The North Sunflower Academy Rebels football team seems to be not taking any prisoners this season.
Recording another lopsided victory, the Rebels added to their 7-0, 3-0 record with last Friday’s 54-8 road win over 2-5 West Memphis Christian School.
“It was a good win,” said NSA Head Coach Ricky Smither, “but we started out slow and finally got things going in the second half of the game.”
Of note, this recent NSA victory was the third consecutive game in which the Rebels’ offense has scored 54 points or more against their opponent.
With that non-district victory behind them, the Rebels now return to District 1-2A competition while playing the second of three consecutive road trips on their schedule.
This Friday night the destination point will be Calhoun City where the Rebels will take on a 3-4, 1-2 squad of Calhoun Academy Cougars.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
“Calhoun Academy has a good football team with some good-looking athletes. I am expecting this game to be a test for us,” said Coach Smither.
The Cougars will come into this week’s clash with NSA following last Friday’s 38-24 victory over Marvell (Ark.) Academy.
The Cougars and the Rebels have met on a football field 31 times in the past and NSA owns a 21-10 advantage in this series.
Last year, NSA defeated Calhoun Academy by a 64-0 margin; a loss which added to the Cougars’ final 7-4 record during that campaign.
In last week’s 46-point victory over West Memphis Christian School, the Rebels went to the dressing room at halftime with a somewhat narrow 22-8 lead over the Black Knights.
However, that would change in the second half when the NSA offense found the end zone four times to put the game away.
Opening NSA’s scoring in this game was quarterback Brandon Daniel with a one-yard touchdown run.
Later that same quarter, DeeDee Williams would break free en route to a 15-yard scoring effort.
The second quarter NSA scoring came by way of a 49-yard touchdown sprint by Zach Walker.
Daniel and Bryce Redwine added a successful 2-point conversion run apiece and the Rebels owned their 14-point halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Williams tallied his second touchdown of the night with a three-yard run. Meanwhile, moments later, Walker’s 41-yard run to pay dirt accounted for his second long TD run of the night.
With the game more secure and the NSA defense rendering West Memphis scoreless, the Rebels added more points to the scoreboard in the fourth period.
Daniel would open that quarter’s scoring with his nine-yard touchdown pass to Redwine.
The final touchdown of the night occurred when C.J. Hall breached the West Memphis defense with his 45-yard run to the end zone.
Offensively, the Rebels rushed for 368 yards and this portion of the attack was paced by a pair of players eclipsing the century mark.
While Williams’11 carries netted 117 yards and two touchdowns, Walker’s four carries resulted in 115 yards and another pair of scores.
Through the air, Daniel completed four of eight passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.
Jr. Washington pulled in three of those passes for 57 yards to lead the NSA receiving corps.
Defensively, the Rebels were led by Washington’s five solo tackles and three assists.
Cam Walker also made his presence known with a two solo, three assist night of play which included three tackles for loss.
While Trevor Parks added one solo and four assists, Walker completed the game with one solo tackle, three assists, and an interception.
