Frustration ends for Springdale
SPRINGDALE 43, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 42
SPRINGDALE — Zak Clark wiped away sweat, tears and more than a decade of futility as he was mobbed at midfield by his Springdale players and most of the student body.
The Bulldogs football coach erased 11 consecutive seasons of losses to crosstown rival Springdale Har-Ber in Friday night’s 43-42 victory in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
Not since the first year after the Springdale schools opened the second high school have the Bulldogs walked off the field with a victory.
It wasn’t easy, nor did it look like it was possible late in the fourth quarter.
“This is unbelievable,” Clark said. “That’s why you play every second and every snap.”
Springdale trailed 42-28 with 9:18 left in the game after Har-Ber junior Jay Burns scored his fourth touchdown to go along with 329 yards rushing on a 48-yard burst through the Bulldogs’ defense.
With just over four minutes left, Springdale (5-1, 2-1 7A-West) drove 94 yards in 10 plays with senior quarterback Grant Allen hitting 7 of 10 passes on the drive, including a 24-yard strike to Connor Sikes to pull the Bulldogs within 42-35 with 2:38 left.
Springdale attempted an onside kick, but Har-Ber’s Reid Tatom fought for the recovery near midfield. In the scrum to get the ball, HarBer (3-3, 1-2) was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, then the Wildcats were flagged twice for false starts. The loss in field position proved to be huge.
The Bulldogs forced a HarBer punt, and Brock Pounders returned the kick to the Springdale 43 with 1:09 left. Allen got his team inside the Har-Ber 25 after a 20-yard dart to Martre Simon with 34 seconds left and no timeouts remaining.
Allen found Sikes in the right corner of the end zone with nine seconds left, pulling Springdale within 42-41.
“No, there was no doubt, none,” Clark said about the decision to go for the win rather than the tie to force overtime. “We had a play ready. We told the guys in the huddle when Brock returned the punt, so we knew what play we were going to.”
Sometimes even the best-laid plans go awry, and this one did not develop as planned when Allen took the snap.
“The play was designed to be a dig in the back of the end zone,” Allen said. “But [Hunter] Wood covered it up, so I just tried to keep the play alive and Jaden [Cornelius] was wide open and made a great catch.”
Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood said he was proud of both teams.
“I thought this was a great high school football game,” Wood said.