Tag: Dayton Smith

Panther PostGame

Heber Springs falls to Lonoke to open conference play

The Heber Springs Panthers run on to the field against Lonoke Friday night. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

September 27, 2019

By PHILIP SEATON

HEBER SPRINGS – It wasn’t the start to conference play that Heber Springs had hoped for on Friday night at Panther Stadium as Lonoke came away with a 32-12 victory.

The loss dropped Heber Springs to 0-4 on the season for the first time since 2013 in Steve Janski’s final season at the helm. That was also the last time the Panthers had lost to the Jackrabbits until Friday night.

Heber Springs won the coin toss and elected to defer. The Panthers attempted an onside kick, but Lonoke recovered the ball. Lonoke reached the Panther 15 before settling on a 32-yard field goal by Diego Contraras to make it 3-0 with 9:03 left in the first quarter.

After a three-and-out by Heber Springs, Lonoke got the ball at the Panther 48, thanks in part to a 24-yard punt.

Lonoke’s Spencer Pepper connected with Anthony Parks for a 35-yard completion. Despite a block in the back penalty that cost the Rabbits 10 yards, two plays later Parks would race in from nine yards out with 7:34. After an offsides penalty on the PAT attempt, Lonoke went for two-points and converted to make it 11-0.

The teams traded possessions before the Panthers got on the board with an eight-play, 51-yard drive with 10:46 left in the half as Landon Johnson rambled in from the six (see video below). A bad snap on the PAT attempt left the score 11-6.

The two teams couldn’t muster much offense the rest of the quarter until Lonoke took over on its own 42 with 1:49 to play before the half. Five plays later, Pepper found Parks for a 35-yard scoring strike with 41.8 seconds left in the half to make it 18-6.

Disaster almost struck in the final seconds as the Panthers fumbled in the ensuing kickoff, but a 44-yard field-goal attempt at the end of the quarter was no good.

The Rabbits went up 25-6 with 8:44 left in the third as Pepper ran 25 yard for a score.

Heber Springs gave themselves hope with 3:55 left in the third when Adam Martin connected with tight end Fate Berry across the middle. Berry then raced 45 yards to make it 25-12. The PAT kick was no good. It was the Panthers first PAT kick miss since the 2016 season.

Heber Springs couldn’t muster any significant threat the rest of the way as Lonoke tacked on a touchdown with 4:59 to play.

NOTES

COIN TOSS: Randy Rainwater, c0-host of Drive-Time Sports on KABZ, 103.7 FM, in Little Rock, broadcast his 3 to 7 p.m. show on Friday from Panther Stadium as part of his Friday “Sonic Blast” series. Rainwater tossed the coin in pregame. The Panthers won the toss but failed to recover the onside-kick attempt.

Randy Rainwater

STATE RECORD: Though one does not currently exist in the Arkansas Activities Association’s State Record Book, Heber Springs has created one in the team category — most consecutive point after touchdown (PAT) kicks without miss. Julian Cameron started the streak in 2016 and continued until last season with 100 consecutive successful kicks (a career state record) before graduating. Graduated senior Seth Dickeson also connected on two kicks last season for the Panthers. This season, senior Jackson Harrod was perfect on his first 13 attempts before missing on a third-quarter kick to end the streak with 115 for the Panthers.

SCORING

Lonoke (1-0, 2-2)          11  7   7  7  - 32 
Heber Springs (0-1, 0-4)    0  6   6  0  - 12 
FIRST QUARTER 
Lonoke - Diego Contreras 32-yard field goal, 9:03 
Lonoke - Anthony Parks 9-yard run (Spencer Pepper to Chris Lucas pass), 7:34 
SECOND QUARTER 
Heber Springs - Landon Johnson 6-yard rn (Pass Failed), 10:46 
Lonoke - Pepper to Parks 35-yard pass (Contreras kick), 41.8 
THIRD QUARTER 
Lonoke - Pepper 25-yard run (Contreras kick), 8:44 
Heber Springs - Adam Martin to Fate Berry 45-yard pass (Kick failed), 3:55 
FOURTH QUARTER Lonoke - Pepper to Lucas 24-yard pass (Contreras kick), 4:59

TEAM STATS

First Downs by Rush: Heber Springs 8, Lonoke 7
First Downs by Pass: Heber Springs 4, Lonoke 7
First Downs by Penalty: Heber Springs 1, Lonoke 0
Total First Downs: Heber Springs 13, Lonoke 14
Third-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 3/16, Lonoke 3/13
Fourth-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 3/8, Lonoke 2/4 
Red-Zone Possessions: Heber Springs 1/2, Lonoke 3/4  
Time of Possession: Heber Springs 23:40, Lonoke 24:20
Fumbles/Lost: Heber Springs 3/2, Lonoke 1/1 
Turnovers: Heber Springs 3, Lonoke 1 
Points Off Turnovers: Heber Springs 6, Lonoke 0  
Penalties/Yards: Heber Springs 9/41, Lonoke 11/95 
Plays/Total Offense/YPP: Heber Springs 65/292/4.5, Lonoke 63/355/5.6 
Rushing: Heber Springs 36/170/4.7, Lonoke 46/188/4 
Passing: Heber Springs 11/29-122-1/1, Lonoke 10/17-167-2/0 
Sacks/Yards Lost: Heber Springs 3/17, Lonoke 1/9
Punts: Heber Springs 4/159/39.8, Lonoke 4/145/36.3 
Punts Inside 20: Heber Springs 1, Lonoke 1

INDIVIDUAL STATS

OFFENSE RUSHING: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 15/68/4.5, Julio Rubio 15/56/3.7, Landon Johnson 6/46/7.7. Lonoke, Spencer Pepper 24/98/4.1, Anthony Parks 18/88/4.9, Team 2/(-13)/-6.5, Brayden Coble 2/15/7.5.  
RUSHING RUNS OF 30+: Heber Springs, Adam Martin (1).
RUSHING RUNS OF 20+: Heber Springs, Adam Martin (2). Lonoke, Spencer Pepper (1), Anthony Parks (1).
RUSHING RUNS OF 10+: Heber Springs, Adam Martin (2), Landon Johnson (2), Julio Rubio (1). Lonoke, Spencer Pepper (5), Anthony Parks (3), Bradyen Coble (1). 
PASSING: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 11/29-122-1/1. Lonoke, Spencer Pepper 10/17-167-2/0. 
RECEIVING: Heber Springs, Nathan McKee 4/36, Fate Berry 3/70, Landon Johnson 2/6, Tri Johnson 1/9, Julio Rubio 1/1. Lonoke, Anthony Parks 5/114, Chris Lucas 2/24, Markiel White 2/15, Chaston Dockery 1/14. 
RECEPTIONS OF 40+: Heber Springs, Fate Berry (1)
RECEPTIONS OF 30+: Heber Springs, Fate Berry (1). Lonoke, Anthony Parks (2). 
RECEPTIONS OF 20+: Heber Springs, Fate Berry (2). Lonoke, Anthony Parks (3).
TOTAL OFFENSE: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 190, Julio Rubio 56, Landon Johnson 46. Lonoke, Spencer Pepper 265, Anthony Parks 88, Brayden Coble 15, Team (-13). 
PUNT RETURNS: Heber Springs, Nathan McKee 1/3, Tri Johnson 1/(-3). Lonoke, Anthony Parks 1/11. 
KICK RETURNS: Heber Springs, Julio Rubio 2/32, Tri Johnson 1/16, Diego Rubio 1/13, Matthew Cook 1/10, Harley Bresnahan 1/6. Lonoke, Romel Rankin 1/34, Markiel White 1/9.
FUMBLE RETURNS: None 
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: Lonoke, Riley Miller 1/30. 
ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: Heber Springs, Julio Rubio 89, Fate Berry 70, Adam Martin 68, Landon Johnson 52, Nathan McKee 39, Tri Johnson 22, Diego Rubio 13, Matthew Cook 10, Harley Bresnahan 6. Lonoke, Anthony Parks 213, Spencer Pepper 98, Romel Rankin 34, Riley Miller 30, Chris Lucas 24, Markiel White 24, Brayden Coble 15, Chaston Dockery 14, Team (-13).
DEFENSE TACKLES (Shared/Solo/Total): Heber Springs, Fate Berry 12/3/15, Landon Johnson 5/3/8, Lawrence Baureis 5/2/7, Matthew Cook 6/1/7, Julio Rubio 5/1/6, Hunter Kent 3/3/6, Diego Rubio 1/3/4, Kaden Hughes 4/0/4, Harley Bresnahan 2/1/3, Nathan McKee 2/1/3, Tri Johnson 1/1/2, Dalton McCollum 2/0/2, Nathan Hitchcock 2/0/2, Jackson West 1/0/1. Lonoke, Dayton Smith 10/5/15, Chris Lucas 8/1/9, Brayden Coble 8/1/9, Dalynn Waits 8/0/8, Anderson Fletcher 5/1/6, Romel Rankin 1/4/5, John Lawson 4/1/5, Markiel White 0/3/3, Riley Miller 1/2/3, Tyler Davis 2/1/3, Carson Devinney 2/0/2, Anthony Parks 2/0/2, Spencer Pepper 0/1/1, Cody Garringer 0/1/1, Ayden Rowton 0/1/1.
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Heber Springs, Fate Berry 5, Landon Johnson 4, Diego Rubio 2, Kaden Hughes 2, Julio Rubio 1, Matthew Cook 1. Lonoke, Dayton Smith 2, John Lawson 2, Dalynn Waits 1.
SACKS/YARDS LOST: Heber Springs, Fate Berry .5/9, Julio Rubio .5/9. Lonoke, John Lawson 2/10, Dalynn Waits 1/7.
INTERCEPTIONS: Lonoke, Riley Miller
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Heber Springs, Nathan McKee 1. Lonoke, Carson Devinney 1, Dalynn Waits 1. 
PUNTING: Heber Springs, Adam Martin 4/159/39.8. Lonoke, Peyton Lamb 2/75/37.5, Markiel White 2/70/35.
PUNTS INSIDE 20: Heber Springs, Adam Martin (1). Lonoke, Peyton Lamb (1). 
FIELD GOALS: Lonoke, Diego Contreras, Made: 32. Missed: 44, 43
Heber Springs’ Landon Johnson

Lonoke, elements can’t stop Heber Springs conference opener

September 21, 2018

By PHILIP SEATON

LONOKE – It took two days and two trips to Lonoke, but the Heber Springs Panthers were finally able to claim a victory.

Lightning forced the postponement of the game on Friday night with Lonoke leading 14-7 with 11:14 to play in the third quarter. When play was resumed at 2 p.m. Saturday in a heavy downpour, Heber Springs scored 21 unanswered in the third quarter and the defense held on in the fourth as the Panthers claimed a 28-14 the win.

More importantly for coach Darren Gowen’s squad, the Panthers first win came in the 4A-2 conference opener for both schools.

The Panthers have only one nonconference victory in the past three seasons, but Heber Springs bounced back and has won a share of the 4A-2 conference crown each of the past two seasons.

“We are 1-0 in conference,” Gowen said after the win on Saturday. “I know I get a lot of flack for this, and nonconference games do matter, but they get us ready to play games like this (conference games).”

Blaze Nelson finished the game with 75 yards rushing and two touchdowns while Adam Martin added 55 yards on the ground and another score.

Heber Springs (1-3, 1-0) finished with 246 yards of total offense in the contest while Lonoke (1-3, 0-1) had 199. But in the third quarter, the Panthers held the Jackrabbits to minus-6 rushing yards on 16 attempts, and 16 rushing yards on 24 attempts in the second half.

“The defense made some adjustments at halftime, and a little bit overnight, and they played lights out,” Gowen said. “Dalton Hall really got after it, and Fate (Berry) and Julio (Rubio) were the three without watching any film that really stood out to me.”

Heber Springs will return to Panther Stadium Friday night at 7 p.m. when they face conference favorite Stuttgart. The Ricebirds defeated Southside Batesville, 35-15, Friday night.

SLOW START

After Lonoke recovered the Panthers onside-kick attempt on their own 42, it didn’t take long for the Jackrabitts to hop into the end zone. On the first play from scrimmage, Lonoke quarterback Braidon Bryant took the ball on a keeper, got a couple of good blocks downfield and raced untouched 58 yards to give Lonoke at 7-0 advantage just 12 seconds into the contest.

Disaster struck for Heber Springs on the ensuing kickoff as Lonoke attempted and recovered an onside kick at the Panther 44.

“I thought we came out a little flat on Friday night,” Gowen said. “I don’t know anything sometimes. I told my guys Friday, we need to stay in as much routine as possible.

“We get here and play flat, and then today (Saturday) there is no routine … we come out and play like that. I guess routine doesn’t matter as much anymore like it used to back when I was playing.”

RUBIO FORCES FUMBLE

The Jackrabbits had reached the Panther 36 before Rubio forced a fumble that Hall recovered for Heber Springs at the 9:22 mark of the first quarter to give the Panthers their first possession of the contest.

After relying on the running game for the most part during the nonconference, the Panthers first possession was nothing but the hurry-up passing game. Adam Martin connected with Matthew Cook on an 11-yard pass completion after three Lonoke defenders tipped the ball into Cook’s arms. That play moved the ball into Jackrabbit territory at the 43.

A 12-yard pass completion from Martin to Seth Dickeson was good enough for anther Panther first down at the Lonoke 24.

The drive appeared to stall at the Lonoke 18 on fourth down after false penalty cost the Heber Springs five yards on a fourth-and-4 play attempt. But on the next play, Martin found Cook up the middle for the 23-yard scoring strike. Julian Cameron’s PAT kick made it 7-7 with 6:58 to play in the quarter.

COSTLY TURNOVER

The team traded possessions before Lonoke recovered a Panther fumble at the Heber Springs 22 late in the quarter. Three plays later, and on the first play of the second quarter, Davonta Adams rushed 11 yards to give the Jackrabbits a 14-7 advantage.

SCORING CHANCE

The teams again traded possession before the Panther defense forced Lonoke to a three-and-out from their own 10. A 25-yard punt gave Heber Springs excellent field position at the Jackrabbit 35 with 2:37 left in the half.
On third-and-5, Rocky Finney carried for 10-yard gain on an end-around play, but the drive fizzled at the Lonoke 20 forcing a 37-yard field-goal attempt by Cameron with 38 seconds left in the half. Cameron’s kick sailed right and the Jackrabbits killed the clock to end the half.

BREWING STORM

The forecasters had called for rain on Friday and all weekend, and though the radar was ominous in the first half the rain held off for the most part. At halftime, lightning could be seen at a distance after both bands performed, but it was not close enough (10 miles within the stadium) to stop the start of the second half.

So the third quarter kicked off with the Panthers recovering the onside-kick attempt on their own 48. After a seven-yard run by Nelson, Martin connected with Finney on an apparent 30-yard pass completion, but an illegal-man downfield penalty wiped out the completion and the gain. However, Finney was hit out of bounds giving the Panthers a first-and-10 from the Lonoke 35 with 11:14 to play in the third.

A lightning strike was close enough after that play to suspend the game as Lonoke headed to its lockerroom and the Panthers to a safe room in the school. The rain soon followed as the game continued to be delayed for just over an hour.

Finally, officials, coaches and administrators met at midfield after attempting to re-start the game and determined to postpone it until Saturday.

For Gowen, he wanted to continue to play, “I thought we had the momentum and we were fixing to do this (on Saturday).”

DOING THIS

For the first time in school history, the Panthers played in a game that was started on one day and finished on the next.

Play resumed on Saturday at 2 p.m. in a heavy downpour with the Panthers taking over on the Lonoke 35. A first-down run by Martin for 10 yards on the third play was followed by a 15-yard run by Nelson to push the ball to the Lonoke 5. From there, Martin carried it over with 8:29 left in the quarter to tie things up at 14-all.

“Just proud that we continued that momentum (from Friday night),” McGowen said. “I could tell in the lockerrom just sitting around waiting that they were ready to go play, and they were excited.

“We came out just about 20 minutes before the game started and the energy was just incredible.”

KEEPING IT GOING

The two teams traded possessions before Lonoke took over on its own 22 with 5:39 to play in the third quarter. After Adams carried for a two-yard gain, Nelson forced a fumble and the Panthers recovered it on the 24.

On the first play, Nelson ran into a pile of Lonoke defenders spun free and raced 24 yards to give Heber Springs its first lead of the game at 21-14.

“When you’ve got a back like Blaze, you (offensive line) just have to get in their way in a little bit and he’s going to make things happen,” Gowen said. “Our offensive line does a good job of continuing their blocks, and he just stays there and keeps moving.

“He’s got such great vision. He just spins off it and uses his incredible speed.”

HIGH SNAP

The Panther defense forced at three-and-out on the Lonoke’s ensuing possession before Heber Springs caught another break in the driving rain. A high snap on the punt attempt from the Lonoke 24 was recovered by the punter, but the Panthers were in business again from the Jackrabbit 9.

Two players later, Martin walked into the end zone untouched with 3:31 to play in the third quarter. Julian Cameron added the PAT kick and the Panthers led 28-14.

“Adam did a great job holding and Julian kicking in these conditions,” Gowen said. “We were three-for-three on extra points in this nasty weather, and one of those was almost off the ground and he still made it. That’s an awesome weapon to have.”

HOLDING ON

The Panther offense took advantage of opportunities in the third quarter to scored 21 unanswered points.

But after that, it was the Panther defense that held Lonoke out of the end zone.

Lonoke had moved to the Panther 36 late in the third quarter before Rubio sacked Bryant for a 13-yard loss on third down forcing a punt.

After a Panther turnover on the ensuing play gave the Jackrabbits the ball at the Panther 29, the defense again rose to the occasion forcing a turnover on downs highlighted by Berry and Cook bringing down Bryant for a five-yard loss on a third-and-5 play.

Heber Springs went three-and-out before Lonoke marched from their own 30 the Panther 24, thanks in part to a 30-yard pass completion from Dayton Smith to Shawn Lake. But a fourth-down pass attempt by Smith was broken up by Berry giving the Panthers the ball back with 5:03 to play.

Hall carried the ball for Heber Springs as the Panthers moved from their own 24 to the 48, but the drive would stall forcing a Martin punt.

BIG PICK

After a Lonoke moved into Panther territory with 1:22 to play, Smith heaved a pass into the end zone that Landon Johnson took away from the receiver to come up with the interception. The interception preserved the Panthers 14-win, giving Heber Springs 13 conference points (points used to determine tie-breakers in postseason seeding).

“I don’t know if you would call that a pick or whatever, because he just took the ball away as he was coming down,” Gowen said, “so that was a great job.”

BY THE NUMBERS
TEAM
First Downs: Heber Springs 12, Lonoke 12
Third-Down Percentage: Heber Springs 4-14, Lonoke 1-12
Fourth-Down Percentage: Heber Springs 1-2, Lonoke 1-4
Rushing Att-Yards-Avg: Heber Springs 40-154-3.9; Lonoke 43-136-3.2
Passing Comp-Att-Yards-Int: Heber Springs 10-20-92-0; Lonoke 5-12-76-1
Total Offense: Heber Springs 246, Lonoke 199
Sacks-Yards: Heber Springs 1-13, Lonoke 0-0
Penalties-Yards: Heber Springs 6-55, Lonoke 7-55
Fumbles-Lost: Heber Springs 3-2, Lonoke 3-2
Punts-Avg: Heber Springs 6-31, Lonoke 6-28.7
INDIVIDUAL
Rushing: Heber Springs – Blaze Nelson 23-75-2, Adam Martin 10-55-1, Dalton Hall 4-24, Team 2-(-10), Rocky Finney 1-10. Lonoke – Davonta Adams 19-36-1, Anthony Parks 10-18, Braidon Bryant 9-81-1, Dayton Smith 2-1, Shawn Lake 1-10, Brayden Coble 1-8, Team 1-(-15).
Passing: Heber Springs – Adam Martin 10-20-92-1-0. Lonoke – Braidon Bryant 3-6-27-0-0, Dayton Smith 2-6-49-0-1.
Receiving: Heber Springs – Matthew Cook 2-38-1, Tri Johnson 2-20, Seth Dickeson 2-16, Rocky Finney 2-9, Blaze Nelson 2-9. Lonoke – Davonta Adams 2-12, Shawn Lake 1-28, Dalton Smith 1-21, Anthony Parks 1-15.