Northside hammers Van Buren

FORT SMITH — Fort Smith Northside coach Mike Falleur was hoping for a bounce-back game from his team after losing to Greenwood a week ago.

The Grizzlies did just that Friday night at Mayo-Thompson Stadium. Northside used a strong defensive performance that was then backed by the offense to pull away for a 44-6 victory against Van Buren.

“I’m really proud of the defense,” Falleur said. “They played fantastic. It was a good rebound from last week. We want to have a good defense. But I feel like our offense is coming along too with some young guys.”

Northside’s defense forced five interceptions and had a fumble recovery against Van Buren’s offense averaging 44 points scored per game entering the contest.

“This wasn’t a great performance from us,” Van Buren coach Crosby Tuck said. “Obviously, a big part of that is Northside and how good they are. There is no question about that. It doesn’t change the fact I feel like we played our worst game. I felt like we came out flat. We will take this game and learn from it.”

The Grizzlies were led on offense by quarterback Dreyden Norwood. He finished with 43 rushing yards on 12 carries with 2 touchdowns. He also added a 15-yard passing touchdown to Jackson King, who finished with 4 catches for 66 yards. Tyheen Prosise finished with just four carries but had 97 yards for Northside.

Northside (2-1) took advantage of its defense forcing turnovers to take a 27-0 lead against Van Buren (2-1) heading

into the break.

Northside got an interception from Stetson Van Matre to end Van Buren’s second drive of the game on the first play. The Grizzlies needed just one play to take a 7-0 lead with a 7-yard rush from Norwood with 6:09 in the first quarter.

The Grizzlies pushed their lead to 13-0 with a 2-yard run from Norwood with about a minute left before the second quarter.

Norwood found King for a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it a 20-0 Northside advantage late in the second quarter.

Van Buren turned around on its next possession and threw an interception on the second play. Northside took advantage, as it set up a 3-yard score from Seth Fields to cap the first-half scoring.

The Pointers, who were limited to just four first downs in the first half, marched down to the opposing 21 on the final drive of the second half. But they threw another interception, the third of the first half, with about 16 left before the break.

Northside’s Kaleb Fisher was the one with the takeaway for the Grizzlies to end the scoring threat from Van Buren.

The Grizzlies defense didn’t stop making plays in the second half. Montay Parks intercepted his second pass of the night after the break. Skyler Mingboupha also caught an interception in the second half.

“The defense wanted to come out and prove they didn’t play well last week,” Falleur said. “Greenwood did a good job. But we got better and it showed. I liked the way we played overall tonight.”

Northside was able to put the game well out of the reach with a pair of scores in the third quarter to make it a 37-0 lead.

Slate Stanton connected on a 24-yard kick before the third-quarter scoring ended with a 38-yard touchdown run from Fields.

“I thought we played well on offense,” Falleur said. “We did some good things. But we have to get better. We have to get more consistent on that side of the ball.”

Van Buren avoided the shutout late in the game with an 11-yard touchdown from backup quarterback Connor Brady.

Northside now has a 13-game winning streak against Van Buren, who entered the game looking to go 3-0 to start the season for the first time since 2010.

FOUR DOWNS

• Northside running back Tyheen Prosise rushed for 33 yards in the second half yet didn’t pick up a first down, as the team was backed up on a first-and-35 after penalties. • Both defenses were making plays in the backfield. The game ended with more than 20 tackles for a loss by both defenses.

• Northside’s Jackson King was carted off the field after a lengthy stoppage in play late in the third quarter. Falleur said he expects King will be alright.

• Both Van Buren and Northside have byes next week. In the following week, Van Buren will open 7A-West Conference play hosting Rogers High, while Northside beings 7A-Central play hosting Bryant.