Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Battle of Springdale
Wildcats claim bragging rights with 35-14 win over Bulldogs.
SPRINGDALE — Bragging rights go to Springdale Har-Ber for another year as the Wildcats claimed the Battle of Springdale with a 35-14 win Friday night at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
Har- Ber ( 2- 4, 2- 1 7A-West) locked down Springdale’s run game in the second half and won its second straight game after an 0-4 start to the season. The Wildcats held Springdale (2-4, 1-2) to just 9 yards rushing in the second half.
“I think we’re getting there,” said Har-Ber coach Chris Wood. “Tonight we were really choppy, but Springdale had a lot to do with that. A couple of possessions I thought we were pretty efficient, but overall I thought we played choppy. We found a way to grind it out. We didn’t throw the ball real well tonight, but you have to run the football if you’re going to win in this league.”
The Wildcats didn’t have to throw the ball much after pounding out 320 yards on the ground on 49 carries, averaging better than 6.5 yards per carry. Har-Ber piled up almost 200 yards on the ground in the second half to build on its 14-7 halftime lead.
Har- Ber sophomore Hudson Brewer led the ground game with 160 yards on 22 carries and scored four touchdowns, the last a 37-yard dagger with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the game to punctuate the win. Of his 22 carries, four went for double- digit gains including a 36-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
“He’s a physical kid,” said Wood. “He’s just a 10th-grader, so he’s still learning all the nuances of being in the system and being a downhill guy. He carried that over with him from junior high. His dad was an unbelievable football player at Springdale, one of the really special players who came through here, so Hudson has a lot of that DNA in him.”
Springdale opened the game with a methodical 17-play drive that did not produce points but did set the early tone. The Bulldogs found the end zone on their second possession, driving 62 yards to take a 7-0 lead. Junior quarterback Landon Phipps led the march with his legs and Gilberto Dominguez finished it with a bruising 12-yard run with 11:49 left in the first half.
Har-Ber responded by driving 80 yards in 9 plays to tie the score at 7-7. A 15-yard face mask penalty against
the Bulldogs helped the drive, but Brewer had a run of 15 yards and Reiter added a 19-yard burst to set up Brewer’s short scoring run with 8:15 left in the half.
The Wildcats scored again with just 17 seconds left in the half, again driving 80 yards. McClendon connected with Reiter for 16 yards, then the Wildcats ripped off run gains of 22 by Reiter, 18 by McClendon and 12 by Brewer in successive snaps before Brewer capped the drive with another short run.
Har-Ber’s defense set the tone in the second half and senior linebacker Billy Tillery led the way. Tillery was in on a host of tackles and helped the Wildcats shut down Springdale’s run game.
“We talked about at halftime to maintain the quarterback and not let him get outside of us,” Tillery said. “We had to defend against the deep ball.”
Phipps did connect with Kaylon Morris on a huge 63-yard strike in the fourth quarter that set up Springdale’s only second-half touchdown. Phipps also hit Gavin McVay for 16 yards, then added the 1-yard touchdown run with 8:44 left in the game to pull the Bulldogs within 2814.
But the Bulldogs suffered four interceptions in the second half, including back-toback possessions, and Brewer added the late touchdown to seal the win for the Wildcats.
FOUR DOWNS
• Brewer was not alone on piling up impressive numbers on the ground for Har-Ber. Quarterback Drue McClendon rushed for 90 yards and added a second-half touchdown, and Lane Reiter added 59 yards on 11 carries and was a factor in the limited passing game for the Wildcats.
• Kaylon Morris had another big game for Springdale, catching 5 passes for 100 yards. It was Morris’ second-straight 100-plus yard receiving game.
• Longtime Springdale Public Schools superintendent Jim Rollins and Hartzell Jones were honored before the game and presented plaques for their
support of Springdale High School athletics. The plaques will hang in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
• Next Week: Springdale will travel to take on Rogers High, and Har-Ber will be at home to take on Bentonville West. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. kickoffs.