The first home game of the season for Dollarway wasn’t nearly the cakewalk it was at Helena-West Helena Central.
But if anything looked easy, it was Jeremiah Young’s rushing.
Young had five carries of 20 yards or more and finished with 199 yards on 10 carries Friday in a 32-15 victory over Little Rock Parkview at Cardinal Stadium. His longest run was 53 yards to the Parkview 11 in the third quarter.
“I just ran hard every time I got the ball, did my best,” Young said.
As a team, Dollarway finished with 332 yards rushing, 59 yards more than Parkview’s total offense.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We worked hard,” Dollarway coach Cortez Lee said. “We still have some things to shore up on the offense and offensive line. We’re kind of young, but it’s a testament to our coaching staff and our players.”
Dollarway led 10-7 at halftime, and Young helped open up the lead. He ran 41 yards for a touchdown on a third-and-2 four plays into the second half. That was the first of his three touchdown runs on the night.
“We just had to get our rhythm down and get to know the other team’s weaknesses and strengths,” Young said. “Then we had to dominate the second half.”
The Cardinals (2-0) stuffed the Patriots (1-1) on their next two drives and went up 24-7 early in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard sprint by Young. Parkview pulled within 24-15 on its next drive, capped by three straight completions for 56 yards by quarterback Caelon Harden.
On Dollarway’s next play from scrimmage, Young broke a 32-yard run to the Parkview 45. That march ended with a fumble at the Parkview 28, but the Cardinals got the ball back on downs and Keyshawn Williams cashed in on the next play with a 33-yard TD run.
Dollarway’s offensive line created big holes in the first half, but both teams struggled to find their rhythm early on.
Dollarway stuffed Parkview deep in its own territory on the Patriots’ first three possessions, scoring first on a safety after blocking a punt out of the back of the end zone. But the Cardinals couldn’t take advantage of good field position on their first two offensive drives.
“We were executing well on defense, and our offense looked well to a point,” Lee said. “We just couldn’t capitalize when we needed to capitalize. We banged it out and kept going, and we persevered.”
Joshua Liddell gave the Cardinals a boost to start the second quarter with a 45-yard sprint to the Parkview 20. Three plays later, Tracy Smith recovered a Xavier Long fumble and advanced it 10 yards for a touchdown, and Toi Robey recovered a Liddell fumble in the end zone for the two-point conversion and a 10-0 lead.
The Patriots struck back on their next possession, going 68 yards on five plays. Harden ran 39 yards to the Cardinals’ 24, and Rashaad Earls followed with an 18-yard dash. That led to Harden scoring on a 3-yard keeper to pull the Patriots within 10-7.
Dollarway then gave possession right back to Parkview after touching the ball before it went 10 yards on the ensuing kickoff. After a defensive stop, Dollarway mishandled a punt and lost the ball to Parkview, giving the Patriots possession for the next 7 minutes.
But Parkview could not capitalize.
“We could have capitalized on a lot of different things, but good teams make you do that,” Parkview coach William Hardiman said.
Young took a few snaps at quarterback in relief of Long. The two combined for 39 yards on 5-of-10 passing.
Harden completed 11 of 20 passes for 120 yards. Earls had 75 yards on 19 carries with a long of 40 yards.