Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mavs dominate regular-season finale
FORT SMITH — Southside seized control of the regular-season finale on Thursday night with opportunistic offensive and defensive performances in a 37-17 win over Springdale.
Southside earned a berth in the Class 7A playoffs and will play at North Little Rock in the first round on Friday.
Southside scored on its first two plays on Thursday, intercepted three passes in the first half and recovered two fumbles in the second half to more than keep Springdale at bay.
Southside rolled up 411 yards of offense without running back Isaac Gregory in the lineup due to an injury.
Carter Zimmerman started at quarterback mostly playing running back with George Herrell performing admirably at quarterback. Greyson York had a big night at receiver with six catches for 126 yards.
“When somebody goes down, we ask everybody to step up and everybody to improve their game,” Southside coach Kim Dameron said. “We had George who was more active at the quarterback position, and Carter was playing both quarterback and running back. Then, Greyson is Mr. Dependable anyway. So, those three guys really were instrumental in our ability to maintain offensively what we needed to get accomplished.”
Defensively, Russell Key, Blake Mitchell and Ben Beland intercepted passes in the first half. Devin Huggins recovered a fumble that Andrew Reeder forced to end Springdale’s first possession of the third quarter and Devin Huggins recovered a fumble on a punt return that John Parkinson forced midway of the third quarter.
Southside turned the turnovers into 13 points.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Junior quarterback Carter Zimmerman went through a gaping hole on the left side and ran 80 yards on Southside’s first play of the game for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead with 9:20 left in the first quarter.
“I got the ball and just a huge gap opened up, and I hit it,” Zimmerman said. “It was great blocking. It was fun, but it was exhausting.”
On Southside’s next offensive play, Zimmerman zipped a pass to Greyson York, who ran a slant pattern, caught the ball in stride and sprinted 70 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 7:47 left in the quarter.
“On that, I’m just reading the outside linebacker,” Zimmerman said. “If he goes with the run, I just hit York right behind him. That’s exactly what he did, I hit him, and he did the rest. It was a great run.”
Zimmerman finished with 198 yards on 20 carries although he played more at running back with George Herrell playing brilliantly at quarterback when called upon. Zimmerman was needed at running back with Isaac Gregory, the leading rusher in Class 7A this season, out due to an injury suffered last week. Zimmerman felt a little need to take over for Gregory but with little pressure.
“In ways, but our offense has been good all year,” Zimmerman said. “We have the best offensive line in the state. I know if I step up and do my job, they’re going to do theirs.”
Zimmerman also had a 45-yard touchdown run from running back.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Junior defensive end John Parkinson led a relentless defensive charge against Springdale. Parkinson had two sacks, three tackles for loss yardage, forced a fumble and was in on eight tackles in all.
“It was very much a fun game,” Parkinson said.
Kage Castling also had a sack, and Southside’s pass rush also forced three interceptions and two fumbles.
“Last year, we were in the same position as them so we knew what it was going to be like,” Parkinson said. “We knew they were going to come and play as hard as they could as long as they could. We were thinking turnovers were the key to the game and we ended up with the most we’ve had in a game and in a half.”
INJURY REPORT
Southside running back Isaac Gregory did not play due to an injury suffered against Springdale Har-Ber and remains questionable for the playoff game.
NOTABLE
Southside won three of its final four games of the regular season and earned the school’s 33rd playoff appearance. … The five forced turnovers by Southside’s defense was a season high. … Despite not playing on Thursday, Isaac Gregory led Class 7A in the regular season in rushing with 1,512 yards, which is the most for a Southside running back since Daniel McGee ran for 1,709 yards in 2008. … Quarterback George Herrell has thrown for 1,155 yards and six touchdowns. … Southside finished the regular season averaging 32 points and 412 yards per game.
UP NEXT
Southside, the fifth seed from the 7A-West, will travel in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs to North Little Rock, the fourth seed from the 7A-Central. Springdale’s season is completed.