It was the legs of senior quarterback Liam Buffalo and not his arm Friday night at Panther Stadium that was making history.
Buffalo became the first quarterback in recorded school history to rush for more than 200 yards in game in helping lead the Panthers to a 40-28 victory over Lamar.
Buffalo’s 213 yards on the ground was the 24th best performance in school history, but the best ever by a Heber Springs quarterback. Markeyvus Mays rushed for 332 yards against Harding Academy in 2010 to set the standard for all backs, but Buffalo bettered the previous best mark by a quarterback of 180 yards set by Jerry Todd in a 1964 game against Clinton.
The senior quarterback also had the seventh-best performance by a back rushing for 14.2 yards on 15 carries. Mays holds the overall mark rushing yards per attempt (minimum 10 attempts) at 29.5 set against Cave City in 2010. Buffalo did set the rushing average mark by a quarterback bettering the previous mark of 13.4 set by Birch Grisso in a 1983 game against Clinton.
Buffalo finished the night with four rushing touchdowns tying him for 4th all-time in a game with 15 others. Jerry Pilkington set the school record with eight against Ola in 1949. Mays finished with seven against Cave City in 2010 and five against Newport in 2010 for second and third on the list. Buffalo however was the first quarterback in recorded history to rush for four touchdowns. The previous record of three was held by 10 other Panther quarterbacks.