Berryville's loss to Farmington keeps Bobcats winless in 1-4A

The Bobcats trailed 19-0 after the first period and 26-0 at the half before being outscored 14-0 in the third period. Farmington failed to score in the fourth.

The loss is the third straight for Berryville and Coach Eric Daniel dating back to a 21-16 win over Green Forest in the Carroll County Super Bowl.

The Cats suffered losses to Lincoln and Ozark prior to Friday's outing, scoring a combined 12 points in the trio of games.

Junior running back Ethan Chapin returned to action after sitting out the previous two weeks with bruised ribs. Chapin managed just 36 yards on 10 carries in his initial appearance back, leading the Berryville offense that tallied 117 total yards of offense.

Deonte Payton carried the ball 12 times for 27 yards while Garrett Stone added seven carries and 10 yards. Stone completed 2-of-9 pass attempts for 33 yards. Cody Powell was 1-of-4 for 11 yards.

Chapin also led the receiving corps with a pair of receptions for 33 yards while Jerry Valdez hauled in one pass for 11 yards.

But Farmington scored at will against the Bobcat defense, putting the game away early as Berryville struggled to wrap up ball carriers.

After Kraig Kendrick recorded a sack on the opening play of the game, the second play resulted in a 70-yard touchdown pass on a screen play.

"We come out and make a big play then can't stop them at all on the next," Daniel said. "They throw the screen and we had about eight kids get a hand on him. We don't wrap up and he takes it the distance."

The defensive struggles continue for Berryville despite the Bobcats winning the turnover game all season.

Berryville has forced seven fumbles with eight fumble recoveries, including a pair of on-side kicks, with two interceptions and a blocked punt. But the Cats have struggled to stop the natural progression of opponents offensive production and Friday was no different.

"We have done a much better job with turnovers this year," Daniel said. "But we aren't tackling. We are going to get back to the nuts and bolts of that this week in practice."

Jerry Valdez led the defense with four solo stops and three assists after his breakout performance last week against Ozark. he also forced a fumble.

Blake McCullough added four solos and two assists while Brett Sooter had a pair of solo stops and five assists.

Kendrick added two solos and five assists to his sack and Selvin Reyes forced a fumble.

Berryville had a chance to score early in the affair but stalled on the Farmington 30-yard line.

"The first drive of the game we put together a good drive," Daniel said. "We got some help on a roughing the kicker penalty but couldn't capitalize. We had a couple of false start penalties that stopped us there and that has not been an issue for us."

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Next up for the Bobcats is Prairie Grove, a road game against one of the top, if not the top, class 4A teams in the state.

"They are the No. 1 team in the state in Class 4A depending on what poll you look at," Daniel said. "But they are in the top five in every poll. They beat Farmington 28-21. But Farmington had six turnovers in that game."

Berryville pushed Prairie grove to the limits last year before eventually falling to the Tigers.

"They have been good for a couple of years," Daniel said. "We were tied 7-7 last year late in the third. We have given them fitsthe last couple of years but turnovers have killed us. We need to tackle better and stop the big plays."

Daniel said the injury bug that plagued the Bobcats to this point in the season are starting to go away.

And a healthier squad should be more competitive against one of the strongest teams on the schedule, he noted.

"We had a couple injuries and have not been playing a whole lot of people," Daniel said. "They are pretty good defensively may have two of the best linebackers we may see all year."