DE QUEEN – The Hope Bobcats traveled to De Queen on Friday, September 11th for their final non-conference contest of the 2026 season. Although the Bobcats showed significant improvement from their first two outings of the season, the Leopards pulled away in the second half to post a 35-13 victory.
After having been shut out in the first two games against Prescott and Mayflower, Hope made some personnel changes at De Queen and the moves paid off well. Senior Austin Courtney took over the reins at quarterback and threw for 267 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to Cayden Haywood. For the night, Courtney completed 24 of 39 pass attempts. Courtney’s favorite target was Jaiden Brown who had a phenomenal 15 receptions for 160 yards.
De Queen drew first blood on the very first play from scrimmage following the opening kickoff on a 70-yard run by Hunter Dinkins. The Bobcats answered with a 43-yard drive in five plays on a one-yard plunge by Jeremiah Warner. It was Hope’s first score of the season. After Nathan Sanchez kicked the extra point, the game was tied at seven after the opening quarter.
De Queen scored early in the second quarter on a 69-yard run by Landen Wise. But Courtney brought the Bobcats back with a nifty 71-yard drive in nine plays capped by the 38-yard toss to Haywood. However, the extra point attempt was blocked, and the Leopards took a narrow 14-13 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Bobcats just couldn’t sustain any offense in the second half and the Leopards pulled away for the 35-13 win. The De Queen defense applied relentless pressure on Courtney, sacking him four times while intercepting four Hope passes.
The Hope defense had no answer for De Queen’s Wise who rushed for 344 yards and four touchdowns.
The Bobcats rolled up 14 first downs on the night, but only one came on the ground as Hope struggled to get a running game going. The Bobcats were also penalized ten times for 70 yards.
Inside linebackers J.J. Gulley and Joel Bello paced the Bobcat defense.
Hope, now 0-3 after the non-conference stretch of the schedule, will enjoy a bye week before opening up 7-4A Conference play on the road against the Ashdown Panthers on September 25th.