Fayetteville gets everything going
NO. 1 FAYETTEVILLE 67, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 21
FAYETTEVILLE — Topranked Fayetteville showed out on both sides of the ball Friday night.
The Bulldogs’ defense dominated the first half before their high-powered offense took over in the second half as Fayetteville celebrated its homecoming with a 67-21 victory against Fort Smith Southside at Harmon Stadium.
Fayetteville drove up and down the field for two quick first-quarter scores that set the tone, with quarterback Taylor Powell finding Tyson Morris and Garland Allison for touchdowns that gave the Bulldogs a 15-0 lead less than five minutes into the game.
Then Fayetteville’s defense went to work, stuffing Fort Smith Southside’s running game while getting constant pressure on quarterback Cooper Johnson throughout the opening half.
“I thought the defense was outstanding,” Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. “They were flying around and getting after the quarterback and really stuffing their run game. ”
Fort Smith Southside (2-3, 0-2 7A-West) punted on each of its first five possessions and managed just 19 total yards on those drives. The Rebels finally put together a decent drive near the end of the half, but it failed on a fourth-and-10 attempt at the Fayetteville 26 that left the score 26-0.
“We missed some open passes and had some drops, but make no excuses,” Southside Coach Jeff Williams said. “Fayetteville did a great job.”
The second half turned into an all-out scoringfest, but that didn’t faze Fayetteville. Powell added touchdown passes to Bruce Armstrong and Javontae Smith. Smith and Luke Rapert both finished with more than 100 yards rushing as the Bulldogs poured on 41 points in the final 24 minutes.
Terrance Rock also scored on a 17-yard run and Drake Wymer found Harrison Shipley on a 25-yard touchdown pass as Fayetteville (5-0, 2-0) scored its most points in Patton’s 13 seasons at the school.
“We’ve got a good football team,” Patton said. “We’ve a good quarterback, we’ve got weapons at every spot, and we’ve got a good offensive line. Right now we’re protecting the ball and it’s just fun to watch.”
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 48, SPRINGDALE 10
SPRINGDALE — Senior quarterback Fuller Chandler accounted for 228 total yards and three touchdowns as the Springdale Har-Ber (4-1, 2-0 7A-West) routed Springdale (1-3, 1-1) in Chandler’s return to the school where he started the past two seasons.
Har-Ber’s starters built a 41-3 lead going into halftime and spent the second half on the sideline as the Wildcats rolled to their fourth consecutive victory and ninth consecutive in the series.
Luke Hannon had an even bigger outing. The senior running back ran for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns on 14 carries and caught 2 passes for 112 yards and 2 scores.
Chandler found Hannon for 79- and 33-yard touchdowns on Har-Ber’s first two drives, then Hannon scored on a 19-yard run and Chandler on a quarterback sneak, all in the first quarter.