Junior Panthers blank Bald Knob

Heber Springs’ Xander Lindley races toward the end zone against Bald Knob in junior high action at Panther Stadium. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

October 11, 2019

Xander Lindley rushed for a touchdown and was on the receiving end of another as Heber Springs defeated Bald Knob, 20-0.

Heber Springs improved to 2-4 on the season with the win and will travel to Southside Batesville on Thursday looking for its third consecutive win.

Ryan Bommarito paced the Panthers on the ground with 17 carries for 54 yards and a touchdown, a 2-yard run that put the Panthers up early.

After Heber Springs was forced to punt on its first possession, Conner Riddle picked off a Bald Knob pass attempt and returned it 23 yards to the Panther 43.

From there, Heber Springs marched down the field with a heavy dose of Bommarito on an 11-play drive that ninth-grader capped with a 2-yard run with 2:42 to play in the half. Bommarito carried the ball nine times on the drive. His 2-point run made it 8-0.

Heber Springs got the ball back after Tripp Young forced the Bald Knob ball carrier to cough up the football and Chris Roberts pounced on the ball with 50.2 seconds left in the half at the Bulldog 32.

The ensuing drive appeared to stall at 24 before the Panthers were able to draw Bald Knob offsides on fourth-and-2. On the next play, Riddle connected with Lindley for a 19-yard touchdown with 31.1 seconds in the half. The 2-point conversion failed.

Heber Springs scored its final points of the contest on its first possession of the second half as Lindley took the ball at the Panther 37 and raced 63 yards for the score with 3:14 left in the third quarter.

JUNIOR PANTHER TOUCHDOWN

HEBER SPRINGS COACH CHASE ROBERTS

Panther 7th-Graders shutout Bald Knob, 22-0

Heber Springs’ Harper Jones looks to get around a Bald Knob defender in seventh-grade football action at Panther Stadium. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

October 17, 2019

The Heber Springs seventh-grade football team broke a two-game skid with a 20-0 victory over Bald Knob at Panther Stadium.

The Panthers got on the scoreboard in the first half when Liam Buffalo connected with Weston Warden for a 10-yard pass. Buffalo ran in the 2-point conversion, the Panthers first successful 2-point conversion this season, to make it 8-0 with just over nine minutes left in the first half.

Heber Springs added to its advantage with just over 14 minutes left in the contest when Buffalo found Bryce Seigrest for a 30-yard touchdown pass to make it 16-0 after the successful 2-point conversion.

The Panthers tacked on another scored with 10:23 to go when Buffalo raced 21 yards to set the final score at 22-0.

Heber Springs (4-2) will travel to face Southside Batesville at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.

HEBER SPRINGS 2-POINT CONVERSION

Panther PostGame

Heber Springs falls to CAC, 24-6, in 4A-2 contest

Heber Springs’ Landon Johnson looks to make a tackle against CAC. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

October 11, 2019

Heber Springs struck first, but didn’t have an answer for Central Arkansas Christian’s Wildcat formation in a 24-6 setback at Panther Stadium.

Both teams were unable to do anything offensively on their first possessions of the contest as Adam Martin’s 55-yard punt was downed at the CAC 1 by Nathan McKee. The Mustangs did manage to pick up a first down before Kaden Hughes brought down CAC quarterback Palmer Gilbrech for the first of his two sacks on the night of the Mustang signal-caller.

After a 34-yard punt, Heber Springs (1-2 in the 4A-2) took over near midfield. A false start penalty, one of 13 on the night for the Panthers, forced a third and long for Heber Springs. Julio Rubio for the Panthers ripped off three consecutive runs that lead to the Heber Springs’ only score of the night with a 30-yard jaunt by the senior. The PAT kick was no-good with 1:42 to play in the first quarter.

The Mustangs responded on their next possession with a 10-play, 67-yard drive to take a 7-6 lead with 9:03 to play in the first half. The big play on the drive came on a fourth-and-2 from the Mustang 41 when Gentry Miller picked up 12 yards to keep the drive going. Tyler Williams capped it off with a 3-yard run six plays later.

Heber Springs wouldn’t threaten again in the contest until the game was out of reach in the fourth quarter and interception on the games final play sealed the win for the Mustangs.

Heber Springs managed to reach Gilbrech four times on the night for sacks before he was replaced by Williams who lined-up in the Wildcat package and rushed 26 times for 139 yards, the majority of those coming in the second half when CAC exclusively used the formation. Miller also broke the century mark for the Mustangs, running for 141 yards on 13 attempts.

SCORING

CAC (1-2, 3-3)                0   7   7  10  - 24   
Heber Springs (1-2, 1-5)      6   0   0   0  -  6   

FIRST QUARTER   
Heber Springs - Julio Rubio 30-yard run (kick failed), 1:42 
SECOND QUARTER   
CAC - Tyler Williams 3-yard run (Eli Jenkins kick), 9:03
THIRD QUARTER   
CAC - Tyler Williams 1-yard run (Eli Jenkins kick), 1:42  
FOURTH QUARTER  
CAC - Eli Garrison 26-yard field goal, 10:06
CAC - Gentry Miller 11-yard run (Eli Jenkins kick), 2:21 

TEAM STATS

First Downs by Rush: Heber Springs 6, CAC 11  
First Downs by Pass: Heber Springs 9, CAC 1  
First Downs by Penalty: Heber Springs 4, CAC 0  
Total First Downs: Heber Springs 19, CAC 12  
Third-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 4/12, CAC 2/12  
Fourth-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 0/2, CAC 3/4  
Red-Zone Possessions: Heber Springs 0/2, CAC 4/4    
Time of Possession: Heber Springs 21:17, CAC 26:43 
Fumbles/Lost: Heber Springs 2/1, CAC 1/0   
Turnovers: Heber Springs 2, CAC 0   
Points Off Turnovers: Heber Springs 0, CAC 0    
Penalties/Yards: Heber Springs 13/100, CAC 11/105   
Plays/Total Offense/YPP: Heber Springs 63/257/4.1, CAC 57/300/5.3  
Rushing: Heber Springs 31/108/3.5, CAC 49/262/5.4  
Passing: Heber Springs 17/32-149-0/1, CAC 6/8-38-0/0   
Sacks/Yards Lost: Heber Springs 4/21, CAC 2/11 
Punts: Heber Springs 7/316/45.1, CAC 6/254/42.3   
Punts Inside 20: Heber Springs 3, CAC 3  

INDIVIDUAL STATS

OFFENSE RUSHING: Heber Springs, Julio Rubio 13/73/5.6, Adam Martin 12/10/.8, Landon Johnson 6/25/4.2. CAC, Tyler Williams 26/139/5.4, Gentry Miller 13/141/10.8, Palmer Gilbrech 5/(-16)/(-3.2), Eli Jenkins 3/5/1.7, Carlito London 1/(-2), Team 1/(-5).    
RUSHING RUNS OF 50+: CAC, Gentry Miller (1)
RUSHING RUNS OF 40+: CAC, Gentry Miller (1)
RUSHING RUNS OF 30+: Heber Springs, Julio Rubio (1). CAC, Gentry Miller (1).  
RUSHING RUNS OF 20+: Heber Springs, Julio Rubio (1). CAC, Gentry Miller (1).
RUSHING RUNS OF 10+: Heber Springs, Julio Rubio (2). CAC, Gentry Miller (4), Tyler Williams (4).
PASSING: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 17/32-149-0/1. CAC, Palmer Gilbrech 6/8-38-0/0, Tyler Williams 0/2-0-0/0 
RECEIVING: Heber Springs, Tri Johnson 7/48, Landon Johnson 3/30, Fate Berry 2/26, Matthew Cook 2/7, Julio Rubio 1/18, Hunter Kent 1/14. CAC, Tyler Williams 3/5, Eli Garrison 2/15, Eli Jenkins 1/18.   
TOTAL OFFENSE: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 155, Julio Rubio 73, Landon Johnson 25. CAC, Gentry Miller 141, Tyler Williams 139, Palmer Gilbrech 22, Eli Jenkins 5, Carlito London (-2), Team (-5).
PUNT RETURNS: Heber Springs, Nathan McKee 1/(-2). CAC, Gentry Miller 1/11. 
KICK RETURNS: Heber Springs, Tri Johnson 2/45. CAC, Carlito London 2/33
FUMBLE RETURNS: None   
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: CAC, Carlito London 1/65 
ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: Heber Springs, Tri Johnson 93, Julio Rubio 91, Landon Johnson 55, Fate Berry 26, Hunter Kent 14, Adam Martin 10, Matthew Cook 7, Nathan McKee (-2). CAC, Gentry Miller 152, Tyler Williams 144, Carlito London 96, Eli Jenkins 23, Eli Garrison 15, Team (-5), Palmer Gilbrech (-16).
DEFENSE TACKLES (Shared/Solo/Total): Heber Springs, Landon Johnson 6/7/13, Diego Rubio 7/2/9, Fate Berry 4/3/7, Kaden Hughes 4/3/7, Nathan McKee 3/2/5, Lawrence Baureis 5/0/5, Matthew Cook 4/1/5, Hunter Kent 3/1/4, Tri Johnson 3/0/3, Nicholas Hitchcock 1/2/3, Levy Phillips 1/1/2, Jackson Harrod 0/1/1, Harley Hannah 0/1/1.
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Heber Springs, Fate Berry 2, Nicholas Hitchcock 2, Kaden Hughes 2, Landon Johnson 1, Diego Rubio 1, Lawrence Bauries 1. 
SACKS/YARDS LOST: Heber Springs, Kaden Hughes 2/10, Fate Berry 1/7, Tri Johnson .5/4, Nicholas Hitchcock .5/4. CAC, Rhett James 1/7, Drew Donaghy 1/2 
INTERCEPTIONS: CAC, Carlito London (1).
PUNTING: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 7/316/45.1, Eli Garrison 6/254/42.3  
PUNTS INSIDE 20: Heber Springs, Adam Martin (3). CAC, Eli Garrison (3).