STUTTGART — The Stuttgart Ricebirds opened the first and second halves with quick touchdowns on both offense and defense Friday night and cruised to a 49-13 nonconference victory over the winless Dumas Bobcats in a game shortened by the Arkansas Activities Association sportsmanship rule.
Stuttgart (3-0) took a 6-0 lead on a 66-yard return by Dre’lon Ice of a Matthew Miller pass just 1:01 into the game, with Jackson Kennedy kicking the PAT to make it 7-0.
Jake Dillingham recovered a fumble at the 18 on the next Dumas play and the Ricebirds went up 14-0 with 9:19 on the clock following a 4-yard scoring run by Delondre Clinton and Jackson’s PAT.
Dumas (0-3) responded with a 67-yard, 16-play drive. Miller went 5-of-6 passing on the drive with Paul Steward scoring from the 1 with 48 seconds left in the first quarter. Jairo Ramirez kicked the point after to close the gap to 14-7.
The Ricebirds answered with a 67-yard drive of their own capped by a 10-yard run by Clinton with 9:33 left in the half. The two-point try was good for a 22-7 Stuttgart lead, which went to 28-7 on an 18-yard touchdown run by Tyler Luster with 5:19 left after a short Dumas punt set up the hosts at the Bobcat 40. The PAT kick attempt was fumbled.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Dumas reached the Stuttgart 16 on a 64-yard pass from Miller to Derreon Jenkins inside the final minute of the second period, but gave over the ball on downs as time expired.
The second half began almost like the first, except the Ricebirds scored right out of the box on offense on a 49-yard run by quarterback Dontrell Brown – once again with just 1:01 off the clock – then scored again on defense following a 21-yard interception return by Waymon Johnson with 10:01 remaining in the third period.
Jackson kicked both PATs for a 49-7 lead and the clock ran unimpeded the rest of the way.
The Bobcats closed out the scoring on a 15-yard run by Steward with 2:38 left in the game. The two-point try failed, leaving it 49-13.
Dumas opens 8-4A Conference play next week at Lake Village Lakeside, while Stuttgart begins 2-4A play at home against Batesville Southside.