Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Prep football action
Fort Smith Southside defeats Springdale High in first round of playoffs.
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 35, SPRINGDALE HIGH 28
SPRINGDALE — Somewhat maligned for most of the season, the Fort Smith Southside defense made key plays when it had to Friday night.
The Mavericks’ defense came up with huge stops on two Springdale High fourth down drives and Southside scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 35-28 win at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium in a Class 7A first-round playoff game.
“Our defense has played a lot better the last three or four weeks,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “I thought they played real well tonight and made the plays we needed to make.”
Southside (6-5) limited Springdale to one touchdown in the second half, that one coming after the Bulldogs (74) returned a Mavericks’ fumble to the 10-yard line to set up a short Garrett Vaughan touchdown run.
Springdale, playing its first home playoff game since 2005, moved the ball with ease in the first half. Vaughan, who rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, gained only 33 in the second half.
“They really made the run tough on us in the second half,” Springdale coach Zak Clark said of Southside’s defense. “They made some adjustments. We moved it, but it would be a big down and we just couldn’t do it.”
The game was tied 21-21 at halftime as both teams hit explosive plays on a night when temperatures were in the 30s. Springdale scored on its first possession when Will Mueller hit Brock Pounders on a 33-yard pass to set up
Vaughan’s 8-yard touchdown with 9 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first quarter.
Southside did not blink, using just 20 seconds to tie the score at 7-7 when quarterback Taye Gatewood hit Tyrese Solomon on a 64-yard scoring strike.
Mavericks’ defensive lineman Shawn Rogers was a force for Southside most of the night. Southside linebacker Darin Davenport did not play in the game, Williams said.
After Springdale marched 81 yards in 13 plays to take a 2114 lead on Vaughan’s second touchdown, a strange series of plays that saw Southside fumble twice and each team throw interceptions, the Mavericks rallied to tie the score. Mason Gregory intercepted a Mueller pass in the red zone to stop a Springdale drive, and four plays later Gatewood hit Solomon on a 55-yard strike to tie the game at 21-21.
“I probably screwed it up there at the end of the first half,” Clark said. “We had it in the red zone, and we probably should have run it out, knowing that we’re going to get the ball to start the second half, or settle for a field goal, and it didn’t happen. That’s a big 7- to 10-point swing.”
Springdale stripped the ball away from Southside’s Ricardo Savoy late in the third quarter and Tray Tolbert picked up the fumble and returned it 29 yards to the Southside 10. Vaughan, who finished one touchdown shy of tying the school’s all-time rushing touchdown record, scored two plays later to give the Bulldogs their last lead at 28-21.
Southside drove 58 yards in 13 plays to tie the game at 28-28. Gatewood, who was 12 of 18 passing for 186 yards, hit key passes of 21 yards to Colton McBride and 10 yards to Solomon to set up Savoy’s short scoring run. Savoy rushed for 141 yards on 26 carries for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks’ defense
“They really made the run tough on us in the second half. They made some adjustments. We moved it, but it would be a big down and we just couldn’t do it.”
— Springdale coach Zak Clark
did the rest. Landon Chaffey came up with a huge third-down stop on Vaughan at the Springdale 28, then a 24-yard punt gave Southside the ball near midfield. Gatewood hit Erich Schwarz for 18 yards on third-and-six, then dashed through the heart of the Springdale defense on a 20-yard touchdown with 3:36 left.
Springdale had one final chance when Mueller hit passes of 14 and 20 yards to move the ball to midfield. But the Southside defense held again as Vaughan was tackled behind the line on third down and Mueller’s fourth down pass was incomplete and the Mavericks ran out the clock.