Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Har-Ber rolls Rogers
ROGERS — Springdale Har-Ber struggled in the second half last week in a loss at Jenks, Okla. But the second half was all Wildcats on Friday night.
Har-Ber broke open a tight game with three third-quarter touchdowns and cruised to a 56-14 win over Rogers High to open 7A-West Conference play at Whitey Smith Stadium.
Junior quarterback Payton Copher ran for his second touchdown of the game and threw for two more in the third quarter to help the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0) break away from a 21-14 halftime lead.
The 6-foot, 177-pound speedster broke an 87-yard touchdown run on Har-Ber’s first possession of the second half, then found Trey Smith in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass after Rogers lost a fumble. Copher and Smith hooked up for another touchdown pass, this time from 38 yards out with 2 minutes, 39 seconds left in the third quarter.
Smith opened the fourth quarter with his third touchdown catch of the night, going 67 yards after taking a screen pass from Grant Allen, juking a defender and sailing down the sideline.
Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said his team played sloppy in the first half, after turning the ball over twice. But the Wildcats responded well in the final two quarters.
“Careless with the football, a pick six in the red zone and a fumble right before half,” Wood said.
“Defense played real well in the first half except the one series they go down and score. I thought we were just a little bit flat. Settled down at halftime and made some adjustments.
“We just grinded out a win on the road in the West and that’s what you want to try to do.”
Rogers (3-1, 0-1) used a 72-yard interception return from senior Clark Tichy for some early momentum, then pulled within 21-14 with a nice drive early in the second quarter. Grayson Lee plunged in from a yard out in a wildcat package. The Wildcats drove inside the Rogers 10 in the final two minutes of the half, but fumbled and Rogers defensive back Landon Harper recovered to stop that scoring chance.
Rogers coach Mike Loyd said he saw different teams in two halves Friday night.
“That’s what this team’s
got to decide,” Loyd said. “You want to be the team you saw in the first half that competed or do you want to be the team in the second half that came out, self destructed and didn’t react to adversity very well? Hopefully, we’re going to go on and learn from this and get better.
“The game of football is not 24 minutes, it’s 48 minutes. It’s not two quarters, it’s four quarters. Har-Ber got that and we need to understand that.”
The Mounties travel to take on crosstown rival Rogers Heritage next week, while Har-Ber hosts rival Springdale High.