PANTHER GAMEDAY

Heber Springs heads to Greenbrier to tangle with Panthers
  • Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Greenbrier
  • Admission: $5
  • Radio: Billy Morgan with handle the play-by-play with Lance Hamilton providing color on KSUG 101.9 The Lake. Panther Pregame begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by the game.  You can listen live here.

LAST SEASON

Greenbrier takes advantage of Heber Springs miscues.

LAST WEEK

Heber Springs fell to Clinton, 28-27, while Greenbrier was idle.

GREENBRIER AGAINST BEEBE

Greenbrier opened its season in the week 0 at Beebe. The Badgers led at the half 14-10 while the Panthers led 16-14 at the end of three quarters. Greenbrier exploded for 17 fourth-quarter points to blow open the game. The Panthers did most of their damage on the ground with senior Peyton Long rushing 16 times for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jackson Riddle was 11 of 24 passing for 165 yards with a touchdown and interception. Defensively senior Ryan Bernard paced Greenbrier with 10 tackles and an interception.

COACH COX ON LAST WEEK, PRACTICE THIS WEEK AND GREENBRIER

CONFERENCE/OPPONENT RESULTS

  • WEEK 0
  • Greenbrier 33, Beebe 14
  • Riverview 48, Brookland 32
  • Central Arkansas Christian 48, Mayflower 0
  • Pocahontas 42, Southside Batesville 18
  • DeWitt 36, Stuttgart 33
  • Harding Academy 55, Bald Knob 20
  • Carlisle 38, Lonoke 13
  • WEEK 1
  • Clinton 28, Heber Springs 27
  • Valley View 28, Bald Knob 8
  • Southside Batesville 40, Cave City 8
  • DeWitt 46, Riverview 35
  • Little Rock Mills 35, Jacksonville 8
  • Harding Academy 47, Highland 20

THIS WEEK

Heber Springs at Greenbrier

Little Rock Mills at Little Rock Hall

Lonoke at Beebe

Trumann at Southside Batesville

Riverview at Highland

Stuttgart at Warren

Central Arkansas Christian at Baptist Prep

Clinton at Conway Christian

Idle: Bald Knob, Harding Academy

GREENBRIER GRADUATE

New Heber Springs assistant senior high, and head junior high, football coach Chase Roberts is a graduate of Greenbrier High School and played under current Greenbrier coach Randy Tribble.

Heber Springs vs. Greenbrier
The Series

Greenbrier leads 24-14
LAST MEETING: 2018 at Heber Springs, Greenbrier won, 41-16
Last Week: Heber Springs lost at Clinton, 28-27; Greenbrier was idle but won at Beebe, 33-14 in week 0.
FRIDAY NIGHT: Friday night’s match-up in Greenbrier will be the 39th in the series between Heber Springs and Greenbrier. The two teams first met in 1969 during Greenbrier’s first season of football. The Panthers won that contest 6-0. Greenbrier won the next meeting by the same score in 1970 before the Panthers reeled off five straight in the series winning those five contests by a combined 106-14. The teams would meet continuously from 1969 until 1991. The series resumed from 1993 until 2002. The teams split a two-game series in 2008-2009 with the Panthers claiming a 33-7 victory at Greenbrier in 2009, their last victory in the series. The teams have met for the past five seasons with Greenbrier winning all five those contests by a combined 225-120 (45 ppg vs. 24 ppg).
STREAKS: Heber Springs won five straight in the series from 1971-1975 while Greenbrier won five straight twice from 1987-1993 and from 2014-2018.
OVERTIME: The teams have played only one overtime contest, that coming in 1994, a 22-21 Heber Springs victory.
LAST ONE FOR A WHILE: This will be the final meeting between the two schools for the foreseeable future. Greenbrier has an average daily membership (ADM) for grades 10 through 12 of 825.67 students for the 2020-2022, up from 809 in the 2018-2020 cycle. Greenbrier is the 36th largest school in the state and fourth largest in 5A. Heber Springs has ADM of 383.33 for the upcoming cycle ranking it 22nd in class 4A and 85th overall, that is down from the 406.67 for the current cycle. With those numbers in mind, Greenbrier has been replaced on the nonconference schedule for the next two seasons with Dover in week 3. Heber Springs will open with Newport (replacing Clinton, who is moving back up to class 4A and into the 4A-2 conference), Harding Academy in week 2 and Dover in week 3.
CONFERENCE FOES: The two teams were members of the 12A in 1974-76, the 1AA-East from 1977-1982, the 5AA-North from 1983-1990, and the 4AA-East in 1993-94. Greenbrier moved into the 5A-West conference the following season.

GETTING YOU READY FOR GAMEDAY LINKS

Panthers fall in opener to Clinton

Former Panthers meet on college gridiron

JUNIOR HIGH FOOTBALL

Panthers fall in Searcy

SEVENTH-GRADE FOOTBALL

Panthers improve to 2-0 with win in final minute

Heber Springs Seventh-Grade Quarterback Liam Buffalo. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

PANTHER SPORTS THIS WEEK

  • Monday, September 16 – Golf at Searcy Country Club, 3:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, September 17 – Golf at Greystone in Cabot, 3:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, September 17 – Tennis vs. Morrilton, 3:30 p.m.
  • Tuesday, September 17 – Volleyball vs. Joe T. Robinson, 4:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 19 – Golf at Red Apple Inn, 1 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 19 – Tennis (Boys) at Subiaco Academy, 3:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 19 – Volleyball at Dover, 4:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 19 – Junior, 7th-football idle
  • Friday, September 20 – Senior Football vs. Harding Academy, 7 p.m.

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Junior Panthers fall to Harding Academy

Heber Springs’ Conner Riddle. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

September 12, 2019

By PHILIP SEATON

SEARCY – Harding Academy quarterback Kade Smith rushed for 247 yards and three touchdowns as the Wildcats downed Heber Springs, 40-0, in junior high action Thursday night.

Heber Springs (0-2) held Smith in check early though he did manage a 44-yard touchdown run and successful 2-point rush with 4:50 left in the first quarter. The Wildcats first score came off a Panther turnover. Heber Springs took the opening kickoff and moved inside Harding Academy territory thanks in part to a 15-yard run by Xander Lindley, but an interception stalled the drive.

The Panthers picked up a first-down on their next possession when Conner Riddle connected with Kenan Sneed for an 18-yard pass completion, but the drive stalled and Heber Springs was forced to punt.

The Panthers got the ball back two plays later when Hunter Edwards stepped in front of a Smith pass and returned it 14 yards — late in the contest Edwards would be carted off the field with an apparent arm injury.

Heber Springs then proceed to move the ball deep into Wildcat territory. On third-and-1, Riddley again found Sneed, this time for 10 yards to put on the Harding Academy 27. A third-down run by Channer Smith moved it to the Wildcat 17 while Riddle followed on the next play with a 14-yard run to put on the 3. But from there the drive would stall and Heber Springs would turn the ball over on downs with 5:10 left in the first half.

From there, the Wildcats would go on a 13-play, 97-yard drive to go up 16-0 with 48 seconds left in the half as Smith kept for an 11-yard touchdown run and successful 2-point run.

The Wildcats wasted no time going up 24-0 in the second half using a three-play, 58-yard drive that Kyler Hoover capped off with a six-yard touchdown run.

Heber Springs’ best chance to score in the second half came after Riddle picked off Smith and returned it 36 yards to the Wildcat 33. After a first-down pass from Lindley to Dalton Yancey moved to the Wildcat 13, the drive would fizzle out three plays later when Lindley was intercepted.

Harding Academy would close out the third-quarter scoring on the next play when Smith raced 83 yards for the score on the quarter’s final play.

The Wildcats added another score with 1:30 left when Hoover ran in from 15 yards out.

Heber Springs will be idle on Thursday before return to play on September 26 when it travels to Lonoke.

Heber Springs junior high head coach Chase Roberts after Harding Academy

Panther 7th-Graders claim win in final seconds

Heber Springs quarterback Liam Buffalo looks for running room as coaches Drew Lawrence and Jay Bishop look on during seventh-grade football action in Searcy. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

September 12, 2019

By PHILIP SEATON

SEARCY – Heber Springs scored a touchdown in the final minute to pull out an 18-14 victory over Harding Academy Thursday night in Searcy.

The Panthers improved to 2-0 with the win and will be off next week before returning to action on September 27 at Lonoke.

On Thursday, it was last-minute heroics that got the win for the Panthers.

Heber Springs Ty West running up field against Harding Academy on Thursday. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

After Harding went up 14-12 with 4:36 to play, Heber Springs marched the ball downfield mainly on the legs of quarterback Laim Buffalo, but the drive appeared to stall with the Panthers facing a fourth-and-5 from the Wildcat 17. Instead of going with the legs of Buffalo, it was his arm as he connected with Weston Warden who caught the short pass and did the rest racing 17 yards for the score with 53.7 seconds left. The two-point conversion failed.

The Panther defense held Harding Academy and Heber Springs came away with the win.

Heber Springs’ Axley Davis takes the hand-off from Panther quarterback Liam Buffalo Thursday night in Searcy. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

Heber Springs struck first as Buffalo connected with Warden with a 77-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers up 6-0 with 11:21 to play in the first half.

After Harding Academy tied things up at 6-all with 5:41, Heber Springs struck right before halftime as Buffalo found Bryce Seigrest on a 60-yard touchdown pass.

Turnovers plagued Heber Springs in the second half leading to Harding Academy to taking the lead. After a turnover and the ensuing drive reached inside the Panther 25, Heber Springs’ defense stiffened and stopped the Wildcats on fourth down. But another turnover gave Harding Academy the ball back which led to Wildcat score.