By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Cabot Panthers went on their longest road trip of the season and picked up a win in a high-scoring matchup at West Memphis on Friday. The Panthers featured two players to rush for 200 yards in a 49-28 win over the Blue Devils.
Panther quarterback Jarrod Barnes carried 19 times for 229 yards and three touchdowns, while junior fullback Alex Roberts had his best game ever as a Panther, carrying 16 times for 200 yards and two scores.
West Memphis entered the game 3-2 overall and was coming off a 28-27 loss at Searcy last week. The Blue Devils also had lost to Class 5A Blytheville, and narrowly beaten 5A Wynne in nonconference play. In their other 7A/6A-East Conference game, they beat Marion 34-21, a team Cabot trounced a week ago at home.
But the Panthers couldn’t put the home team away easily. Cabot led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter, and added a touchdown to take a 21-7 lead into halftime.
Barnes scored on a 30-yard run and halfback Austin Morse scored on a 7-yard dive play in the first half. The Panthers’ other touchdown was an 82-yard kickoff return by senior Holdyn Barnes.
Both teams scored twice in the third quarter. Roberts scampered 75 yards for a touchdown on his first carry of the second half, but West Memphis quarterback Kylan Whiting plunged 1 yard to answer the Cabot touchdown.
Jarrod Barnes then scored on a 75-yard option keep, but Blue Devil Devontae Dean III capped another good drive with a 2-yard run to make the score 35-21.
Roberts added a 28-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Panthers.
Cabot was called for 10 penalties for a loss of 90 yards while West Memphis was flagged only five times for 20 yards.
The Panthers finished with 504 yards of offense, with 476 coming on the ground. The Blue Devils piled up 321 total yards with 140 on the ground and 181 through the air.
Whiting led West Memphis with 17 carries for 94 yards rushing, and was 11 of 29 passing for 181 yards, one touchdown and one interception by Easton Seidl.
Cabot, 6-0, 3-0, will host Little Rock Central for homecoming next Friday at Panther Stadium. The Tigers got their second win of the season on Friday, beating Mountain Home 41-7.
West Memphis is at Jonesboro, a 70-64 loser Friday to North Little Rock.
