Mounties secure 7A-West’s No. 3 seed

7A-WEST ROGERS 56, ROGERS HERITAGE 28

ROGERS — A four-touchdown explosion in the final 2 minutes, 28 seconds of the first half was more than enough to carry Rogers to its biggest win in 15 years.

The Mounties led crosstown Rogers Heritage just 2114, but by the time the halftime horn sounded, Rogers led 49-14 en route to a 56-28 win in Whitey Smith Stadium in the regular-season finale.

The win clinched the No. 3 playoff seed in the 7A-West, and for the first time since 2006, the Mounties will host a playoff game next week against Little Rock Catholic, the No. 6 seed from the 7A-Central. It will also mark the first home playoff game ever at Whitey Smith Stadium.

“Special teams,” said Rogers Coach Chad Harbison of what triggered the scoring surge. “Kade [Seldomridge] hits the punt return, then we stop them and get a punt block and scoop and score right there. Then we got it back and scored again. It was just a phenomenal couple of minutes right there.”

Heritage (0-10,0-7 7A-West), which lost its 32nd consecutive 7A-West game and its fourth consecutive winless conference slate, punched the Mounties (8-2, 5-2) in the mouth twice in the first half. The first came on the opening play of the game as Eli Craig found a gaping hole on the right side and raced 85 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead. Craig, who rushed for 210 yards and three touchdowns, later added a 69-yard scoring run with 7:02 left in the first half that cut Rogers’ lead to 21-14.

The Mounties came into the game needing several factors in order to earn the No. 3 seed. They not only needed to win the game, they also had a point differential to worry about.

In the final 2:08 of the half, the point differential became a moot point.

Rogers scored the first of the four-touchdown barrage by driving 80 yards in 10 plays. The Mounties had to overcome several penalties on the drive, but quarterback Noah Goodshield hit Finley Bunch down the middle of the field for a 24-yard scoring strike that extended the Mounties’ lead to 28-14.

After the Mounties stopped a Heritage drive, left defensive end Isaac Chapman reached out with his left hand to block a War Eagles’ punt, then scooped up the ball and ran 30 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 35-14.

“I saw I blocked it, I felt it hit my hand,” said Chapman. “Then I saw it went over to the side and one of their players went over there to get it. Jacob Jenkins went to go get the ball as well and he thought the other guy had the ball, so he jumped on him, and the ball just kind of popped and and I was able to scoop and score.”

Rogers executed a successful onside kick with Connor Lawson pouncing on the ball, and three plays later the Mounties were in the end zone again as Goodshield hit Seldomridge for 25 yards, then found Grayson Cash on a 9-yard scoring pass with just 39 seconds left before the half.

The Mounties were not done. Rogers was able to strip the ball away from a Heritage runner with 28 seconds left in the half, and recovered at the War Eagles’ 24. Goodshield punctuated the run with a 2-yard toss to Seldomridge that gave the Mounties a 4914 halftime lead.

Seldomridge also had a 57yard punt return for a score as the Mounties’ special teams units dominated the game. Running back Joshua Shepherd also had a big game for the Mounties with 174 yards on 9 carries including a 66yard touchdown run.

Harbison, in his first season as the Rogers coach, said earning a home playoff game was a big step for the program.

“This is good for school, it’s good for our community,” Harbison said. “There has never been a playoff game on this field since they built it, so that’s kind of a neat deal. So it’s special, It’s very special. It’s a step that we really wanted to take this year and I’m really proud of this team.”