Story, photos, and video by DDNS Reporter Allie Carson.

The Jonesboro Golden Hurricane beat the West Memphis Blue Devils 56-25 in their final regular season game to secure a playoff spot.

The Blue Devils didn’t win a single game their entire season, on a 13-game losing streak stemming all the way back to the end of last season while the Golden Hurricane is 5-5 overall and 4-3 in conference, 4th overall in 6A, sending them to the playoffs. 

“We’ll see where we fall for the playoffs. Hopefully we’re at home. If not, we’ll be road warriors, and we’ll get ready to go play whoever we play,” Jonesboro coach Tyler George said.

Jonesboro started with the ball on their own 48 and within 30 seconds of the game, the Golden Hurricane scored their first of many touchdowns after senior running back TJ Brown ran it 37 yards to the end zone.

On the Blue Devils’ kickoff return, the special teams unit put the offense on the Jonesboro 41 after catching it on their own 35. A play later, West Memphis wide receiver Kevius Woods runs it in for a touchdown after a 41 yard pass play. 

While Jonesboro made their extra point on their touchdown, West Memphis did not, keeping the Golden Hurricane in the lead 7-6.

Jonesboro would end up in a 4th and 13 situation at the West Memphis 42 after a snap that quarterback Asa Myers would have to fall on. The Golden Hurricane, however, would fire a deep pass down field to wide receiver Kam Davis for another Jonesboro touchdown. 

West Memphis would end up in a 4th and 8 situation on their next drive and they assumed they could do the same thing that Jonesboro did: Get a first down. Instead, Blue Devils’ quarterback Andrew Clay’s throw is intercepted by senior defensive back Randy Eusebio. 

While Brown would get his Golden Hurricane team to their own 20 yard line after a 22 yard rush, he would get injured on the play and taken out of the game.

Jonesboro would have to punt but West Memphis bobbles the catch and it’s recovered by senior defensive back Jaylen Alexander on the Blue Devils’ 32 yard line. 

Brown was back in the game and picked up a first down for Jonesboro to get into the red zone and then some. Davis would score another touchdown on the night soon after to extend their lead in the first quarter. 

West Memphis would score a touchdown at the start of the second quarter but miss their two point conversion, Jonesboro staying in the lead 21-12. 

Jonesboro would score on a quarterback keeper on the next drive with a made kick. 

During West Memphis’ next drive, Clay would drop the football and it’d be scooped up by senior cornerback Jaques Jordan and taken 56 yards for a touchdown.

Two bad snaps in a row on the Blue Devils’ next drive would be the curse for this West Memphis team as a snap goes over the head of Clay. Jonesboro would scoop it up and score after a 43 yard bouncing football carry. 

42-12 would be the score with 5:16 until halftime. 

However, the Golden Hurricane isn’t done as on their own 33 yard line, Myers sends a short pass to Davis and he has the room to go. Davis, on 3rd and long, scores a 64-yard touchdown for Jonesboro’s senior night.

“He’s a player. We’re going to get him the ball as much as we can, because he’s going to win those one on one matchups. So that was really good for him to see again. Him getting back healthy,” George said. 

Myers was taken out of the game and quarterback Aiden Grimes was put in. With 1:18 remaining in the half, Grimes threw an interception. West Memphis cornerback Martavious Sanders intercepted the pass at their own 35 yard line and made it to the Jonesboro 5 yard line before being brought down. 

West Memphis quarterback Micha Ingle threw to wide open running back Demetrius Craft for a touchdown and to be sent to half 49-18 Jonesboro.

Myers is put back in the game and throws a touchdown to Jordan, his second of the game from a 5-yard pass play. 

West Memphis would score with 9:20 to go in the fourth quarter, third strings in for both teams, as the player who scored wasn’t even on the roster and the Blue Devils had their third quarterback, Keaton Troxler,  in to play.

With the mercy rule in effect, the clock would keep running and the third strings would keep playing until the clock hit zero on Jonesboro senior night, the Golden Hurricane winning 56-25. 

“We lost last year’s senior night, so to be able to win this one in the fashion that we did is big for those guys,” George said. “This is the first class that I’ve had as a head coach of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. Told them they mean so much to me, personally, and to this program. We still have a lot of work to do, but they have definitely played a huge part in helping with it.”