Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Connor in control
Flannigan powers Purple Bulldogs to victory
SPRINGDALE — Connor Flannigan was involved in almost every aspect of Fayetteville’s 45-20 win against Springdale High in the 116th renewal of the Battle of the Bulldogs.
The Purple’Dog senior caught 8 passes for 112 yards, gained 68 yards on the ground, returned a couple of kickoffs and even tossed a two-point conversion pass to his twin brother Brooks as Fayetteville defeated its longtime Washington County rival for the 11th straight season.
“It feels great anytime I can get my hands on the ball,” Connor said.
“We knew their defense was going to give us a lot of one-on-one matchups and they were good in the back end. When Isaiah (Sategna) went out, I knew I had to step up.”
A week after being targeted just twice in a lopsided loss to Bentonville, first-year Fayetteville coach Casey Dick said the team needed to find a way to get his playmaker more involved in the offense. Mission accomplished as Flannigan caught three touchdown passes and came within a whisker of scoring on a 60-yard run at the end of the game. He tripped at the one.
“It was crazy I ran all that way just to fall down,” Flannigan said. “Maybe my cleats were a little too loose. Who knows.”
Fayetteville (4-4, 3-2 7A-West) had to overcome a number of self-inflicted mistakes to earn an important win as the Bulldogs are in the thick of a fight for a home field playoff game with a top four finish in the West.
“It was crazy and something we will have to address moving forward,” Dick said of the high number of penalties his team incurred Friday night. “Not something we’re proud of by any means.”
Something Dick was proud of was the stellar play of his defensive front that dominated the line of scrimmage most of the game. In the first half, Springdale (3-5, 1-4) managed just 11 yards rushing and 14 of those came on a punt that Fayetteville blocked and a Springdale return man scooped up and picked up a first down.
“That is a group that we rely heavily on every week,” Dick said of his defensive front. “Our game plan revolves around those guys and what they’re able to do and we just have to continue to get better with that.”
Fayetteville took a 16-0 lead into halftime, scoring on its opening possession when Quinn McClain capped a short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs added a 25-yard field goal by Thomas Needy and the first of Flannigan’s three touchdowns on a 3-yard toss from Hank Gibbs.
The Purple’Dogs appeared to be cruising in the third quarter when Gibbs found Flannigan again on a 36-yard scoring strike then hit
Kameron Ingram on a 43-yard touchdown pass and a 31-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Springdale’s Landon Phipps tore through the Fayetteville return team and dashed 89 yards to give the Red’Dogs a spark, and after the Springdale defense came up with a stop, the Red’Dogs scored again as Phipps hit quarter- back Conner Hutchins for 40 yards on a flea-flicker, and Hutchins capped the drive with a 1-yard keeper to make it a 31-13 game.
Flannigan helped seal the win, capping a 50-yard drive with a highlight-reel fourthdown catch in the left corner of the end zone, his third score of the night.
FOUR DOWNS
• Gibbs was 17-of-26 passing for 257 yards and four touchdowns for Fayetteville.
• Fayetteville was penalized 19 times for 189 yards, and Springdale drew 8 penalties for 100 yards.
• The Purple’Dogs rushed for 203 yards with Jacob Sharits leading the way with 80 yards on 15 carries.
• Fayetteville will travel to Rogers Heritage next week, while Springdale will travel to Bentonville High.