Defense on both sides took a rest

Kendric Smith, a running back for Hughes (Ark.) High, established the state record for touchdowns in a single game Friday night, scoring 10 on runs of one, 13, 20, 28, 35, 40, 45, 52, 53 and 54 yards.

And his team lost.

Smith’s ninth touchdown pushed Hughes’ game against East Poinsett County into overtime, and his 10th gave Hughes a 72-66 lead.

But Hughes missed a two-point conversion try and East Poinsett County countered with a touchdown and an extra point to secure the victory, 73-72.

Smith’s performance, which surpassed the state record of eight touchdowns set by Alvin Bell of Little Rock in 1919 and matched by Chris James of Osceola in 2003, was offset by 835 all-purpose yards by East Poinsett County quarterback Brett Hardin.

The result left East Poinsett County at 1-6 and Hughes 0-5.

News of the 73-72 game spread quickly across the country.

In Oakland, Raiders Coach Art Shell immediately requested the game film so his defensive players could brush up on tackling techniques.

Tigers get the save

The Detroit Tigers’ sweep of the Oakland A’s in the American League Championship Series was a mixed bag for Oakland-area fans.

Bad news for them: The season is done for the A’s.

Good news for them: The Raiders now won’t have to be nationally humiliated in prime time.

Had the A’s won the AL pennant, they would have played host to next Sunday’s World Series game, meaning the Raiders’ home game against the Arizona Cardinals would have been moved to Monday.

But with Detroit’s series-clinching victory Saturday, the Tigers knocked the A’s out of the playoffs and the Raiders out of “Monday Night Football” in one fell swoop.

It was one small step for the Tigers, one giant leap for mankind.

Trivia time

Why was the 1984 World Series between the Tigers and the San Diego Padres significant for managers Sparky Anderson and Dick Williams?

‘Own goal’ charged to Neville

Being branded as England’s Bill Buckner wasn’t anywhere close to the worst of it for Paul Robinson, whose goal-keeping gaffe in a 2-0 loss to Croatia was more akin to Nick Swisher against the Tigers this week: A swing and a miss! With England trailing, 1-0, in the second half, fullback Gary Neville played a routine pass back to Robinson, who wound up and whiffed on the ball, allowing it to trickle into the net for a goal that had English fans and media burying Robinson with ridicule.

After witnessing the abuse for several days, Manchester City Coach Stuart Pearce, a former England captain, called for a cease-fire.

“There is too much of a blame culture, in society and football in general,” Pearce was quoted on the website teamtalk.com. “It seems it has to be someone’s turn every week -- and I find that quite sad.

“I can’t see how you can go from hero to zero in the space of one game. I don’t work like that in my everyday life and certainly not as manager of Manchester City.”

Trivia answer

The 1984 World Series was a rematch for the Tigers’ Anderson and the Padres’ Williams, who managed against each other, but with different teams, in the 1972 Series. That year, Williams’ A’s defeated Anderson’s Cincinnati Reds, four games to three.

And finally

Christopher Huang, to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after eating 53 hot peppers at the Jalapeno Eating World Championship: “I can’t feel my face.”

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mike.penner@latimes.com