JESSIEVILLE -- Just 40 miles of Ouachita Mountains separate Jessieville and Bismarck, and both groups of Lions were hungry for a victory in the rivalry and conference-opening game.
It seemed like Bismarck (2-2, 1-0 3A-4) was always in Jessieville (1-3, 0-1 3A-4) territory Friday and dominated the line of scrimmage in its 49-14 win. Both quarterbacks for Bismarck had multiple touchdowns.
"We started a little bit slow and sluggish but hand it to Jessieville, they exposed some weaknesses in our defense and caught us slipping a few times and they took advantage," Bismarck head coach D.J. Keithley said.
There was a recent car crash that left four Jessieville football players injured and one is still in critical condition. They were honored on the field Friday.
"The wreck has brought us closer together," Jessieville head coach T.J. Burk said. "It is no secret we are hurting. We have kids, coaches and the community is hurting. We lost some guys that are big players on the team but it has brought us together and I am super proud of the kids and the scoreboard does not tell the whole story."
Bismarck quarterback Ian Smith ran in for a touchdown from the 7-yard line with 7:33 to go in the first quarter making the score 7 -0 in favor of Bismarck.
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Jessieville quarterback Hunter Thomas ended the night with 160 yards passing, two interceptions, 34 rushing yards and two total touchdowns.
"I thought we played hard," Burk said. "Just some plays did not go our way and they played better than we did and they made more plays to come out on top."
Smith ended his night early in the third quarter with 77 yards passing, 17 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.
"Our starting quarterback had rolled his ankle," Keithley said. "Once we felt like we had a good victory, we are not going to risk it so we went ahead and went with the second guy."
With three seconds to go in the first quarter , Thomas bounced a run for 18 yards and then called his own number again when he ran in for the 1-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, giving Bismarck a 7-6 Lead.
The ensuing kickoff would be run back 80 yards for a touchdown by Bismarck's Dalton Daniels with no time left on the clock in the first quarter for a 14-6 advantage.
Bismarck's Kalem Rorie had 40 yards on the ground, 30 yards receiving and two touchdowns for the Lions.
"Obviously when you lose yardage and get behind the chains it is tough," Burk said. "We have some guys playing in positions they have not had to play in before. We asked them to step up and in the first half we did that."
Bismarck's defense accounted for five sacks, two interceptions, a blocked punt by Dylan Hunt and a fumble recovery.
"Anytime you can get a sack that's momentum," Keithley said. "It is a loss of down and negative yardage. It is big time."
Jessieville answered back with an 80-yard touchdown of its own in the form of a pass to Brentenn Johnson from Thomas with 10:53 to go in the second quarter. Tony Soileau took in the two-point conversion, making the score 14-14.
Johnson racked up 110 yards and a touchdown.
"We must find ways to keep the momentum going and make a few more plays here and there and who knows what happens," Burk said.
Branton Wade made a monster tackle on a fourth-and-one to force Bismarck to turn the ball over with 3:59 left to go in the first half at the 45-yard line of Jessieville.
"Those overhanging backers for Jessieville made us work for it," Keithley said.
Bismarck running back Johnny Diaz hammered for 96 yards and a touchdown.
With 21 seconds left to go in the first half, Rorie scored on a halfback draw for a 28-14 Bismarck edge.
Jessieville started the second half with an onside kick and recovered. Kingston Marrow got the deflected ball.
"We must watch some film, fix some small mistakes, technique stuff, a few assignments got busted but that happens every week," Burk said. "We will evaluate film and go from there."
Diaz took it in for the 5-yard score after a monster 44-yard gain with 6:22 left to go in the third quarter. Bismarck led 35-14.
Keithley highlighted his quarterbacks and said they could both be starters.
Midway through the third quarter, Ben Keithley came in at quarterback for Bismarck and hit a 35-yard strike to Dalton Daniels deep into Jessieville territory.
After a couple costly penalties, Keithley struck on another 30-yard bomb to Rorie for a Bismarck touchdown and a 42-14 lead.
Bismarck had eight penalties for 95 yards
"Some of that is on us on a couple of pull back blocks," D.J. Keithley said. "There were a couple of them I thought we didn't have, but we do not call the game they do."
Ben Keithley took a snap at the 10-yard line and threw it to Gavin Urban in the end zone to set the final score with 7:24 left in the game.
Keithley was all over the field for Bismarck, racking up four tackles, an interception, 25 yards receiving, 12 yards rushing, 40 yards passing and two touchdowns.
"He needed that work," D.J. Keithley said. "He showed us he could come out here and he could move the ball and some of that was to just get some work with the ones."
On the final drive of the game, Jessieville drove to the Bismarck 10-yard line and a fumbled snap recovered by Bismarck's Blayden Whitley ran out the clock and sealed the game.
"Our kids played until the final whistle and I am proud of that," Burk said.