Hannon at best against the best

If Springdale Har-Ber was to knock off the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s No. 1 team in the state last Friday, it was going to have to turn to running back Luke Hannon.

Hannon was up to the challenge, rushing for a career-high 333 yards and 4 touchdowns on 47 carries in the Wildcats’ 47-43 victory over Fayetteville at Wildcat Stadium in Springdale.

It’s nothing new for Springdale Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood, whose team is the new No. 1-ranked team in the state after the victory.

“He’s a kid who loves to compete on the big stage,”

Wood said. “Friday night was one of those special nights.”

The senior’s accomplishments against Fayetteville earned him this week’s DemocratFeat of the Week honor.

Hannon, 5-10, 190 pounds, scored on runs of 7, 1, 19 and 3 yards. He also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass at the end of the first half from senior quarterback Fuller Chandler.

“We were trying to get the ball into the end zone,” Wood said. “Fuller did a good job. There were three Fayetteville kids there. It was one of the game-changing plays.

“You don’t usually come down with the ball in that situation. It was huge for us.”

Leading up to the 7A-West Conference game, Wood said ball control was going to be a key factor for the Wildcats (6-1, 4-0) against a Bulldogs (61, 3-1) team that had averaged more than 61 points per game in three league games.

“You have to move the chains and you have to run the ball,” Wood said. “You don’t want to match score for score against them. We wanted to eat up some clock.”

Hannon did his part, averaging 7.1 yards per carry with his longest run being 36 yards. He also caught 2 passes for 44 yards.

With three regular season games left, Hannon is 83 yards shy of breaking Derek Brinker’s school record of 3,005 yards, set in 2006-2008. Hannon has 2,923 yards after Friday’s game.

However, individual accomplishments are not what Hannon is about, Wood said.

“He’s humble,” Wood said. “He works hard. He comes to serve others in the program to make everybody successful. He’s the type of leader you want.”