Blue Devils outlast Blytheville

By Billy Woods

WM School District

BLYTHEVILLE --- Devonte Dean had heard enough all week about Blytheville speedster Demekko Clark.

The stockily built 5-foot-10, 205-pound Dean was supposed to be Act II in a one-act play coming into last Friday night's game at Haley Field. Clark, who has a few D-1 college coaches inquiring, already had quite a resume against Dean's West Memphis Blue Devils.

In last season's win over West Memphis, Clark broke two big plays for touchdowns with his break-away after-burners.

Dean felt slighted.

All Dean did, however, was rush for a game-high 113 yards with two touchdowns to lead West Memphis to a 35-25 victory over Clark's Chicks.

"It was on my mind the whole game," said Dean. "I was determined to be the best running back on the field tonight."

Meanwhile, Clark, whose longest runs from scrimmage went for 24 and 13 yards, the latter of which came on a fake punt, was generally smothered by a swarming group of Blue Devil defenders.

Clark finished the night with only 77 yards, only 20 of which came in the second half. He was kept out of the end zone as well.

"I think he got tired," Blue Devil head coach Billy Elmore said of Clark. "It was a hot, muggy night. He's a great back. Any time you can hold a back like him under 100 yards you've done a heckuva job."

All that aside, the game itself had some dramatic moments draped all over it.

The Blue Devils (2-0 for the first time in Elmore's tenure) led the entire evening, but the Chicks (1-1) wouldn't go away.

AWM's first possession went for a touchdown despite the offense's repeated attempts at throwing on the Chicks. Quarterback Amaurius Stinnet's first five throws either went awry or they were dropped. But his sixth toss went 27 yards to Joshua Hinton for a touchdown.

"We felt like we could throw all night on (Blytheville)," Elmore added. "We just couldn't get it going."

The visitors held a 14-13 halftime lead with the other TD belonging to senior Rayshaad Hall, who returned a kickoff 88 yards after the Chicks nearly tied the score.

In fact, the Chicks' demise actually comes down to their failure to convert PATs and two-pointers. They missed three out of four on the night.

And it really came into focus late in the fourth quarter.

The Blue Devils got touchdowns from Stinnett and Martavious Thomas, who added 50 yards on the ground, to take a 28-13 lead with only 8:56 to play in the fourth quarter.

But two lightning-quick TDs by Blytheville, minus the PATs, cut that deficit to a precarious 28-25 with 6:07 still to play.

That's when the Blue Devils dug deep and pieced together the most impressive stretch of offense this season.

Blytheville's onside kick was fielded cleanly by West Memphis' Joseph Eulls at the Blue Devil 49.

It took 10 plays and nearly five minutes off the clock when Dean scored his second TD of the night from inside the 1.

It wiped away any hope Blytheville had left.

"I told the kids at the half it would come down to whoever would survive the second half," said Elmore. "We feel like our kids are in good condition, and it proved to be true tonight. Those final few minutes tested our character."

The Blue Devil offensive line manhandled Blytheville's defensive front all night, and it was especially evident on that final drive when the offensive calls were conservative and up the middle.