Pointers pound Mounties

VAN BUREN — Junior quarterback Gary Phillips and the Van Buren Pointers couldn’t wait to get back on the field Friday night after a loss against Fort Smith Northside followed by an open week.

It showed. Van Buren used an efficient offensive effort to take a big lead and it was backed by a strong defensive performance to pull away with a 5213 victory against Rogers High to open 7A-West Conference play.

The Van Buren offense turned the ball over six times in its 44-6 loss to Northside. Phillips and the offense wanted to get things right after that heading back to Blakemore Field.

“We just had to bounce back and not hang our heads after that Northside game,” Phillips said. “That’s what we did. That’s behind us, but we did learn from it. The off week helped us too because we got to work on what we needed to fix. We just played our football game. We get touchdowns on offense, and we get stops on defense.”

Phillips finished 9 of 12 passing for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also added 109 yards on the ground on just 5 touches with 2 touchdowns. Senior wideout Maury Newton had 2 catches for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns. Issac Nason also had a touchdown with 4 catches for 66 yards.

Rogers (0-4, 0-1 7A-West) was led by running back Aron Rendon, who finished with 20 carries for 73 yards.

Van Buren (3-1, 1-0) took its five first-half possessions on offense and turned them all into touchdowns. The Pointers got a defensive touchdown as well, which helped them build a 42-7 lead heading into halftime.

“I felt like our guys played pretty good across the board,” Van Buren firstyear coach Crosby Tuck said. “This is the most solid performance we have had this season. We’ve had good games like against Alma. But we weren’t as clean and as sharp as we were tonight.”

The Mounties entered the game averaging 41 points on offense while averaging about 370 yards of passing. The Pointers were able to hold them to just 132 yards in the air.

“Defensively, I was really proud of the way we played,” Tuck said. “Rogers has had a lot of success this season already. To only hold that unit to seven points is a great performance. That goes to defensive coordinator Moe Henry, the defensive staff and the kids getting ready the last two weeks.”

The Pointers needed just six plays to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Phillips found Newton for a 23-yard touchdown pass to cap the drive.

Van Buren got a key defensive stop after the quick score. Rogers was able to get down to the opposing 22 on its second drive of the game but turned the ball over on downs.

Van Buren’s offense needed just one play after that to take a 14-0 lead. Phillips found Newton again for a 78-yard touchdown toss.

Brayden Rivas ended the first-quarter scoring for Van Buren to extend the advantage out to 21-0. He took a direct snap and pushed his way into the end zone after that for a 1-yard touchdown.

Phillips ran for a 22-yard touchdown to make it a 28-0 lead for the Pointers to open the scoring in the second quarter.

Rogers was able to find its way on offense on the fifth possession of the night. Hunter Loyd found Christian Francisco for a 12-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 28-7.

Van Buren closed out the second quarter strong by getting another touchdown on offense and another on defense. Phillips found Nason for a 1-yard touchdown, and Jaiden Henry had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“It was a really good exclamation mark on a really good half,” Tuck said of the interception. “To put us up by 35 at the half is always important against an offense like that. I’ve seen them score a bunch of points in the second half. We didn’t assume it was done.”

Van Buren continued to find success in the second half. Phillips scored on the third play after the break on a 60-yard rush to make it a 49-7 advantage for Van Buren and put the game well out of reach.

“This is a big win for us,” Tuck said. “We wanted to come out here and play crisp football, and that’s what we did. I’m really proud of the effort our guys played with tonight.”

FOUR DOWNS

• Van Buren’s first punt of the night came on its ninth possession of the game.

• Van Buren quarterback Gary Phillips played only one drive in the second half before giving way to Jaiden Henry and Connor Brady with the big lead.

• Van Buren senior Madalyn Doolittle was named the homecoming queen.

• Both programs continue 7A-West Conference play next week. Rogers travels to Fayetteville, while Van Buren heads to Bentonville High.