Heber Springs’ Xander Lindley looks to throw a pass against Riverview on Tuesday at Panther Stadium. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
October 29, 2019
Koby Teeter rushed six times for 186 yards and a touchdown in leading Riverview to a 38-8 victory over Heber Springs Tuesday night at Panther Stadium.
Teeter scored his touchdown on a 91-yard jaunt in the first quarter. Raider quarterback Harley Sawtelle was 8-of-10 passing for 136 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Riverview lead 16-0 at the end of the first quarter and 24-0 at the half.
Heber Springs trailed 32-0 at the end of three quarters before finally getting on the board in the final stanza when Xander Lindley raced 60 yards for a Panther score. Conner Riddle completed a pass to Lindley for the 2-point conversion with 7:31 to play.
Lindley paced Heber Springs on the ground with 78 yards on four attempts. Ryan Bommarito ran the ball 12 times for 45 yards.
The Panthers finished their season with a 2-6 mark.
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.
Heber Springs’ Ryan Bommarito crosses the goal line for the Junior Panthers first touchdown of the season. Heber Springs defeated CAC, 22-12. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
October 9, 2019
NORTH LITTLE ROCK – Ryan Bommarito rushed 24 times for 124 yards and accounted for all of the scoring as Heber Springs defeated Central Arkansas Christian, 22-12, in junior high football action.
Heber Springs (1-4 overall and 1-2 in the 4A-2) hosts Bald Knob on Thursday.
Against CAC, the Panthers took the opening kickoff and marched methodically down the field on their best drive of the season taking the ball and punching into the end zone on a 4-yard run by Bommarito with 1:01 left in the opening quarter — it was the first points the ninth-grade group had scored since youth football. The 11-play, 66-yard drive took almost seven minutes off the clock. The 2-point conversion failed. Bommarito picked up 56 of those yards on eight carries.
Heber Springs got the ball back with 5:55 to play in the half after Chris Benton sacked the Mustang quarterback on fourth down at the CAC 49.
The ensuing drive appeared to stall before Conner Riddle connected with Chris Roberts on a 36-yard pass to put the ball on the 2. Bommarito plunged over on the next play to put Heber Springs up 12-0. Bommarito added the 2-point run with 2:44 left in the second quarter.
Riddle intercepted the CAC quarterback on the Mustangs next drive and returned it 30 yards to the CAC 44 with 1:02 left in the half, but time ran out on the scoring opportunity.
On CAC’s first drive of the second half, another interception, this time by Roberts, gave the Panthers the ball at the Mustang 27. Heber Springs pushed the ball to the 1, but a fumble stalled the drive short of the goal line. On the ensuing play, Bommarito sacked the Mustang quarterback in the end zone for a safety with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
After the free kick by CAC and an eight-yard return by Roberts, Heber Springs took over on the Mustang 31. Five plays later Bommarito scored from the 5 to make it 22-0 with 6:28 left in the contest. The big play on the drive came on a 14-yard run by Riddle.
The Mustangs would add a pair of late touchdowns to make it interesting, but the Panthers would recover an onside kick and run out the clock to preserve the win.
Heber Springs’ Conner Riddle looks on as as coach Chase Roberts speaks during a timeout against Lonoke. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
LONOKE – The Heber Springs Junior Panthers dropped a 34-0 decision to Lonoke Thursday night.
Heber Springs (0-3) did threaten to score in the third quarter when quarterback Xander Lindley raced 50 yards before being tackled at the Lonoke 5, but a first-down penalty put the Panthers in a hole and they were not able to punch the ball into the end zone (video sequence below).
Heber Springs will play its home opener on Thursday when they host Stuttgart at 7 p.m. at Panther Stadium.
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.
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.
Always taking submissions of old photos, and other collections of old sports notes and scorebooks of any sport on any level, including recreational, as long as it is Arkansas based.
VHS tapes: Can convert them for free. Please e-mail me at: [email protected] or message me on Facebook.
Battle of the Little Red: Heber Springs vs. Clinton
Heber Springs junior Matthew Cook fights for yardage as Vilonia’s Kyle Vines brings him to the ground during a scrimmage at Phillip D. Weaver Stadium in Vilonia on August 27. See story below. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
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. Listen live link here.
Honorary Captains: For Heber Springs, members of the “chain gang” from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. For Clinton, former Clinton Yellowjacket and Harding University quarterback Park Parish.
PREGAME FESTIVITIES
Pregame tailgating starts at 4:30 p.m. with a free concert by Clinton’s Heath Sanders beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sanders, a former oilfield worker turned full-time musician, whose popularity skyrocketed after a performance on Arkansas native Bobby Bones’ radio show in early 2018.
LAST SEASON
A back-and-forth game went to Clinton, 36-34, as Julian Cameron’s game-winning field-goal attempt was no good. Lyon College signee Blaze Nelson rushed 33 times for 288 yards and four touchdowns for Heber Springs, while junior Weston Amos passed for 209 yards and four touchdowns including five of those to junior Austin Drake, who finished with 190 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
Heber Springs Coach Will Cox …
GETTING TO KNOW COACH
When Darren Gowen resigned in May to pursue other coaching opportunities in northwest Arkansas (he has since been hired as offensive coordinator at Gravette), the search was put on hold and co-defensive coordinator Will Cox was named the interim coach for the upcoming season.
Will Cox
Cox grew up and graduated from Highland in 2007. After high school, he played football at Concordia College in Nebraska. He then entered the coaching field where he coached for two years at his alma mater before spending two years on the staff at Greenville College in Illinois. Cox joined the staff last season and was a co-defensive coordinator.
He is married to Taylor, and the have a son that will be two years old in December, Grayson.
Offensive- or defensive-minded?
I am more of defensive mind of guy. I played defense in high school and college. I’m just a defensive guy, so I enjoy that.
What will Panther fans see defensively?
You are going to see a big change. We have switched to more of a 3-3-stack defense. We are going to be more aggressive in what we are doing. We are smaller than we have been, but what we have done with our defense is identify our 11 to 15 best tacklers and how can we get them on the field. You have a guy like Landon Johnson that has been the starting linebacker. He’s playing nose right now and he’s wrecking havoc, making our offensive line better. He’s a good football player and the closer we can get him to the ball the better. Defensively, we are going to be pretty aggressive and faster. Since we are smaller than we have been in the past, I believe that puts us in a better situation. As a team that also means that we don’t have to use offensive linemen on defense which puts us in a situation where we can go faster on offense and stay fresher.
What about the offense?
We are going to be similar to last year and what coach Gowen did. We have Coach (Jay) Bishop who coached with him I think six years and really knows the offense inside and out, but just what you do each year, you change with the personnel you have. We have coach (Chase) Roberts in here this year, and him coach Bishop have really gelled well together. We are putting a little bit more of the quarterbacks’ plate this year, when you have a three-year starter (Adam Martin), you can do that so allowing in him to take a little bit more role of ownership of our offense in running more through him and putting the ball in his hands a little bit more. Losing Blaze Nelson, that does change things, when you have him that allows you to do certain things. We don’t have Blaze, but we have a group of running backs that give us a lot of different things. The offense will be pretty similar from what you seen on Friday nights last year, but how we get there will be a little bit different.
On the interim coach tag …
It’s an awesome opportunity. I think this school and administration has really helped for this team to be successful. We lost one coach and brought in two (Roberts and Hunter Davis). They understand the senior class we have is a talented group of kids, a good group of kids, that have been through a lot so trying to keep that continuity. I told our kids that this is a testament to them,and who they are, and how this administration sees these kids. To be the head coach in Heber Springs is a pretty awesome opportunity. We have a really great situation going. I would love for that tag to removed at the end of the season and continue on here. I think it’s a great place.
THE SERIES
HEBER SPRINGS VS. CLINTON “Battle of the Little Red” Clinton leads the series 39-38-5. Games played in Heber Springs: Tied, 19-19-1 Games played in Clinton: Clinton leads 20-18-4 Games played on a Neutral Field: Heber Springs leads, 1-0.
FIRST MEETING: Heber Springs’ first season of football was 1913 and it would be 26 years before Clinton fielded its first team. It didn’t take long for the two teams to meet after that with Heber Springs winning the first game played between the two schools on October 13, 1939, in Heber Springs. The Panthers won by a score of 31-0 on that day. The two teams met again less than a month later on Veteran’s Day (November 11) 1939 in Clinton where the Panthers and Yellowjackets played to a 6-6 tie. The teams would go on to play continuously after that with a couple of exceptions. During World War II, neither school fielded a team during the 1943 season while Clinton did not field one during the 1944 season. After the war, Clinton and Heber Springs would meet twice per season in 1945 and 1946 with the Yellowjackets winning all four meetings. Financial constraints in the Heber Springs School District forced the school to not field a football team for the 1947 and 1948 seasons. The two teams meet again during the 1949 season with Clinton winning both games of the home-and-home series. The teams would go on continuously playing until 2007 when the opener scheduled with Clinton — which was played during the 2006 season at the Hooten’s Kickoff Classic at Estes Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway — was changed to allow the Panthers to play Mayflower instead of Clinton in the same Kickoff Classic in 2007. The series resumed in 2008 and continues today. LONGEST WINNING STREAKS: Clinton has won six straight in the series twice. Once from 1945-1949 and the second time from 2000-2005. Heber Springs won seven straight in the series from 1978-1984. CONFERENCE FOES: Heber Springs and Clinton were first paired in the same conference in 1974. They would be paired in the same conference from 1974-1990. They would again be paired in the same conference from 1993-2001 and from 2008-2013. The two teams will be in the same conference next season when Clinton moves back up to class 4A. The Yellowjackets will replace Riverview in week 9. OVERTIME GAMES: There have only been three overtime games in the series and those all occurred during a four-year span from 1986-1989. Clinton won a double overtime home contest in 1986 (20-14) while the Panthers won in overtime the following season in 1987, 19-12, in Heber Springs. In 1989, Clinton defeated Heber Springs, 13-12, at Panther Stadium. CLOSE GAMES: Twenty-three of the games have been decided by a touchdown or less during the series, not including the five ties. NOVEMBER THE 4TH: Strangely enough the largest margin of both schools in the series occurred the same day 50 years apart with Clinton (56) winning 56-0 on Nov. 4, 1949; while Heber Springs (39), won 57-18 on Nov. 4, 1999. The 75 combined points both teams in that 1999 contest remain the most combined points in any contest during the series. DEFENSE: Of the 81 games played between the schools, the two teams have only combined to score more than 50 points or more 12 times, with seven those 50-plus combined scoring games coming since 2008. COACH’S WIFE: Clinton head coach Chris Dufrene’s wife Heather (Bivins) is a 1987 graduate of Heber Springs High School. TROPHY GAMES: Heber Springs won the trophy for the Hooten’s Kickoff Classic between the two schools in 2006, but since the inception of the “Battle of the Little Red” trophy, Clinton has won all three meetings, 28-20 in 2016, and 28-17 in 2017 in Heber Springs, and 36-34 last season in Clinton. Heber Springs will be looking to break a three-game losing streak to Clinton.
Heber Springs quarterback Liam Buffalo looks to get around the edge against Clinton in seventh-grade football action on Thursday in Clinton. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
PANTHER SPORTS THIS WEEK
Saturday, September 7 – Volleyball at Cave City tournament
Monday, September 9 – Volleyball at Conway Christian, 4:30 p.m.
Monday, September 9 – Golf at Cypress Creek, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, September 10 – Cross Country hosts Josh Park Memorial
Tuesday, September 10 – Tennis hosts Pottsville, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 12 – Golf at Red Apple Inn, 1 p.m.
Thursday, September 12 – Tennis at Clarksville, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 12 – Volleyball at Clarksville, 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 12 – 7th-Grade Football at Harding Academy, 5:30
Thursday, September 12 – Junior Football at Harding Academy, 7 p.m.
Friday, September 13 – Senior Football at Greenbrier, 7 p.m.
Always taking submissions of old photos, and other collections of old sports notes and scorebooks of any sport on any level, including recreational, as long as it is Arkansas based.
VHS tapes: Can convert them for free. Please e-mail me at: [email protected] or message me on Facebook.
Heber Springs’ Channer Smith looks to get up field Thursday night against Clinton in junior high football action. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
By PHILIP SEATON
CLINTON – It wasn’t the result that new Heber Springs junior high football coach Chase Roberts wanted, but the improvement was there from benefit game scrimmage against Vilonia almost two weeks ago.
However, that improvement was not quite enough as Heber Springs (0-1) fell to Clinton (1-0), 30-0, Thursday night at Tumlison Field.
The Panthers best chance to break the shutout ended at the Clinton 27 with a fourth-down interception late in the contest. After a 24-yard kickoff return by Conner Riddle, Heber Springs took over on their own 49. The drive appeared stalled before Peyton Talbert converted on fourth-and-1 from Clinton 42. After Wyatt Winchester completed a five-yard pass Hud Haggard, Talbert carried for 13 to push the ball to the Clinton 21. A six-yard run by Winchester moved the ball to the 15, before an incomplete pass, fumbled snap for a 12-yard loss led to the fourth-down play.
Heber Springs will be at Harding Academy on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Junior Panther Coach Chase Roberts
Improvement was there. Obviously getting beat 30-0 is never okay, but I think we did some positive things converting fourth downs, and tackling better. We did some silly stuff too, but did some good things. I thought we were more physical on both sides of the ball. We got a lot of work to do but definitely got better in the last week and a half. Offensively, we stopped ourselves. Only time we did anything negative (on offense), we either dropped a snap or had a penalty and you stall out when you do silly stuff. Defensively, we played more physically and had some guys step and make some big plays. Overall, improvement, but we have to keep working.
Scoring
First Quarter: Clinton, Harley Tobin to Zane Widener 49-yard pass (Vincent Ervin run), 6:11
Second Quarter: Clinton, Vincent Ervin 2-yard run (Tobin to Widener pass), 6:02
Third Quarter: Clinton, Tobin 5-yard run (Tobin to Dalton Lewis pass), 5:16
Fourth Quarter: Clinton, Landon Rose 4-yard run (Pass failed), 6:08
Heber Springs students show their support for the junior high football team Thursday night in Clinton. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
Heber Springs vs. Clinton Stats
Team
First Downs: Clinton 12, Heber Springs 5
Rushing: Clinton 25/140/5.6; Heber Springs 16/47/2.9
Passing: Clinton 4/4-77-1/0; Heber Springs 6/14-29-0/1
Third-Conversions: Clinton 3/4; Heber Springs 1/6
Fourth-Conversions: Clinton 1/1; Heber Springs 2/4
Penalties: Clinton 5/35; Heber Springs 4/25
Fumbles/Lost: Clinton 0/0; Heber Springs 3/1
Heber Springs’ Dalton Yancey attempts to avoid a Clinton defender in junior high football action Thursday night in Clinton. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
Individual
Rushing: Heber Springs – Peyton Talbert 3/21; Channer Smith 4/20; Conner Riddle 1/4; Bauer Pruitt 1/4; Xander Lindley 5/4; Wyatt Winchester 2/(-6). Clinton – Brody Emberton 4/35; Zane Widener 2/31; Landon Rose 4/25; Vicent Ervin 5/25; Ricardo Solis-Garcia 4/21; Alex Longshore 3/6; Caleb Ward 1/1; Team 2/(-4).
Passing: Heber Springs – Xander Lindley 5/10-34-0/0; Wyatt Winchester 1/4-5-0/1; Clinton – Alex Longshore 4/4-77-1/0
4A Panthers battle 5A Eagles; Heber Springs opens with Clinton
Heber Springs junior Matthew Cook fights for yardage as Vilonia’s Kyle Vines brings him to the ground during a scrimmage at Phillip D. Weaver Stadium in Vilonia on Tuesday. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
August 27, 2019
By Philip Seaton
VILONIA – Unofficially it was a 21-7 first-team loss to Vilonia in an Arkansas Activities Association benefit scrimmage on Tuesday at Phillip D. Weaver Stadium, but for Heber Springs coach Will Cox, he saw enough to come away happy with his teams performance.
“I thought there were some bright spots,” Cox said. “We saw some guys step up and play.”
Heber Springs finished with 202 yards of total offense in an abbreviated first half of play that saw the teams start at the 30-yard line without any kickoffs or punts.
Panther senior quarterback Adam Martin was 14-of-24 passing for 155 yards including a 7-yard touchdown pass to junior Matthew Cook right before the half to put the Panthers on the board. Returning all-conference performer Tri Johnson was Martin’s favorite target with five receptions for 84 yards.
With all-state running back Blaze Nelson and his 2,000 yards plus rushing gone from last season, senior Landon Johnson took on the bulk of the load rushing eight times for 40 yards.
“You know what you are going to get with Landon,” Cox said. “The effort you get on game day is the same effort you get every day. He’s a guy that worked out twice every day during the offseason. You know what you are going to get with him. He’s really reliable and he showed everybody else what we know about him.”
While there were some bright spots, there were some things that Cox said his team needed to work on before they open their season against Clinton on Sept. 6 at home in the Battle of the Little Red.
Among those were some dropped passes that could have led to touchdowns and missed blocks on offense, and some missed tackles and bad angles on defense that lead to Vilonia pilling up 319 yards of total offense with the majority of those coming on a screen pass that turned into a 97-yard touchdown.
“It was a lot of first opponent mistakes, but that is stuff that we can clean up” Cox said. “I told the guys that this is going to be great film for us.We are going to learn a lot from this film. It was a great opportunity to learn tonight.”
Vilonia sophomore quarterback Austin Myers was 9-of-10 passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
“That’s a very good Vilonia team,” Cox said of the 5A Eagles. “They are deep. They are big. They are going to have a good season. Our guys competed against them.”
SECOND HALF: The two teams played a 10 minute second-half period with the second teams. Vilonia outscored Heber Springs, 20-0, over that stretch, but senior running back Levy Phillips did show some promise during that stretch.
“(He) came in and got some good runs for us,” Cox said, “that shows that we have some depth at the running back position which is good.”
LET’S PLAY TWO: Cox said that is exciting to see that his team loves to love to play. “They can’t get enough,” he said. “ If I could let them play another game tonight, they would.”
BIG NUMBERS: While Heber Springs has 43 players on the roster, Vilonia had 83 dressed out Tuesday night and that will be the most any team dresses out against the Panthers this season. Heber Springs has the third most players out in the 4A-2 with Southside Batesville leading the way with 51 and Bald Knob with 44. Other opponents by the numbers: Clinton (37), Greenbrier (61), Harding Academy (46), Lonoke (37), Stuttgart (37), Central Arkansas Christian (40), Riverview (33) and Little Rock Mills (20).
NO CONTACT: Both quarterbacks were off limits in regards to being tackled and were downed by touch. Martin and second-team quarterback John McBroome wore a red no contact jersey.
EXTRA POINT: Jackson Harrod connected on the lone extra point for Heber Springs. The Panthers will be looking to replace the graduate Julian Cameron, who connected on a state record 100 extra points. Cameron is battling for a starting position at Arkansas Tech.
NEW COACH: Will Cox was named interim head coach over the summer after former head coach Darren Gowen left at the end of the school year in the spring to pursue other opportunities in northwest Arkansas. Gowen has since been named the offensive coordinator at Gravette. Cox was co-defensive coordinator last season with E.G. Dew.
NEW ASSISTANTS: Former Greenbrier Panther Chase Roberts is the new junior high coach and will assist on the senior high team. Roberts was the head coach of the eight-man team at Pattonsburg (Missouri) High School last season. Roberts led his team to a 10-2 record last season. Also joining the staff is Hunter Davis. Davis coached at Star City last season. He will also be the head senior girls track coach.
NEXT YEAR: Heber Springs’ 2020 schedule has been set. Riverview is moving down to Class 3A while Clinton will be moving back up to 4A. The Yellowjackets will replace Riverview in week 9 in conference. The Panthers will open at home in 2020 against Newport followed by a road date at Harding Academy before wrapping up nonconference play at home against Dover. Heber Springs athletic director Brad Reese said he attempted to schedule Riverview for a nonconference date but the Searcy school opted for a game with Bauxite instead.
GLOWING REVIEW: Former Heber Springs coach Bill Buckner made an appearance on the sidelines on Tuesday night to catch some of the action. Buckner, who has since retired after years of coaching in the area with stops at Quitman, Greenbrier and Vilonia among others, was impressed with what he saw from the Panthers. “Tell the people of Heber Springs that they have a good football team,” he said.
Heber Springs senior quarterback Adam Martin looks to complete a pass against Vilonia in a Arkansas Activities Association benefit game at Phillip D. Weaver Stadium in Vilonia. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO
PANTHER DRIVES
OPENING DRIVE: 10 plays, 36 yards. Highlights: Adam Martin 10-yard run, Landon Johnson 14- and 13-yard runs. Result: Turnover on downs.
SECOND DRIVE: 10 plays, 68 yards. Highlights: Adam Martin to Tri Johnson for 34-yard completion. Result: Stopped on fourth-and-goal at the 1.
THIRD DRIVE: 5 plays, 20 yards. Result: Fictional punt.
FOURTH DRIVE: 10 plays, 70 yards: Highlights: Adam Martin to Landon Johnson for 12- and 25-yard pass completions. Result: Touchdown.
INDIVIDUAL STATS (First-half only)
Rushing: Heber Springs, Landon Johnson 8-40; Julie Rubio 5-5; Adam Martin 5-2. Vilonia, Draven Smith 7-43; Seth Kick 1-5; Austin Myers 1-3; Tyler Moran 1-2.
Passing: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 14-24-155-1-0. Vilonia, Austin Myers 9-10-266-3-0.
Receiving: Heber Springs, Tri Johnson 5-84; Landon Johnson 3-45; Matthew Cook 3-13-1; Landon Barbee 1-8; Nathan McKee 1-6; Hunter Kent 1-(-1). Vilonia, Tyler Moran 4-127-1; Jamison Hinsley 2-40-1; Kannon Bartlett 1-45; Draven Smith 1-38; Corbin Watson 1-24-1.
TEAM (First-half only)
Rushing: Heber Springs 18-47; Vilonia 10-53
Passing: Heber Springs, 14-24-155-1-0; Vilonia 9-10-266-3-0
