WYNNE — After trailing by 17 points at halftime, Wynne came back to take a four-point lead over West Memphis midway through the fourth quarter. But three minutes later, the Blue Devils regained the advantage, then held the Yellowjackets on fourth down on their final drive to pull out a 39-37 victory at Hamilton-Schulz Field in West Memphis.
The hosts didn’t take long to go in front. Braylon Davis took the opening kickoff back 97 yards for a 7-0 lead in just 16 seconds. Then, quarterback Andrew Clay III ran in from a yard out three minutes later for a 14-0 West Memphis advantage.
Wynne answered back two minutes into the second quarter. Braydon Smith broke a couple tackles at midfield and scampered 55 yards to paydirt, cutting the Blue Devils’ lead to 14-7 after Auggie Smith’s extra point. But on the Jackets’ next possession, West Memphis restored their two-score lead, when Jeremiah Davis intercepted a deflected Curtis Scott pass and returned it 48 yards with 6:36 left in the half. Then, Clay scored on a six-yard run with 2:52 remaining in the half; Wynne blocked the PAT attempt to keep the score at 27-7 West Memphis. The Yellowjackets got points before halftime, getting a 34-yard field goal from Smith with 1:11 left to make the score 27-10.
Wynne scored the only points of the third quarter on a one-yard run by Caiden Crawford—his fifth TD of the year—with 2:43 to go, cutting the Blue Devils’ margin to 27-16. The score was set up by a 39-yard pass from Scott to Eli Ramsey.
West Memphis upped their lead to 33-16 early in the fourth when Tylan Young broke loose for a 17-yard touchdown just 1:23 into the quarter. But on the next possession, the Jackets got to within 11 on a 60-yard pass from Scott to a wide open Kaden Dixon over the middle to make it 33-22. After stopping the Blue Devils on their next drive, Ramsey found the end zone on a two-yard run with 6:47 left, then Scott hit Crawford for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 33-30.
Just 56 seconds later, Wynne took the lead for the first time. Darion Tibbs, inserted into the starting lineup at linebacker, picked off a Clay pass, and wound his way into the end zone from 27 yards out; Smith’s conversion gave the Yellowjackets a 37-33 advantage. But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for excessive celebration after the pick-six forced Wynne to kick off from their 25-yard line after the score, and West Memphis took advantage. The Blue Devils would drive down to inside Wynne’s 20-yard line, eventually converting on third-and-goal from the 13 when Darvell Gatewood burst free for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:37 to go in regulation. But Brayden Baker’s extra point try was just short of the crossbar, leaving the score at 39-37 West Memphis.
On their final possession, Wynne got as far as the West Memphis 49, but Scott was stopped on fourth-and-nine with 1:22 to go. The Blue Devils got one more first down, then ran out the clock for their first win of the season, and first over the Jackets since 2021, stopping Wynne’s four-game win streak over West Memphis. Both teams are now 1-2 on the season.
Unofficially, Wynne outgained West Memphis 359-344; Scott threw for 177 yards and a touchdown, while Crawford rushed 25 times for 123 yards and a score.
The Yellowjackets now hit their bye week and return to action Sept. 25, opening 5A East conference play at Brookland.
