Quick strikes spark Alma JH to 48-0 rout of Prairie Grove
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
This one was over before it started.
Alma scored on the first play of the game and rolled to a 48-0 win over Prairie Grove Thursday night in junior high football action.
Six different Airedales scored during the game, including Dylan Jackson and Quinton Broadway, who each scored twice. Jackson ran for a TD and raced 61 yards with a punt return for another TD.
Quinton Broadway ran for 64 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Quarterback Chase Parker hit Hudson Loughridge with a 30-yard TD pass.
Parker was 3-for-3 for 46 yards through the air.
Izaac Plourde returned from an injury and added 30 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
Andrew Bush added a rushing touchdown to go along with six tackles on defense, including a TFL.
Boaz Benson led the team with seven tackles, including two TFLs. Tristan Nutt finished with four tackles and a TFL.
Alma 8, Prairie Grove 0
The Alma Airedales’ eighth-grade football team defeated Prairie Grove, 8-0.
Quinton Broadway ran for a team-high 115 yards on 14 carries, and Peyton Broadway added 24 yards and a touchdown for the winners. Peyton Broadway also scored the two-point conversion run.
Defensively, Brennan Gwinn led the way with eight tackles, including six solo stops. Blake Blackburn finished with six tackles, including a TFL.
Also, Cole Newton had five stops, and a TFL, and Trevan Moore finished with six tackles.
Airedales 36 Prairie Grove 0
Alma seventh-grade quarterback Titus Benson ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns to pace the Airedales to a 36-0 win over Prairie Grove. Benson also threw a 59-yard TD pass to Nate Risley.
Defensively, Benson had eight tackles, and Konnor Gryner added five. Defensive tackle Wisley Parks had two solo tackles and a quarterback sack.
Trevor Hoover added 105 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.
Football, Part II
It’s been an amazing season for sophomore receiver Samuel Schlegel. With eight more receptions in last week’s loss to Harrison, Schlegel continues to climb in the record books. He’s now at 41 receptions for the season for 649 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Schlegel needs just two more catches to pass Malachi White (42 receptions in 2012) and four more to nudge past Grayson Bailey (44 receptions in 2018).
“JD (Jackson Daily) gives me good balls and all I have to do is go get them,” Schlegel said. “That’s my job as a wide receiver. I’m going to do my job and give my best effort.”
Brayden Johnson holds the single-season record for receptions with 85. Johnson caught 54 during his sophomore season (2015). He holds the school record for receptions with 220.
Volleyball
The Alma Lady Airedales’ junior high team finished off the regular season with a 20-3 overall record and a perfect run in conference play following this week’s win over Greenwood.
Now all that’s left is to make a run at the conference tournament championship.
The Lady Airedales got balanced scoring from the usual suspects, with Emberly Kimes and Jaeda Cahoon finishing with five and four kills, respectively. Kimes added a solo block and Cahoon had four digs.
Jaslyn Boone finished with five kills, eight digs, three aces, and three assists. Bailee Oliver led Alma with 16 digs. She had two assists, an ace, and averaged 2.00 in serve-receiver in nine attempts. Anna Swarnes was even better, averaging 1.80 in serve-receive on 10 attempts. She had 11 digs, two aces, one kill, and one assist.
Isabella Peters had 12 digs, two kills, a pair of aces, and three assists. She also averaged 1.75 in eight serve-receive attempts. Matilyn Dunn had 10 assists, five digs, one kill, and one ace.
Also for Alma, Julia McAlister had two kills and one dig, and Morris added one kill.
Basketball
First-year Alma girls basketball coach Chanlee Bottoms is eager to get her head coaching career started where her playing career ended.
Bottoms was named head coach last spring.
“Our coaching staff and players are extremely excited to get things rolling,” she said. “Coach (Garrett) King and Coach (Alli) Arnold have a ‘countdown’ until our first game. I’m not sure who is more excited to play, the coaching staff or our players but we are definitely ready to play someone other than ourselves.”
Bottoms says the team has kept it fun with a series of ‘competitive’ practices.
“Every Tuesday we have 3 vs 3 games, and every Thursday we have live scrimmages,” she said.
Cross Country
The Alma Lady Airedales and Airedales competed at the Van Buren Classic Cross Country meet last week.
Nevaeh Kangas was 17th overall with a PR time of 21:07.52. Aleeze Williams placed 51st overall with a time of 26:54.12.
Alma’s Marcelino Rodriguez placed 60th overall with a time of 21:34.45.
This Week In Airedale History
On Oct. 20, 1969, Alma quarterback Steve Martin ran for one touchdown and threw a short TD pass to Randy Bradley to help fuel the Airedales to a 34-8 rout of the Gravette Lions.
Henry Parker and Marvin Daily scored touchdowns as Alma rolled up 398 yards of offense. Daily, grandfather of current Alma Airedales Jackson and Easton Daily set a school record for yards rushing in a season with 1,306 in 1970. The mark would hold up until 2002 when Dallas Smith ran for 1,457 yards.