They trailed briefly in the third quarter, but the Nashville Junior Scrappers came back and ran their winning streak to 54 games with a 44-22 victory over Mena Oct. 20 at Scrapper Stadium.
Carmillias Morrison opened the scoring for Nashville on a 6-yard run with 5:04 left in the first quarter. Jhonny Pioquinto kicked the PAT for a 7-0 Scrapper Lead.
Less than a minute later, Corbin Cooper recovered a Bearcat fumble and returned it 54 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was no good.
Mena scored on a 22-yard run with 50 seconds left in the first period and made the 2-point conversion, cutting Nashville’s lead to 13-8.
In the second quarter, the Bearcats scored on a 7-yard run to take a 14-13 lead.
Nashville came back on a 45-yard TD run by quarterback Lance Easter. He also ran the ball for a successful 2-point conversion and a 21-14 lead at halftime.
Mena reclaimed the lead on a 1-yard run with 3:08 to go in the third period. The 2-point conversion put the Bearcats up 22-21.
That marked the last time for Mena to be on top.
Easter scored on a 30-yard run with 1:04 left in the third. Morrison added TD runs of 16 and 26 yards in the final quarter to secure the 44-22 victory.
For the game, Easter completed 2 of 4 passes for 37 yards. He ran the ball 16 times for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Morrison had 11 carries for 115 yards and 3 TDs. Jefferson picked up 10 yards on 3 carries.
Erwin had 1 pass reception for 27 yards. Lott made the other catch for 10 yards.
The Scrappers had 37 yards passing and 291 rushing for 328 yards total offense.
They held the Bearcats to 233 total yards.
The win marked the final home game for the Scrappers. They will travel to Malvern Oct. 27 and Arkadelphia Nov. 3 to close the season.
Eighth grade
Ty Gordon passed for 1 touchdown and ran the ball for 2 more as the eighth grade Scrappers defeated Mena 21-6.
Gordon threw a 23-yard scoring pass to Austin Hanson with 4:42 left in the second quarter. Pioquinto’s PAT put Nashville ahead 7-0.
Mena scored on an 18-yard pass with 19 seconds left until halftime. The 2-point conversion failed, and the Scrappers led 7-6 at intermission.
Gordon scored on runs of 50 and 11 yards in the third quarter. He also passed to Hanson for a 2-point conversion.
Gordon completed 2 of 4 passes for 33 yards and a TD. Stewart completed 1 of 2 passes for 17 yards and an interception.
Hanson was the leading receiver with 2 catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Beene had 1 catch for 17 yards.
Gordon ran the ball 5 times for 71 yards and 2 TDs. Garland had 3 carries for 29 yards. Stewart ran 4 times for 2 yards.
The eighth graders compiled 152 yards total offense while holding Mena to 97 yards.
