Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Lopez-Fulbright, Vanzant have big days
Fort Smith Southside’s chance at making the playoffs was fading fast after the Mavericks fell behind 24-10 to Springdale on the Bulldogs’ home field.
But senior Desmond LopezFulbright came alive in the second half to make sure the Mavericks lived to play another day. Lopez-Fullbright had 9 catches for 115 yards for Southside, which rallied for a 52-51 win and clinched a first- round playoff game at North Little Rock.
Lopez- Fullbright made all of his catches in the final 15 minutes of the game and his 39-yard touchdown reception gave Southside its first lead at 45-38 with eight minutes, nine seconds left. He also caught touchdown passes of 8 and 9 yards.
“Desmond came up big for us this week,” Southside coach Kim Dameron said. “He made several big catches and scored three times. His biggest catch was on 4th-and-6 late in the game to keep a drive going. We scored on the next play.”
For his performance, Lopez- Fulbright is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Player of the Week for teams in the River Valley. Cameron Vanzant of Farmington is the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Player of the Week for teams in Northwest Arkansas. Southside ( 2- 8, 2- 5) piled up 42 points and 331 yards in the second half to overcome a poor first-half performance by the Mavericks. Lopez- Fulbright said a heart- to- heart talk among the seniors was the extra motivation Southside needed in the second half to salvage its season.
“Coach gave us seniors time to talk during halftime,” Lopez-Fulbright said. “Luke Wyatt came in there and poured his heart out and I think it really connected with our team. We came out there in the second half and gave it our all.”
Vanzant’s play as a firstyear starter is a primary reason for Farmington’s turnaround this season. The sophomore quarterback had his biggest game yet with six touchdowns passes in a 47-29 victory over Alma. The victory clinched a No. 3 seed for the Cardinals ( 8-2, 5-2 5A-West), who’ll begin the playoffs at White Hall Friday in a first-round game.
Vanzant threw for 328 yards and three of his six touchdown passes went to Chase Brown, who scored the first two touchdowns for the Cardinals. Justin Logue added a touchdown catch before Farmington erupted for 19 consecutive points in the second half to take a 40-14 lead.
“Cameron played an outstanding game,” Farmington coach J. R. Eldridge said. “He is doing a great job of seeing the field and distributing the ball to our offensive skill players. I am very proud of the way he played on Friday night.”