VAN BUREN Pointers understand importance of wins

Van Buren first-year coach Crosby Tuck saw firsthand the challenge that a 7A-West Conference schedule presents to a team last season as the Pointers’ offensive coordinator.

It’s important to get any win you can because each Friday presents another tough task. That’s the case for Van Buren (3-1, 1-0 7A-West), as it now has to travel to Bentonville High (4-0, 1-0) after getting a key 52-13 victory against Rogers High last week.

“This will be huge for playoff seeding and just getting in the playoffs later in the season,” Tuck said of the Rogers win. “This sets us up nicely in conference play. It gives us momentum because we have some big games coming up. We are going to look back at this one and be glad we got it.”

The Rogers game was a nice bounce-back for junior quarterback Gary Phillips and the Van Buren offense. The unit didn’t have a turnover in the win after committing six against Fort Smith Northside in their previous game.

“That Northside game didn’t faze him at all,” Tuck said of Phillips. “He is such a smart kid we were able to go through so much film with him. Our quarterback coach Kevin Ross does a great job with those guys. They spent a lot of time going play by play and in a lot of detail what happened.”

Phillips for the season has completed 50 of 91 passes for 866 yards with 7 touchdowns while adding 38 carries for 287 yards with 7 touchdowns on the ground for the Pointers.

“Gary is a kid that is only going to get better,” Tuck said. “I know he played a little quarterback for us last year, but he really was a receiver. This is just his first year as a starting varsity quarterback. There are still things to learn. But he has grown so much just this season.”