Sategna, Turner help Fayetteville end losing skid

Fayetteville's Isaiah Sategna (5) carries the ball Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, ahead of Springdale defender Andre Sparks (4) during the first half of play at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium in Springdale.

— It has not been the team start that Arkansas 2022 recruiting targets Isaiah Sategna and Kaiden Turner of Fayetteville envisioned, but at least the losing skid stopped on Friday.

Sategna, a junior wide receiver, had 9 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and Turner, a 6-2, 218-pound linebacker, had a late interception as the previously winless Purple'Dogs rallied for a 46-42 home win over Fort Smith Southside.

“Well, for me personally, I felt like I let down the team in the first half. I was having one of the worst games of my life,” Sategna said. “After halftime, I knew if we were going to have a chance at coming back I would have to perform well and I redeemed myself in the second half. But we had a lot of people step up in the fourth quarter.”

Turner, who has offers from Arkansas, Houston, Indiana and Kansas, intercepted a pass in the final seconds to seal the win, Fayetteville's seventh in the row against the Mavericks.

“He’s played very well,” Sategna said of Turner. “He had a great game against Southside.”

Fayetteville (1-4) got 138 yards rushing from Kennedy Ingram, but was down 42-26 early in the fourth quarter before rallying for the final 20 points in the Class 7A-West contest.

That included quarterback Bladen Fike hitting Link Lindsey (6 catches, 77 yards, 2 scores) for a 19-yard touchdown with 5:41 left and Sategna on a 11-yard toss with 1:53 remaining to cut the Purple'Dogs' deficit to 42-39.


After Fayetteville recovered an onside kick at Southside’s 49, Fike (365 passing yards, 4 touchdowns) capped the comeback with a six-yard scramble with 36 seconds left.

“That is probably the ugliest game I have ever been a part of," Fayetteville head coach Casey Dick said to reporters after the game. "But a win is a win. I'm proud of the kids' effort and not giving up. They could've shut it down 15 different times in this game. We are proud they kept battling and found a way to win."

Fayetteville had not only lost its first four games, but had two games postponed becasue of covid-19 concerns and was coming off a tough 33-30 loss to Fort Smith Northside.

“I mean, Fayetteville has a tradition of winning and being the best and obviously no team wants to start out 0-5, but I feel like we have a way better team than everyone thinks,” Sategna said. “We just need to play all together for one game and I don’t think there’s many teams that can beat us.”

A road game at unbeaten Bentonville (6-0, 3-0) and a home meeting against rival Springdale (2-4, 1-2) are up next for Fayetteville.

“We are going to have to start out fast and not make mental mistakes,” Sategna said. “Everyone also has to step up and have a great game.”

Sategna, a speedster who competes in 10 track and field events for Fayetteville, is the son of Arkansas assistant track and field coach Mario Sategna and Dahlia Sategna, a sprinter for LSU who competed in the 1992 Olympics for Jamaica.


He has recorded bests of 6.8 seconds in the 60-yard dash, 10.8 in the 100, 21.96 in the 200 and 49.54 in the 400.

That and his football ability have led to offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Penn State, Oregon, Mississippi State, Baylor, Nebraska, Colorado, SMU, Kansas and Tulsa.

“Oregon is my latest one,” noted Sategna, who caught 35 passes for 691 yards and one touchdown as a sophomore.

He’s been impressed with Arkansas’ 1-2 start to the 2020 season.

“Big improvement,” Sategna said. “Defense is a big improvement.”