Bulldogs survive Mavs’ late rally
FAYETTEVILLE 30, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 24
FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville will get its chance at redemption against Conway, but not before a late scare against Fort Smith Southside.
The Mavericks scored two late touchdowns in the fourth quarter in a span of 21 seconds, got a stop on defense and had the ball with a chance to take the lead.
But Fayetteville’s Isaiah Taylor came up with a late interception, and the Bulldogs were able to run out the clock in a 30-24 victory in the Class 7A quarterfinals Friday night at Harmon Field.
“Survive and advance in the playoffs,” Fayetteville Coach Casey Dick said. “We’re happy to be advancing.”
Fayetteville (11-0), the 7A-West Conference champion, advances to next week’s state semifinals against 7A-Central No. 2 seed Conway (10-1), which beat Bentonville West 63-46 in Conway on Friday.
The Wampus Cats shut out Fayetteville 37-0 at Harmon Field last year in the state quarterfinals, and the rematch will once again be in Fayetteville with a berth in the state title game on the line.
“They’re a great football team with Coach [Buck] James and the history they’ve had there,” Dick said. “They’ve done a fantastic job of getting there, and we’ve got to do our part and show up and be ready next week.”
On Friday, Fayetteville looked well on its way after taking a 30-10 lead with 6:10 left in the fourth quarter when Drake Lindsey threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jaison DeLamar.
But Southside wasn’t ready to give up.
Mavericks quarterback Carter Zimmerman threw a 37-yard pass to George Herrell to the Fayetteville 5-yard line. Four plays later on fourth and goal, Zimmerman threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Gregory with 4:02 remaining to cut the lead to 30-17.
Southside’s Devin Huggins recovered an onside kick and the Mavericks scored again very quickly. Zimmerman hit Herrell for 34 yards and then the two connected again for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 3:41 left to make the score 3024.
Southside’s second onside kick went out of bounds, but the Mavericks stopped the Bulldogs on defense and forced a shanked punt.
Zimmerman ran for 2 yards on first down but was intercepted by Taylor on the next play.
“They left it all the field tonight and we just came up a little bit short,” said Southside Coach Kim Dameron. “You can’t fault their effort, can’t fault anything. They were out there trying to win and they believed they could win until the final buzzer. They’ve been that way all year long. We’ve had some good final comebacks. These kids are a fun bunch to coach. I’m going to really miss them.”
Fayetteville led 17-3 at halftime.
The Bulldogs scored on their first possession with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Lindsey to Charlie Graves.
Southside got within 7-3 on a field goal by Greyson York in the second quarter, but Fayetteville answered with two scoring drives before halftime.
Christian Setzer, who rushed for 143 yards on 24 carries, scored on a 2-yard touchdown run. Nathan Kachel kicked a 25-yard field goal with two seconds left before half.
The Mavericks cut it to 1710 on a 58-yard scoring pass from Zimmerman to Gregory in the third quarter after a fourth-down stop by their defense.
Fayetteville responded with two more field goals from Kachel of 25 and 27 yards and the touchdown from Lindsey to DeLamar.
“I think when you look at [Kachel’s] leg and what he’s capable of, he bailed us out there a couple of times,” Dick said. “We’re obviously glad to have him and his ability that he has to kick the ball.”
Fayetteville’s defense forced three turnovers in the second half, including Taylor’s interception, another pick from Luke Roblee and a fumble recovery by Landon Jones. Jones and Kaden Spencer also had late sacks.
Southside finished with 353 yards of offense, including just 117 on the ground. The Mavericks came into the game averaging 315 yards on the ground. Gregory rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries and caught six passes for 98 yards, while Amari Tucker had 51 yards on 14 carries. Zimmerman completed 15 of 20 passes for 236 yards. Herrell had three catches for 86 yards, all in the second half.
Lindsey completed 26 of 34 passes for 306 yards. DeLamar had 11 catches for 139 yards, while Landon Lucke had 4 catches for 77 yards.