Coming off of a thrilling victory at Indianola Academy, Benton Academy experienced a tough loss at home to Ethel.
Waylen Dewitt’s nine-yard touchdown followed by an Evan Michael Williams extra point accounted for Benton’s only score in a 40-7 loss.
Ethel took an early 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
Daniel Washington got an interception on their next drive, but Ethel answered with an interception of their own.
Ethel quarterback Jacob Newman then kept it for a touchdown, but Dalton Robles made a stop to prevent the two-point conversion attempt.
Clayton Saxton had a nice return to the 30 with a 15-yard facemask penalty tacked on to set up the next drive.
Quarterback James Patterson connected with Saxton on third down for a first down pass, but the Raiders couldn’t keep the chains moving and had to punt.
Kendall Walker and Dewitt had a sack on the first play, and then Walker made a stop for a short gain. Wes Melton made a stop to bring up fourth down.
Ethel attempted a fake punt pass, and Daniel Washington grabbed his second interception of the night.
Patterson completed a pair of short passes to Colin Washington to enter Tiger territory, but the Raiders couldn’t get anything else going and had a turnover on downs.
Cullen McCain, Parker Nelson and Robles all had tackles on the following drive, but Ethel kept making big plays when it mattered most.
Ethel’s Marcus Jones added another touchdown for an 18-0 lead with 33 seconds left before halftime.
Patterson completed three straight short passes to Bryce Ables for a first down, but the Raiders were unable to get on the board before halftime.
Ethel built the lead up to 32-0 in the third quarter and added one more score in the fourth.
Dewitt’s touchdown out of a wildcat formation came with just 46 seconds on the clock.
The Raiders have some time to recover with a bye week this week before hitting the road for the short trip to Manchester Academy the following week.
