Fumble recovery gets Pointers rolling

VAN BUREN — The first play of the second half was all Van Buren needed to gain the momentum and down Russellville 31-14 on Friday night at Blakemore Field.

Pointers linebacker Bill Lookadoo scooped up a Cyclones fumble on the first snap of the second half and returned it to the Russellville 6 with Van Buren (4-3, 2-2 7A/6A-Central) leading 17-7. Ethan Hudspeth scored on the next play to give the Pointers a commanding 24-7 lead and the Cyclones never recovered.

“We self-destructed,” Russellville Coach Jeff Holt said. “We did some good things in the first half. We knew exactly what we wanted to do in the second half. Instead, we turn it over and self destruct. You can’t beat good teams like that.”

Van Buren Coach Brooks Coatney said despite the Pointers’ lead that the Cyclones could steal the momentum.

“We talked at halftime that there was going to be a moment where the game was going to be swung in somebody’s favor,” Coatney said. “Even though we had the lead, there were going to get the ball and with their weapon they have if they score they can swing the game in their favor. We made a bigtime play and the offense converted so the momentum swung in our favor.”

Russellville (2-5, 0-4) went backward on its next two possessions of the second half.

Van Buren added a 43yard scoring pass from Jordan Barlow to Brandon Chambers with 4:43 left in the third period to open a 31-7 advantage.

“Tonight we were able to avoid making big mistakes,” Coatney said. “That is a key to us … playing a key game.”

The Pointers held the Cyclones to 245 total yards, which pleased Coatney, especially since Russellville moved receiver Tony Jones to quarterback.

“Defensively we played great,” Coatney said. “They put [Jones] in at quarterback and we were concerned. The defense did a good job of hemming him up.

The Pointers led 17-7 at halftime by keeping the ball most of the first period, before hitting big plays in the second. Van Buren gained 238 yards in the first half (157 rushing, 81 passing).

“I thought we did a good job of establishing the line of scrimmage,” Coatney said.

Van Buren scored on its first two possessions. Jaylyn Dye scored on an 17-yard run, capping a 10- play, 63-yard drive. On its next possession, the Pointers went 57 yards to the Russellville 8 before settling for a 26-yard field goal by Cade Almond for a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Russellville scored early in the second quarter on a 18-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Co-Chese Temple-Laws.

Even though the Pointers added a touchdown on Hudspeth’s 10-yard touchdown run with 1:56 left in the first half to lead 17-7.

Holt said he felt good about his team going into the locker room.

“We were fine in the first half. We were doing some different things and it took a little time to get settled, but I thought we were in the game,” Holt added. “It was just that six-minute stretch in the second half was just disastrous.”