ARP WINS AGAIN | Cardinals, minus injured Sparks, put up a fight, but Arp leaves with a ‘W’

LIBERTY CITY – It was a bittersweet night for the Sabine High School football program, as Sabine crowned Keelie Roper as homecoming queen here at James Bamberg Stadium on Friday, but had to take the field without quarterback Colt Sparks, injured in last week’s game at New Diana.

The visiting Arp Tigers then put a further damper on the homecoming night with a 46-20 Tigers win.

Sabine (2-2) visits Tatum to take on coach Whitney Keeling’s 3-1 Eagles, who defeated West Rusk, 54-21, in Tatum on Friday night. Arp (3-1), whose only loss was by one point in overtime at Garrison, will host Troup (2-2), winners of back-to-back games after starting the season 0-2.

Friday night, the new-look Sabine offense didn’t fair well on their first drive. Freshman quarterback Griffin DeHoyos – the grandson of longtime East Texas coaching legend Andy Griffin, of Troup and White Oak fame – completed his first pass to big number 77, Odonteis Green, after it bounced off the receiver. Unfortunately, they were forced to punt the ball away.

Arp began their drive deep in their territory at the 17. Josh Smith got the drive going with a 17-yard run. The 11-play drive saw Zane Bourque add 24 yards on the ground.

Facing fourth-and-goal at the Sabine 1, quarterback Thomas McKelvey took it in for the score.  Ab Martin added the extra point and an early 7-0 Tigers’ lead.

The Tigers attempted an onside kick, but Zane Shearer snagged it out of the air and sprinted down the sideline for the touchdown. Jovany Jaimes add the tying extra point.

After the kickoff, the Cardinal defense made a big play on first down. Cason Patterson picked off McKelvey’s pass. The Arp defense was able to hold, but Jaimes booted a 39-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 10-7 advantage.  Sabine’s defense was then able to hold Arp and force a punt to end the first quarter.

After taking the punt, Patterson rushed for 16 yards on the first play of the quarter. Then Terry Vanden caught a pass for 17 yards, and then Patterson reeled off another 16-yard run.  Alas, the Arp defense held again, and this time, Jaimes booted a 35-yard field goal to put the Redbirds up, 13-7.

Bourque took the kickoff for Arp and returned it 45 yards to Sabine’s 45. After getting the initial first down, McKelvey found Bourque wide open down the sideline for a 35-yard score.  The extra point allowed the Tigers to re-claim the lead (14-13).

Arp’s defense again pressured the Cardinals and forced an interception by Julian Barocio. After a 39-yard pass down the middle to Jaxon Schminkey, Smith went the final 6 yards for the score.  The extra point was missed, but left the half time score 20-13, in Arp’s favor.

The Tigers came into the third quarter going to the air. McKelvey found Demarcus Wade for an 8-yard gain, then again for a 50-yarder. The Cardinals’ defense stiffened, but on third down, Bourque ran the final 4 yards for the score.

The extra point was blocked, leaving Arp leading 26-13. That was the only scoring in the quarter as both teams’ defenses forced punts.

Arp had the ball to begin the fourth quarter. On the second play of their drive, McKelvey found Wade for a 70-catch and run for the score. Martin’s extra point gave the Tigers a 33-12 advantage.

On Sabine’s next drive, they were again forced to punt. This one was blocked by Casch Cameron and Smith picked it up and returned it for the score.  A blocked extra point left the Tigers in front, 39-13.

After that, the Cardinal offense put a drive together.

DeHoyos found Hudson McNatt for a 19-yard reception. Then, Patterson had runs of 9 and 11 yards.  The drive was capped with Lincoln Royce pulling in a DeHoyos pass at the pylon for the score.

Jaimes added the extra point, cutting the lead down to 39-20.

The Tigers weren’t finished, though, as they recovered the onside kick, giving them a short field.  Three plays and three carries by Smith and he was in the end zone for the final points of the night.

Sabine was led by DeHoyos, who had 60 yards passing and a touchdown. McNatt led the team in receiving yards with 28.

On the ground, Patterson had 89.  Patterson led the team with two interceptions and Shearer had a kick return for a score.

The Tigers were led by McKelvey , who had 224 passing yards and the two scores.  Wade led the team with 130 receiving yards and the score, and Smith had 86 on the ground and the TD.