Brody Loethen Archives

Junior Panthers claim win over Jonesboro Westside

IMG_5827 (2) — Heber Springs’ **Aiden Isom** gets tackled in the air by Jonesboro Westside’s **Aiden Turner** after a leaping over a Warrior defender in junior high action at Panther Stadium **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

By PHILIP SEATON
MarkedTime.com Publisher

The Heber Springs Panthers claimed their first win of the season with a 24-14 in junior high action at Panther Stadium.

Coach Curtis Shannon’s team improved to 1-2 on the season with the win in the final nonconference contest for Heber Springs.

The game didn’t start well for the Panthers as Jonesboro Westside took the opening kickoff and after three plays, had an 8-0 advantage. Hunter Kaja scored on a 41-yard run and then Ashton Henson added the 2-point conversion with 6:02 left in the opening quarter for that lead.

The Panthers then reeled off 24 unanswered to take control of the contest.

Heber Springs’ first score came on its first possession of the contest.

After Aiden Isom return Westside’s ensuing kickoff 12 yards, the Panthers started on their own 34 then used a 12-play drive the ended on the last play of the quarter with Landon Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run. Brown added the 2-point conversion to tie things up at 8-all.

The teams traded possession before the Warriors turned the ball late in the first half on their own 25 as Rhett Herring recovered the loose football.

Lachlan Tubbs picked up five yards on the first play after the turnover, then Isom raced 20 yards for the touchdown. Brown’s 2-point conversion gave Heber Springs a 16-8 advantage with 52.3 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Panthers weren’t done in the first half after Josiah Riggs picked off a Kaden Purvis pass attempt at the Westside 34 with 18.5 seconds left in the first half. A 15-yard penalty against the Warriors moved Heber Springs closer. An 8-yard pass to from Tubbs to Riggs and an incomplete pass left the Panthers with one final play before the half, Isom capitalized for Heber Springs with a 15-yard scoring run. Brown added the 2-point conversion and the Panthers led 24-8 at the break.

Neither team would mount much of a scoring threat in the second half until late in contest when Westside’s Purvis would score on a 19-yard run with 2:29 to play.

After a failed 2-point conversion, the Warriors recovered the ensuing onside kick at the Panther 48. A 27-yard pass play and 6-yard run put the ball on the Panther 10 with just over a minute to play, but a holding penalty and back-to-back to tackles for loss by Heber Springs ended the scoring threat.

JONESBORO WESTSIDE AT HEBER SPRINGS
JUNIOR HIGH
September 7, 2023
TEAM STATS
TIME OF POSSESSION: Heber Springs 15:30, Westside 15:30
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS: Heber Springs 6, Westside 7
BY RUSH: Heber Springs 6, Westside 5
BY PASS: Heber Springs 0, Westside 1
BY PENALTY: Heber Springs 0, Westside 1
TEAM RUSHING: Heber Springs 33/191/5.8/3, Westside 27/138/5.1/2
TEAM PASSING: Heber Springs 1/5-8-0/0, Westside 2/4-30-0/1
TOTAL OFFENSE: Heber Springs 38/199/5.2, Westside 31/168/5.4
3RD CONVERSION: Heber Springs 5/9, Westside 0/6
4TH CONVERSION: Heber Springs 2/3, Westside 3/3
TURNOVERS: Heber Springs 2, Westside 2
FUMBLES/LOST: Heber Springs 4/2, Westside 2/1
PENALTIES: Heber Springs 6/73, Westside 7/70
RETURNS: Heber Springs 4/36, Westside 3/24
PUNTS: Heber Springs 0/0, Westside 2/60
SACKS: Heber Springs 0/0, Westside 0/0
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Heber Springs 8/27, Westside 4/10
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: Heber Springs, Landon Brown 10/29/1, Lachlan Tubbs 9/38, Aiden Isom 6/79/2, Josiah Riggs 3/27, Brody Loethen 3/10, Tanner Graham 1/10, Team 1/(-3). Jonesboro Westside, Kaden Purvis 14/35/1, Ashton Henson 5/30, Hunter Kaja 4/53/1, Brody Rorex 3/19, Kason Carter 1/1.
PASSING: Heber Springs, Lachlan Tubbs 1/5-8-0/0. Jonesboro Westside, Kaden Purvis 2/4-30-0/1.
RECEIVING: Heber Springs, Josiah Riggs 1/8. Jonesboro Westside, Logan Fleming 1/27, Landon Henson 1/3.
KICKOFF RETURNS: Heber Springs, Aiden Isom 2/33. Jonesboro Westside, Aiden Turner 2/12, Brody Rorex 1/12
PUNT RETURNS: Heber Springs, Aiden Isom 2/3
PUNTS: Jonesboro Westside, Kason Carter 2/60
ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: Heber Springs, Aiden Isom 115

Clinton downs Heber Springs in junior high action

Landon Brown.Clinton — Heber Springs’ **Landon Brown** punches his way into the endzone for the Panthers lone score in junior high football. **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

By PHILIP SEATON
MarkedTime.com Publisher

CLINTON – Clinton took advantage of three Panther turnovers, raced out to a 28-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 35-7 victory over Heber Springs in junior high action.

Clinton struck quickly scoring on its first possession on a three-play, 53-yard drive. Ayden Hayes capped off the series with a 43-yard scoring run. Dereck Infante added the kick to make it 7-0 Yellowjackets with 6:46 left in the first quarter.

Heber Springs (0-2) started its first possession with back-to-back penalties and on third-and-21 Clinton’s Hayden Jones picked off a Lachlan Tubbs pass at the Panther 34 and returned to the 8. Three plays later Armando Infante would score from the 7 to make 13-0 after the PAT kick failed with 3:58 to play in the first.

The score would remain that way until late in the first half.

The Panthers were threatening to make it a one touchdown game after Hayden Williams recovered a Clinton fumble at the Panther 22 with eight seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Heber Springs would then go on a time-consuming 11-play, 70-yard drive that would take 5:33 off the clock. Aiden Isom would highlight the drive with 16- and 18-yard runs. A fumble would stop the Panthers at the Clinton 8.

Two plays later, Hays would race 89 yards to make it 19-0 with 1:43 left in the half. Armando Infante would run in the 2-point conversion.

The Panthers would fumble on their first offensive play from scrimmage at the 40. David Larkins would return the fumble 10 yards for the Yellowjackets. After Heber Springs stopped Harold McNabb for no gain, Armando Infante ran 40 yards with 60 seconds left in the second quarter to make it 28-0 at the half.

Heber Springs took the second-half ball and failed to gain a first-down turning the ball over after being stopped short on fourth down at the Panther 33.

Conner Bonds hauled in a Dyllin VanHoak 27-yard pass two plays later to make 34-0 with 5:03 left in the third quarter. The Dereck Infante PAT made it 35-0 allowing the mercy-rule continuous running clock to kick in.

Rhett Herring returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards before being brought down at the Clinton 13. Back-to-back carries by Landon Brown pushed the ball into th endzone. Golden Tate’s kick made it 35-7 with 2:35 to play in the third quarter as neither team threatened again with the running clock.

GAME 2
HEBER SPRINGS AT CLINTON
JUNIOR HIGH
August 31, 2023
TEAM STATS
TIME OF POSSESSION: Heber Springs 17:22, Clinton 24:38
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS: Heber Springs 8, Clinton 7
BY RUSH: Heber Springs 8, Clinton 6
BY PASS: Heber Springs 0, Clinton 1
BY PENALTY: Heber Springs 0, Clinton 0
TEAM RUSHING: Heber Springs 31/131/4.2/1, Clinton 19/238/12.5/4
TEAM PASSING: Heber Springs 1/5-7-0/1, Clinton 1/1-27-1/0
TOTAL OFFENSE: Heber Springs 36/138/3.8, Clinton 20/265/13.3
3RD CONVERSION: Heber Springs 1/5, Clinton 1/3
4TH CONVERSION: Heber Springs 1/3, Clinton 0/1
TURNOVERS: Heber Springs 3, Clinton 1
FUMBLES/LOST: Heber Springs 5/2, Clinton 3/1
PENALTIES: Heber Springs 4/30, Clinton 3/15
RETURNS: Heber Springs 5/93, Clinton 3/58
PUNTS: Heber Springs 0/0, Clinton 0/0
SACKS: Heber Springs 0/0, Clinton 0/0
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Heber Springs 0/0, Clinton 2/5
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: Heber Springs, Landon Brown 11/54/1/4.9, Lachlan Tubbs 8/23, Brody Loethen 5/3, Aiden Isom 4/37, Tanner Graham 2/14. Clinton, Ayden Hayes 3/134/2, Armando Infante 5/67/2.
PASSING: Heber Springs, Lachlan Tubbs 1/5-7-0/1.
RECEIVING: Heber Springs, Tanner Graham 1/7
KICKOFF RETURNS: Heber Springs, Rhett Herring 3/87/29.0, Landen Peterson 2/6. Clinton 2/32
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: Clinton, 1/26

Junior Panthers tripped up in home-opener

IMG_4468 (2) — Heber Springs’ **Josiah Riggs** fights for extra yards against Southside Batesville Thursday night at Panther Stadium. **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

By PHILIP SEATON
MarkedTime.com Publisher

Two big plays in a just over four-minute span cost the Heber Springs Junior Panthers a chance of a season-opening victory Thursday night at Panther Stadium.

Southside Batesville broke a 6-all halftime tie with a pair of late third-quarter and early fourth-quarters touchdowns to claim an 18-6 victory.

Heber Springs took the opening kick-off but couldn’t move the chains as Aiden Isom was stopped for a no gain on a fourth-and-4 play from the Panther 37.

The Panther defense appeared to have stiffened forcing a pair of short runs after Rhett Herring threw Southside’s Karsen McSpadden for a four-yard loss on first down. But with the Southerners facing a fourth-and-8 from the Heber Springs 35, Hanlee Cartmill got behind the Panther secondary and McSpadden connected with him for a 35-yard touchdown. The 2-point conversion failed after Southside picked up three penalties on the attempt with 3:28 left in the first quarter.

Five straight fullback runs up the middle by Brody Loethen killed the rest of the first quarter and gave the Panthers a pair of first downs at the Southerner 42. But Heber Springs lost three yards over the next four plays forcing a turnover on downs.

The Southerners then drove to the Panther 17, before a high snap was recovered by Heber Springs’ Landon Brown.

The Panthers managed a first down on a seven-yard run by Landen Peterson, but a fourth-down run by Tanner Graham was stopped two-yards short with 2:03 left before the half.

Heber Springs got another chance before the break on the next play as another snap by Southerner was recovered by Cade Williams at the Southerner 30.

After a loss of a yard on first down, Isom broke free for a 31-yard touchdown run diving for the corner pylon to get the Panthers on the board with 1:07 left in the half. The 2-point conversion leaving the score at 6-all at the break.

The Southerners finished with 13 penalties on the night and on their first possession of the second half four flags frustrated a six-play drive that took 4:43 off the third-quarter clock. That drive only netted two yards and after a 13-yard punt, Heber Springs had the ball at the Southerner 30.

But on the first play of the drive, a Panther fumble was scooped up by Southside’s Cole Vaughn and returned 67 yards for a score with 3:01 left in the stanza. The 2-point conversion was again stopped by the Heber Springs defense.

The Panthers managed a pair of first downs pushing into Southerner territory, but Josiah Riggs was stopped a yard short on fourth down on the first play of the fourth quarter.

On second down, Bryson VanWinkle broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion was again stopped with 6:48 left.

Isom paced Heber Springs with 51 yards on nine carries and his 10-yard carry gave the Panthers their final first down of the night at the Southerner 33. Two plays later an interception ended Heber Springs’ hope of comeback as Southside killed the clock to end the game.

The start time of the game was pushed back due to an excessive heat warning and a seventh-grade game was changed to intra-squad scrimmage. The game was the first one on the new artificial playing surface that was installed this summer replacing the old turf.

Heber Springs will travel to Clinton Thursday night with a scheduled 6:30 p.m. kick-off. The Panther seventh-grade team will open their season at 5:30 p.m. against Clinton.

SOUTHSIDE BATESVILLE AT HEBER SPRINGS
JUNIOR HIGH
August 25, 2023
TEAM STATS
TIME OF POSSESSION: Heber Springs 16:25, Southside 15:35
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS: Heber Springs 7, Southside 7
BY RUSH: Heber Springs 6, Southside 6
BY PASS: Heber Springs 0, Southside 1
BY PENALTY: Heber Springs 1, Southside 0
TEAM RUSHING: Heber Springs 32/101/3.2, Southside 29/115/4.0
TEAM PASSING: Heber Springs 0/2-0-0/1, Southside 1/3-35-1/0
TOTAL OFFENSE: Heber Springs 34/101/3.0, Southside 32/150/4.7
3RD CONVERSION: Heber Springs 1/6, Southside 0/4
4TH CONVERSION: Heber Springs 0/4, Southside 1/2
TURNOVERS: Heber Springs 2, Southside 2
FUMBLES/LOST: Heber Springs 1/1, Southside 2/2
PENALTIES: Heber Springs 2/10, Southside 13/81
RETURNS: Heber Springs 2/10, Southside 3/93
PUNTS: Heber Springs 0/0, Southside 1/13
SACKS: Heber Springs 1/14, Southside 0/0
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Heber Springs 9/66, Southside 8/20
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: Heber Springs, Brody Loethen 11/27, Aiden Isom 9/51/1, Landen Peterson 4/2, Landon Brown 3/9, Josiah Riggs 3/13, Tanner Graham 2/(-1). Southside, Karsen McSpadden 10/49, Bryson VanWinkle 9/91/1, Jake Roberts 5/16, Korbin Foster 3/(-8), Team 2/(-33).
PASSING: Heber Springs, Landen Peterson 0/2-0-0/1. Southside, Karsen McSpadden 1/1-35-1/0, Korbin Foster 0/2-0-0/0
RECEIVING: Southside, Hanlee Cartmill 1/35/1.
KICKOFF RETURNS: Heber Springs, Rhett Herring 2/10. Southside, Juju Brooks 1/6.
FUMBLE RETURNS: Southside, Cole Vaughn 1/67/1.
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: Southside, Karsen McSpadden 1/20

Southside Batesville downs Heber Springs 7th-Graders

IMG_2919_(3) — Heber Springs’ **Rhett Herring** gets a block from teammate, **Carson Robitaille**, during a first-half run at Southside Batesville Thursday night. **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

SOUTHSIDE BATESVILLE – Southside Batesville used a safety and a long touchdown run to down the Heber Springs seventh-grade Panthers Thursday night.

The game was scoreless until late in the first half when the Southerners were driving for an apparent score, but Brady Loethen recovered a fumble at the Panther 1 give the Panthers possession with less than a minute to go.

But three plays later, Southside Batesville’s Gabe Madison tackled Josiah Riggs in the end zone for safety with 10 seconds to play before halftime.

The Southerners would use their first possession of the second half to go up 8-0 after Jake Roberts ran 68 yards for a touchdown with 17:10 left in the game.

The Panthers threatened with under five minutes to play after Lachlan Tubbs connected with Samuel Bush for a 45-yard pass play to put the ball at the Southerner 5, but the Panthers were unable to capitalize and turned the ball over on downs.

Southside Batesville killed the clock to earn the win.

HEBER SPRINGS 7TH-GRADE SCHEDULE

(All Game Times are 5:30 p.m.)

Aug. 26 – Clinton 16, Heber Springs 14

Sep. 09 – at Harding Academy (Canceled)

Sep. 16 – Heber Springs 16, Dover 6

Sep. 23 – Lonoke 20, Heber Springs 6

Sep. 28 – Stuttgart 6, Heber Springs 0

Oct. 07 – Central Arkansas Christian 8, Heber Springs 0

Oct. 14 – Heber Springs 14, Bald Knob 0

Oct. 21 – Southside Batesville 8, Heber Springs 0

Oct. 28 – at Clinton

Panther 7th-graders fall in opener

Heber Springs’ **Samuel Bush** attempts to get a pass over a trio of Clinton defenders Thursday night at Panther Stadium. **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

HEBER SPRINGS – The Heber Springs seventh-grade Panthers came up short as Clinton defeated the Cubs, 16-14.

Heber Springs struck first with Samuel Bush touchdown, but Clinton responded on a Dereck Infante touchdown run and a Keegan Rose 2-point conversion to lead 8-6 with just over seven minutes to play in the first half.

The Panthers moved the ball deep into Clinton territory before halftime after a long run by Landon Brown, a Lachlan Tubbs to Rhett Herring pass and a nice run by Bush, but Heber Springs couldn’t push the ball in the end zone and turned the ball over on downs. The Panthers trailed 8-6 at the break.

Clinton took a a 16-6 advantage after another Infante touchdown run and successful 2-point conversion.

Heber Springs pulled to within two late in the contest when Tubbs connected with Josiah Riggs for the score. Bush added the 2-point conversion to make it 16-14 in favor of Clinton.

The Panthers wouldn’t get the ball back as Clinton ran out the clock to end the game and earn the win. The two teams will meet again in Clinton in the season finalee.

Heber Springs will return to action on Sept. 9 at Harding Academy.

HEBER SPRINGS 7TH-GRADE SCHEDULE

(All Game Times are 5:30 p.m.)

Aug. 26 – Clinton 16, Heber Springs 14

Sep. 09 – at Harding Academy (Searcy)

Sep. 16 – Dover

Sep. 23 – at Lonoke

Sep. 30 – Stuttgart

Oct. 07 – at Central Arkansas Christian

Oct. 14 – Bald Knob

Oct. 21 – at Southside Batesville

Oct. 28 – at Clinton

HEBER SPRINGS 7TH-GRADE ROSTER

Coaches: Drew Lawrence, Jeff Bise and Hunter Davis

Players (in jersey number order)

Conner Underwood

Cade Burger

Jayden James

Tanner Graham

Samuel Bush

Lachlan Tubbs

Kayden Rimmer

Hayden Williams

Tripp Johnston

Rhett Herring

Landon Brown

Brayden Inman

Josiah Riggs

Walker Robinson

Carson Robitaille

Kayd Williams

Casey Pearce

Brody Loethen

Gavin Willis

Hayden Andrews