Friday night lights at Garland County football stadiums were extinguished in Week 11 this year, although a Thanksgiving Friday home game is possible for one school.
Lake Hamilton is the only one of five county qualifiers to survive the first round of the playoffs, beating Sylvan Hills 14-7 on Bank OZK Field at Wolf Stadium. Sophomore Owen Miller ran for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, his 18-yard run in the third quarter breaking a 7-7 tie after going 46 yards for a 7-0 lead with 9:27 left in the first quarter.
Snapping a two-game losing streak, Lake Hamilton (9-2) advanced to the Class 6A quarterfinals for the first time since 2013. The Wolves go to West Memphis for a quarterfinal game Friday night, the Blue Devils (6-4) receiving a first-round bye as No. 2 seed from the 6A East.
Seeded third in 6A West, Lake Hamilton returns home for the semifinals Nov. 29 with a victory and if Jonesboro, East No. 4 seed, wins at 6A West champion Benton.
Otherwise, it's on to basketball for four county schools that suffered first-round losses and two, Hot Springs and Fountain Lake, that missed the playoffs. Some football-playing schools in the county opened basketball seasons last week, others to follow shortly.
White Hall stunned Lakeside 35-0 at Chick Austin Field, Pine Bluff Dollarway downed Jessieville 42-19 on Don Phillips Field at Lion Stadium and Earle scored late to beat Mountain Pine 16-14 at Stanley May Field. Cutter Morning Star, the only county team to travel Friday night, lost 25-12 at McCrory.
Lake Hamilton is alive for the first state football championship by a Garland County school since Fountain Lake in 2009. Current Wolf coach and school alum Tommy Gilleran led Fountain Lake to back-to-back final appearances in 2008 and 2009. Lake Hamilton won its second state title in 2008, under former coach Jerry Clay, and reached the championship round in 2011, losing to El Dorado in a rematch of the 2008 final.
- White Hall dominated the line of scrimmage and won with surprising ease over 5A-South champion Lakeside.
Donte Buckner rushed for 176 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries for the Bulldogs (6-4), seeded No. 4 from 5A-Central. Buckner scored second-half touchdowns on drives of 67 and 74 yards that took more than 10 minutes off the clock.
Matthew Martinez scored from two yards out and TK Walker returned an interception 75 yards for another score.
White Hall held Lakeside junior quarterback Will Ross to 10-of-21 passing for 74 yards. The Rams had won six straight since a Week 4 conference-opening loss at home to Camden Fairview.
- A 300-pound quarterback is rare in football, but Earle has one and is alive in the Class 2A playoffs after winning a thriller at Mountain Pine.
Senior Jaylon Coopwood scored from one yard out and found LeAndrew Milow for a two-point conversion and a 16-14 Earle lead. Coopwood scored after Jayden Matthews' 35-yard fumble return to the Mountain Pine 20 with 1:38 left.
Senior Collin Smith ran for both Mountain Pine touchdowns, giving him 33 this season and capping a career that made him Offensive Player of the Year on The Sentinel-Record all-county team in 2018. The Red Devils, seeded second from 2A-5, finished 6-5 after an 0-3 start.
- McCrory swamped Cutter Morning Star with three first-half touchdowns and rolled to victory in Woodruff County. It was 19-0 at halftime, senior Colby Lane running for a touchdown after the Jaguars scored twice through the air.
Cutter Morning Star returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown to make it 19-6. Each team scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
CMS finished 6-5, its first winning season since 2013. The Eagles are 0-4 in postseason games, qualifying this year as fifth seed from 2A-5.
McCrory goes on the road this week against conference champion Magnet Cove, which downed Clarendon 36-8 Friday night.
- Two years removed from a winless season, Pine Bluff Dollarway scored early and stormed past Jessieville on the road.
The Cardinals improved to 6-5 with a quarterfinal road game ahead against 3A-5 champion Prescott. Dollarway (6-5), with five state titles in school history, equaled its most victories in a season since 2015. The Cardinals, seeded third, joined 3A-6 rivals Rison and McGehee in the second round.
Jessieville, seeded third from 3A-4 behind first-round winners Glen Rose and Atkins, finished 8-3.
- Two-time defending 4A champion Arkadelphia crushed visiting Pottsville 55-15, setting up a second-round home against DeWitt. Third seed Arkadelphia joined Robinson and Nashville as 10-1 teams from 4A-7, none of the three schools losing outside the conference and with the Robinson Senators, last year's state runner-up, seeded first.
In Class 3A games involving area teams, Glen Rose crushed Walnut Ridge 61-32 at home and Melbourne won 44-7 at Centerpoint.
Sports on 11/17/2019