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Offense was the name of the game Friday night when the Arkadelphia Badgers traveled to Little Rock to face the Joe T. Robinson Senators, but unfortunately for the Badgers it was the Senator offense that had the upper hand.

In a game that saw over 1,100 yards of offense between the two teams, the early difference was Robinson capitalizing on two Arkadelphia turnovers early in the game to build a big first-half lead. The Senators went on to defeat Arkadelphia 56-38 in 4A-7 conference play at Charlie George Stadium in Little Rock.

With the win, Robinson moves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in 4A-7 conference play. Arkadelphia drops to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

The Senators jumped out quickly after an interception on Arkadelphia’s first offensive possession set up a one-play scoring drive as G’Kyson Wright took a pitch from quarterback Jack Cleveland for a 45-yard touchdown, giving Robinson a 7-0 lead.

Arkadelphia responded nicely with senior running back Jaishon Davis scoring the first of his five touchdowns on the night on the ensuing Badger possession, a possession in which the Badgers were aided by third- and fourth-down conversions, extending the drive.

The teams would continue to put points on the board in the first quarter. Robinson took advantage of two more Arkadelphia turnovers and stretched the lead to 42-20 in the second quarter. The Badger defense did come up with a goal line stand in the final minute of the second quarter, but with Robinson receiving the kickoff of the second half, the Senators continued their solid offensive performance, stretching the lead to 56-20 with two scores in the third quarter, the second of which came after another Badger turnover.

Facing the big deficit, the Badgers continued to try to cut into the Senator lead and put scoring drives together to make the score 56-38 with the chance of making the game a two-possession game. With the clock running, however, the Badgers could not cut into the deficit enough.

The teams combined for over 1,100 yards of offense on the night with Robinson accounting for just over 600 of those yards and Arkadelphia totaling 453 yards on the night.

For Arkadelphia, Davis led the way offensively with 17 rushes for 61 yards and two touchdowns to go with his eight receptions for 142 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior receiver Alex Loy caught five passes for 132 yards and one touchdown. One of Loy’s passes was a long completion from quarterback Donovan Whitten, setting up a one-yard plunge from Davis.

Whitten was 17 of 28 passing for 318 yards and four touchdowns to go with two interceptions. Whitten was also credited with one fumble after a Senator hit the quarterback as he was going down, causing a fumble with a big hit just before Whitten’s knee hit the ground. Whitten also rushed six times for 46 yards.

Arkadelphia returns home to AllCare Field at Badger Stadium next Friday night, October 9, for the 2021 Homecoming game vs. Fountain Lake. The Cobras are coming off of a big 54-21 win at Nashville Friday night spoiling the Scrappers’ Homecoming and come into the game with a 1-1 conference record just like the Badgers. Kickoff is set for 7:00 with AHS Homecoming Queen coronation taking place during the pregame festivities.

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