Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Pointer ground & pound
Van Buren wins Battle of the Bone over Alma VAN BUREN 53, ALMA 21
VAN BUREN — Make it back-to-back wins in the Battle of the Bone for the Van Buren Pointers.
Junior quarterback Gary Phillips guided the Van Buren offense to the end zone early and often to pull away Friday night with a 53-21 victory against rival Alma at Blakemore Field.
Phillips completed 18 of 30 passes for 333 yards with 2 touchdowns in the air, and he added 11 carries for 123 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground for the Pointers (2-0).
“Gary is a playmaker and he is going to make plays for us,” Van Buren first-year coach Crosby Tuck said. “I’m proud of the team going to get the lead and then not letting up after that. We played hard like we were behind in the game. I’m proud of my guys.”
Van Buren running back Brayden Rivas added 12 carries for 38 yards including 2 touchdowns. Jude Bartholomew caught 6 passes for 162 including a score, while Maury Newton hauled in 3 passes for 63 yards including a touchdown for Van Buren.
Alma (0-1) was led by wide receiver Grayson Bailey catching six passes for 94 yards with a touchdown. Ben Henley also had 12 carries for 108 yards with a score for the Airedales.
Van Buren just needed three plays on the opening possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Phillips capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown rush.
The Pointers pushed out their lead to 18-0 after a 30-yard field goal from Chris Flores and by taking advantage of a kickoff return that was fumbled by Alma.
The recovery from Van Buren’s Devin Swearengin set up a 1-yard touchdown score from Rivas. The Pointers then got a two-point conversion after a bad snap. Jaiden Henry, the holder, completed a pass to Guillermo Palafox.
Van Buren capped its first-quarter scoring with a 59-yard touchdown from Phillips on a one-play drive to take a commanding 25-0 with about three minutes until the second quarter.
“You always want to jump on teams early,” Tuck said. “But it’s really something we felt like we could do this week. We felt like it would be a big part of the rivalry.”
Alma was able to break through on offense to cut Van Buren’s edge to 25-8 early in the second quarter. Senior quarterback Landon Blair found Bailey for a 9-yard pass. Bailey added the twopoint conversion on a run.
Van Buren pushed outs its advantage to 39-8 heading into the break. Phillips found Bartholomew for a 30-yard touchdown pass, then Rivas picked up another rushing score to end the second-quarter scoring for the Pointers.
“The biggest thing for us this year was to be able to stay with the high energy after getting the lead,” Tuck said. “I talked about that with them last week. We made progress with this last year, but we didn’t quite break through. We did it again tonight after doing it last week.”
Alma was able to get a 56-yard touchdown run from Henley on fourth down on the opening possession of the second half to cut the Van Buren edge to 39-15.
But Van Buren then put the game well out of reach with two more scores to take a 53-15 lead heading into the final quarter. Phillips found Newton for an 88-yard touchdown pass, then Phillips ran for a 1-yard score.
Alma entered the game winning 13 of past 17 meetings in the Crawford County rivalry, but Van Buren pulled away early to make it backto-back victories in the Battle for the Bone.
“I’m so happy for these seniors who have had three different coaches in their high school careers,” Tuck said. “Stuff has changed all around them. But they were able to beat Alma twice in a row. I love that for them.”
FOUR DOWNS
• Alma found itself down by 18 points after running just five offensive plays.
• The two teams combined for 22 penalties in the game.
• Phillips completed his initial throw of the game for a 54-yard pass, which helped set up his first touchdown run of the game.
• Alma continues nonconference play next Friday, as it hosts Springdale High, while Van Buren journeys over the bridge to Fort Smith Northside next Friday for its final nonconference game.