75¢
Santa comes to DVB. (See p. 12.)
Volume 119 Number 49 - USPS 225-680
Serving all of Prairie County and the Grand Prairie
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Community Events Calendar Thursday December 17 Hazen City Council Meeting 6:00 p.m. Community Center USDA Food Distribution Hazen Methodist Church Drive-through 10:00 a.m.-noon Friday December 18 Come & Go retirement party for Jodi Hall Prairie County Annex Building 11:00 a.m.2:00 a.m. Monday December 21 First Day of Winter Tuesday December 22 Prairie County court houses will close at Noon on December 22nd and remain closed until December 28 at 8:00 a.m. For the Christmas Holidays Thursday December 24 Christmas Eve Services at the Hazen First United Methodist Church 1:00 p.m. and also 5:30 p.m. Everyone is Invited Christmas Even Service at the First Unted Methodist Church in DeValls Bluff 4:00 p.m. Everyone is Welcome
The Des Arc Eagles are pictured with the Class 2A state runner-up trophy after falling to the Fordyce Redbugs 35-32 in the state title game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock on Saturday. (Mark Buffalo photo)
Eagles come up short in hard fought 2A state title game By Mark Buf falo Spor ts Editor The Des Arc Eagles ran out of time. Fordyce held off a late Des Arc rally to beat the Eagles 35-32 to win the Class 2A state championship for the second year in a row Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. “I can’t be prouder of the way our guys fought tonight,” Des Arc coach B.J. Paschal said. “We played a really good Fordyce team tonight. They outmatched us everywhere on the field. I’m so proud of those guys. “The worst part of the end of the football season is saying bye to those seniors. That’s where I am right now. This has been a great year.” Des Arc (13-1) never led and trailed 35-20 with 10:28 left in the game after Fordyce’s
JaQuez Cross scored on an 18-yard run. The Eagles scored a touchdown on its next possession, driving 71 yards in 11 plays with Jack Kearby scoring on a 2-yard run with 6:27 left in the game. The Eagles were stuffed on the twopoint conversion, leaving Fordyce ahead by two scores. Des Arc forced the Redbugs to turn the ball over on downs at its 10-yard line with 2:21 left. The Eagles scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Luke Morton to Brayden Pickrell with 13 seconds left. The two-point conversion, for the fourth time in five tries, failed, leaving the score at 35-32. Des Arc kicker Jarrett Hambrick’s onside kick attempt was recovered by Fordyce’s Weston Gambill to preserve the victory for the Redbugs.
“I’m very proud of the way they fought in the second half,” Paschal said of his team. “I’m so proud of them. That’s all I can say.” Cross, who was named the game’s most valuable player, led all rushers with 228 yards on 17 carries. He scored on runs of 41, 55 and 18 yards. Gary Lewis added 108 yards on 11 carries. He scored on runs of 43 and 30 yards. “Their backfield is amazing,” Paschal said of Fordyce. “Their offensive linemen are huge. They were twice our size. They scored 35 points on us. Nobody has scored that much on us all year. It was tough. They are good.” Des Arc and Fordyce each scored five touchdowns, but the Eagles only converted one two-point conversion. “That’s the difference in the game,” Paschal
said. “They stopped us down on the goal line.” Eyan Holloway led Des Arc with 102 yards rushing on 16 carries. He scored on a runs of 7 and 3 yards. Kearby had 77 yards on 22 carries. Trevinos Reed had 75 yards on 11 carries. He also scored on a 20-yard run in the first quarter. Morton had his best passing game of the season. He completed 6 of 11 for 102 yards. He also rushed for 64 yards on 11 carries. “I think that is probably the toughest kid playing quarterback that I have ever seen,” Paschal said of Morton, who suffered a dislocated left elbow in the Eagles’ win
over Bigelow in the state quarterfinals. “He went to the doctor, and they said if he could take the pain, he could play. He has done it. I couldn’t have done it. I can’t speak more highly of him. I think colleges should be offering him. There is no doubt in my mind. He’s a playmaker. I say he’s a coach on the field all the time.” Des Arc’s Jacob Dodson caught 3 passes for 44 yards. Also catching passes were Holloway and Reed. Kearby, Cooper Childers and Chance Eldridge led Des Arc with five tackles each. Reed and Hambrick had four tackles each. Dodson also had an interception.
DeValls Bluff begins process for new water plant and tower By Lisa Mills At the December 10th city council meeting, Mayor Brooks Castleberry reported that the engineer hired to oversee the new water plant project has almost finished the necessary paperwork to begin the project. Attending the meeting were Mayor Brooks C a s t l e b e r r y , Treasurer/Recorder Darlene Connor and council members Marie Flanagan, Carol Griffin, Alice Metcalf, Richard Henry, Raymond
Watson and Shirley Goff. The council approved the purchase of a new backhoe. The backhoe will be purchased from Prairie Implement in Stuttgart for approximately $90,000 to be paid from the water, gas and street funds. Sheriff Rick Hickman reported 162 patrols and 7 calls for November. The calls included 4 first responder calls, 2 disturbances and 1 traffic complaint. Howard Carrell addressed the council concerning his Main
Street property. He stated that he, Mayor Castleberry contractors Andy Peeks and Eric Rollins met at the property to determine what needed done and when work could begin. A plan of action was set in place to begin cleaning debris and shoring up the structure the second week of January. Carrell asked the council to extend his eviction notice and let him move forward with the restoration plans. Council members Alice Metcalf and Shirley Goff stated they would like to continue to give Carrell a chance to move forward. No action was taken a motion approved to table the matter until the January meeting.
Burlsworth award player... Des Arc lineman/kicker Garrett Hambrick was selected as the Brandon Burlsworth Award recipient for the Eagles during the Class 2A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday in Little Rock.
Community events brought to you by Hazen Chamber of Commerce and the
Please call F&M Bank (255-3042) or The Grand Prairie Herald (255-4538) to list events.
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