passing 119 99
Comp-att 8-19 4-8
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.
Sports on 10/21/2018