The Batesville Blues

The Batesville Blues

Class 5A power whips West Memphis

WM School District Billy Elmore isn't one to sugar coat his comments when he's displeased with his team's execution.

And that was certainly the case on Tuesday night even in competition that didn't count. Class 5A Batesville, a possible contender for its state championship, ran smoother and executed more crisply than the West Memphis Blue Devils, winning an entire half of football with firstteamers on the field, 14-3.

'We looked awful,' Elmore, the third-year Blue Devil head coach said without hesitation. 'I think we had 60 or 70 yards worth of holding penalties, our offensive linemen weren't moving their feet well and our secondary didn't play well.'

One silver lining: The Blue Devils still have nine days to correct the mistakes in execution before opening the regular season at home against Forrest City on Sept. 2.

The night began with junior varsity squads competing for 10-play sequences, followed by the same procedure for second-teamers and starters. That opened up play for two 12-minute periods involving both teams' starters.

It didn't take long for the Blue Devil secondary to get exposed by Batesville returning starting QB Drew Griffin, who hit speedy receiver Trey Ford with a 53-yard touchdown pass on the second play from scrimmage.

'We've definitely go some stuff to work on,' Elmore added. 'It wasn't a game, but still you want to approach with a little better mentality.

After a Blue Devil 29yard field goal, Griffin went back to work on the Blue Devil secondary.

He drew a costly pass interference call that set up the Pioneers at the West Memphis 28. It led to a 12yard TD from Kylan Robinson.

The highlight of the night for West Memphis was the play from its second-teamers, which dominated both sides of the ball against Batesville.

Junior running back Guren Holmes was the best back on the field Tuesday night. His first three carries went for 12, 16 and 18 yards after hitting the holes quick and hard.

'Second team executed well,' said Elmore.

'Holmes looked really good and I thought the second- team O-line looked good, too. It was a good night for our second group, but unfortunately it was not a good night for our first group.'

Junior back-up quarterback Michael Troxler also provided some excitement when he was flushed out of the pocket. He reversed his field almost the entire width of the field and gained 24 yards.

Starter Amaurius Stinnet, still looking a little rusty after missing most of last year with a knee injury, also had an electric moment when he was also flushed out of the pocket.

He made three ankletwisting moves on the Batesville defense for a 29-yard gain.

Something for the local fans to remember: The Blue Devil defense didn't have the luxury of scouting the Pioneer offense, and Griffin's right arm took advantage.

Batesville head coach Dave King was overheard on the sideline saying 'if we had to play (West Memphis) in a real game we'd have to throw it 40 times. They're selling out totally on the run.'

By Billy Woods