Junior High Football Archives

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

PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Heber Springs Junior High at Southside Batesville

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CAREER STATS: Heber Springs’ Liam Buffalo

IMG_8661_(4)

LIAM BUFFALO
FINAL JUNIOR HIGH CAREER STATS
PASSING
        COM   ATT   YARDS   TDS  INT   YDS/GAME  COMP %   RATING
2020    122   199   1787    22    6     198.6     61.3    167.2
2021     82   147   1160    15    1     128.9     55.8    154.4
CAREER  204   346   2947    37    7     163.7     59.0    161.8

RUSHING
        ATT  YARDS YDS/ATT  TD  YDS/GAME
2020     21   147    7.0     2    16.3
2021    101   931    9.2    15   103.4 
CAREER  122  1078    8.8    17    59.9

TOTAL OFFENSE (YARDS/YARDS PER GAME)
2020    1934/214.9
2021    2091/232.3
CAREER  4025/223.6

OTHER: Four interceptions on defense, 132 points scored, 1095 all-purpose yards

Final Heber Springs Junior High Football Stats

IMG_4631_(3) — Heber Springs’ Cooper Holmes picks up yards against Clinton in the Panthers final game of the season on Oct. 28. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

TEAM STATS  
Total First Downs: Heber Springs 113, Opponent 92 
Penalties: Heber Springs 48/364, Opponent 34/256 
Fumbles: Heber Springs 2, Opponent 3
Rush/Yards/Avg/TD: Heber Springs186/1266/6.8/17, Opponent 248/1379/5.6/14
Rushing Yards Per Game: Heber Springs 140.7, Opponent 153.2
Passing (A/C-Yards-TD/Int): Heber Springs 82/147-1160-15/1, Opponent 37/81-514-4/6
Passing Yards Per Game: Heber Springs 128.9, Opponent 57.1
Total Offense: Heber Springs 2426, Opponent 1893
Total Offense Per Game: Heber Springs 269.6, Opponent 210.3 
Punts (Att/Yards/Avg/Blk): Heber Springs 11/381/38.1/1, Opponent 11/341/31.0/0

INDIVIDUAL STATS  
OFFENSE  
Rushing: Liam Buffalo 101/931/15, Weston Warden 48/247/2, Lucas Garcia 6/49, Cooper Holmes 11/45, Carter Julian 5/21, Logan Rutledge 7/19, Seth Dudeck 1/13, Team 8/(-58) 
Passing (Comp/Att-Yds-TDs/INT): Liam Buffalo 82/147-1160-15/1
Receiving: Weston Warden 30/655/7, Logan Rutledge 18/195/2, Carter Julian 12/125/3, Seth Dudeck 8/133/1, Cooper Holmes 7/23/1, Ty West 6/65/1
Kickoff Returns: Logan Rutledge 6/81, Cooper Holmes 3/25, Emmitt Dwyer 1/11, Weston Warden 1/2
Punt Returns: Weston Warden 1/19
Interception Returns: Liam Buffalo 2/17, Weston Warden 1/83/1, Logan Rutledge 1/45, Caleb Carr 1/29, Emmitt Dwyer 1/9
Total Offense: Liam Buffalo 2091, Weston Warden 247, Lucas Garcia 49, Cooper Holmes 45, Carter Julian 21, Logan Rutledge 19, Seth Dudeck 13
All-Purpose Yards: Weston Warden 976, Liam Buffalo 948, Logan Rutledge 340, Carter Julian 152, Seth Dudeck 146, Cooper Holmes 93, Ty West 65, Lucas Garcia 49, Caleb Carr 29, Emmitt Dwyer 20
DEFENSE    
Fumble Recoveries: Liam Buffalo, Jacob McMullin, Logan Rutledge
Punts: Liam Buffalo 10/381/38.1
SCORING (TD/2 PT-TOTAL): Liam Buffalo 15/5-100, Weston Warden 10/5-70, Carter Julian 3/4-26, Logan Rutledge 2/2-16, Ty West 1/1-8, Seth Dudeck 1/1-8, Cooper Holmes 1/0-6

Junior Panthers fall in final minute, finish 6-3

IMG_4637_(3) — Heber Springs quarterback Liam Buffalo breaks free from a Clinton defender and heads to the end zone Thursday night. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

CLINTON – Liam Buffalo finished with 246 yards of total offense but it was not enough as Clinton claimed a 24-22, 2-4A victory Thursday night.

Heber Springs finished the season with a 6-3 overall record and a 4-2 record in the 2-4A, a third-place finish.

Clinton took the opening kick and drove 57-yards on five plays capped by a Rylan Jones 23-yard run. Zack Hunt-Gonzalez added the 2-point conversion at the 5:51 mark.

Buffalo, who ran 19 times for 144 yards on the night, actually scored three times on the Panthers first possession with his third counting on 25-yard run. The ninth-grader had 50- and 12-yard touchdown runs called back with holding penalties. Buffalo completed the conversion pass to Weston Warden to tie things up at 8-8 with 3:35 left in the first quarter.

The Yellowjackets responded with a time-consuming 12-play, 65-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the first-half clock. Quarterback Brodie Dufrene capped the possession with a 2-yard run. Hunt-Gonzalez’ 2-point run made it 16-8 in favor of Clinton with 5:31 left in the half.

The two teams traded possession as the Panthers failed to convert on a fourth-and-13 play from the Clinton 47 while the Yellowjackets reached the Panther 25 right before the half — a 42-yard field goal attempt was no good.

Buffalo connected with Warden for 15-yard pass completion on the final play of the first half.

Heber Springs took the second-half kickoff as Buffalo ran three times for 33 yards to put the ball on the Clinton 33. Cooper Holmes ran for 6 before Buffalo scored on an 11-yard run. The 2-point pass attempt was no good as Clinton still led 16-14 at the 6:31 mark of the third quarter.

The Yellowjackets reached the Panther 24 on their next drive but the Heber Springs defense forced an incomplete pass on fourth down. From there, the Panthers would take the lead on an 11-play, 76-yard drive as Buffalo made an underhand pass to Holmes for a 1-yard touchdown. The big play on the drive was a 36-yard reception by Warden. Warden also caught the 2-point conversion to make it 22-18 with 7:01 left.

The Panther defense forced its only four-and-out of the night on Clinton’s next possession as pass attempt by Dufrene fell short for the Yellowjackets at the Clinton 47 with 5:40 left.

Heber Springs moved the ball to the Clinton 40 and fourth-and-3, Buffalo picked up five yards on the ground for a first down with just over three minutes to play. But the drive would fizzle following an incomplete pass, a run for no gain, a three-yard reception by Carter Julian and an incomplete pass on fourth down at the Clinton 32.

The Yellowjackets, with three timeouts, took over with 2:36 to play. A 16-yard run by Rope Williams gave Clinton a first down on their own 48. Four more running plays, including another first down, moved the ball to the Panther 32. On third-and-4, Dufrene pitched to Brayson Littell who hit Jones for a 32-yard touchdown pass to tie things up at 22-all with 51 seconds left. Jones would score the go-ahead points on the 2-point conversion make it 24-22.

The Panthers picked up a first down on a 12-yard reception by Warden, but three straight incomplete passes left Heber Springs with one final play. Buffalo hit Logan Rutledge, who only managed nine yards, before being brought down as the clock expired.

Warden finished the night with four receptions for 65 yards as Buffalo completed 10 passes for 102 yards.

HEBER SPRINGS AT CLINTON
OCTOBER 28, 2021 
Clinton                   8   8   0   8 - 24
Heber Springs             8   0   6   8 - 22
FIRST QUARTER 
C - Rylan Jones 23-yard run (Zack Hunt-Gonzalez run), 5:51
HS - Liam Buffalo 25-yard run (Buffalo to Weston Warden pass), 3:35
SECOND QUARTER 
C - Brodie Dufrene 2-yard run (Hunt-Gonzalez run), 5:31
THIRD QUARTER
HS - Buffalo 11-yard run (pass failed), 6:31
FOURTH QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo to Cooper Holmes 1-yard pass (Buffalo to Warden), 7:01
C - Brayson Littell to Jones (Jones run), :51
TEAM STATISTICS 
FIRST DOWNS: HS 14, C 13
RUSHES-YARDS: HS 25/164, C 34/219
PASSING YARDS: HS 102, C 42
TOTAL OFFENSE: HS 266, C 261
COMP-ATT-INT: HS 10-21-0, C 2-9-0
FUMBLES: HS 0, C 0
PENALITIES-YARDS: HS 4/33, C 3/15
PUNTS-AVERAGE: HS 0, C 0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 
RUSHING: HS, Liam Buffalo 19/144, Cooper Holmes 3/16, Carter Julian 1/4, Weston Warden 2/0. C, Rylan Jones 13/103, Zack Hunt-Gonzalez 11/66, Colton Warren 1/22, Rope Williams 4/18, Brayson Littell 3/9, Brodie Dufrene 2/1.
PASSING: HS, Buffalo 10/21-102-1/0. C, Dufrene 0/7-0-0/0, Littell 2/2-42-0/0
RECEVING: HS, Warden 4/65, Logan Rutledge 2/25, Holmes 2/4, Ty West 1/11, Julian 1/3. C, Jones 2/42.
KICKOFF RETURNS: HS, Rutledge 1/(-1). C, Holmes 1/24, Dufrene 1/16.
PUNT RETURNS: None
INT RETURNS: None
FUMBLE RETURNS: None
PUNTS: None

HEBER SPRINGS JUNIOR HIGH SCHEDULE

(Final Record: 6-3)

Aug. 26 – Heber Springs 32, Clinton 28

Sep. 09 – Harding Academy 36, Heber Springs 16

Sep. 16 – Heber Springs 26, Dover 12

Sep. 23 – Heber Springs 34, Lonoke 12 *

Sep. 28 – Heber Springs 42, Stuttgart 32 *

Oct. 07 – Central Arkansas Christian 30, Heber Springs 14 *

Oct. 14 – Heber Springs 26, Bald Knob 8 *

Oct. 21 – Heber Springs 22, Southside Batesville 14 *

Oct. 28 – Clinton 24, Heber Springs 22 *

(* – Denotes Conference Contest)

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PHOTO: Heber Springs Homecoming Parade

IMG_3506_(2) — Members of the Heber Springs junior high football team in the homecoming parade. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

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PHOTO: Heber Springs Homecoming Parade

IMG_3504_(2) — Members of the Heber Springs junior high football team in the homecoming parade. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

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Junior Panthers take bark out of Bald Knob

Heber Springs’ **Weston Warden** (2) celebrates with teammate, **Logan Rutledge** (1), after Rutledge scored a third-quarter touchdown in a 28-6 win over Bald Knob. **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

HEBER SPRINGS – Neither rain nor penalties nor the Bald Knob Bulldogs could stop the Heber Springs junior Panthers from earning their fifth win of the season with a 26-8 victory Thursday night at Panther Stadium.

Liam Buffalo rushed for a touchdown, passed for two more, and helped lead the defensive effort with two interceptions as Heber Springs improved to 5-2 on the season.

Buffalo’s two picks were part of defensive effort that held Bald Knob to 72 yards of total offense, with 54 yard of that coming on the final drive of the game against the Panther second-team defense. Freshman Jacob McMullin recorded one sack and spent most of the night in the Bulldog backfield as Heber Springs held Bald Knob to 13 yards rushing on 20 attempts.

Lightning had canceled the seventh-grade contest in the second half and helped lead to a delay of the kickoff by 15 minutes as the two teams played in a steady rain in the first half.

The elements couldn’t stop the Panthers on their first drive. After forcing a three-and-out on defense, Buffalo scampered 57 yards on second down to put the ball on the Bulldog 3. A pair of carries forced the Heber Springs back a yard, before Buffalo would score from the 4 on third down.

Buffalo would finish the night with 104 yard rushing on six attempts, his fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. The ninth-grader would connect with Carter Julian for the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 3:02 left in the opening quarter.

Heber Springs would add to it’s advantage on its next possession after a Buffalo picked-off a fourth-down pass attempt by Bald Knob’s Dakota Shoebottom at the Panther 39. Seven plays later, Buffalo would hit Ty West for an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 5:32 left in the half.

Heber Springs was penalized nine times for 83 yards on the night including for 18 yards on a holding penalty on the 2-point conversion attempt.

The Bulldogs had their best drive of the first half on their next possession moving from their own 40 to the Panther 12, aided by a 13-yard run by Shoebottom and a 15-yard penalty against Heber Springs. But Buffalo intercepted another Shoebottom attempt at the Panther 7 and returned it 17 yards.

West had an 11-yard reception on the ensuing drive but the Panthers couldn’t mount a scoring threat as the half ended with Heber Springs up 14-0.

The Panthers took the second-half kickoff and handed the ball off to Weston Warden to reach the Bulldog 10 as the freshman carried five times for 42 yards. Then the penalty flag came out as Heber Springs had four attempts at first-and-goal as two Panther penalties and one Bald Knob penalty forced the unique situation. Warden would score from the 4 make it 20-0 with 3:52 left in the third quarter.

The Heber Springs defensive unit forced Bulldogs to a three-and-out and a loss of 18 yards thanks in part to the McMullin sack.

The Panthers would take over at the Bald Knob 30 and six plays later would make it 26-0 after Buffalo hit Logan Rutledge in the end zone for the score.

The Bulldogs would use a seven-play, 54-yard drive against the second-team defense to get on the scoreboard late in the contest to set the final score at 26-8.

BALD KNOB AT HEBER SPRINGS
OCTOBER 14, 2021 
Bald Knob        0   0   0   8 -  8 
Heber Springs    8   6   6   6 - 26
FIRST QUARTER 
HS - Liam Buffalo 4-yard run (Buffalo to Carter Julian pass), 3:02
SECOND QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo to Ty West 4-yard pass (pass failed), 5:32
THIRD QUARTER 
HS - Weston Warden 4-yard run (pass failed), 3:52
FOURTH QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo to Logan Rutledge 3-yard pass (pass failed), 6:30
BK - Jerry Tidwell 4-yard run (Dakota Shoebottom run), 2:14
TEAM STATISTICS 
FIRST DOWNS: HS 12, BK 6
RUSHES-YARDS: HS 25/191, BK 20/13
PASSING YARDS: HS 65, BK 59
TOTAL OFFENSE: HS 256, BK 72
COMP-ATT-INT: HS 6-12-0, BK 4-6-2
FUMBLES: HS 0, BK 0
PENALITIES-YARDS: HS 9/83, BK 3/17
PUNTS-AVERAGE: HS 0, BK 1/18
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 
RUSHING: HS, Liam Buffalo 6/104, Weston Warden 11/56, Cooper Holmes 3/21, Seth Dudeck 1/13, Logan Rutledge 2/5, Carter Julian 1/(-3), Team 1/(-5). Hunter Burleson 8/6, Garrett Swindle 2/4, Jerry Tidwell 4/4, Dakota Shoebottom 6/(-1). 
PASSING: HS, Buffalo 6/12-65-2/0. BK, Shoebottom 4/6-59-0/2
RECEVING: HS, West 3/32, Rutledge 2/18, Warden 1/15. BK, Garrett Swindle 3/48, Mika Comer 1/11.
KICKOFF RETURNS: BK, Jaeden Kuhn 1/0.
PUNT RETURNS: None
INT RETURNS: Buffalo 2/17
FUMBLE RETURNS: None
PUNTS: BK, Swindle 1/18

HEBER SPRINGS JUNIOR HIGH SCHEDULE

(All Games Start at 7 p.m.)

Aug. 26 – Heber Springs 32, Clinton 28

Sep. 09 – Harding Academy 36, Heber Springs 16

Sep. 16 – Heber Springs 26, Dover 12

Sep. 23 – Heber Springs 34, Lonoke 12 *

Sep. 28 – Heber Springs 42, Stuttgart 32 *

Oct. 07 – Central Arkansas Christian 30, Heber Springs 14 *

Oct. 14 – Heber Springs 26, Bald Knob 8 *

Oct. 21 – at Southside Batesville *

Oct. 28 – at Clinton *

(* – Denotes Conference Contest)

Quarterback battle goes to Heber Springs

Heber Springs’ **Liam Buffalo** races toward a second-half touchdown in Tuesday night at Panther Stadium. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

In a dueling battling of quarterbacks Tuesday night, Heber Springs’ Liam Buffalo was just a little better as the Panthers claimed a 42-32 victory over Stuttgart in 2-4A junior high action at Panther Stadium.

Heber Springs improved to 4-1 on the season, and 2-0 in conference play, with the win in game that was scheduled for a Tuesday night instead of the normal Thursday night due to the two senior high teams playing Thursday for a statewide television.

Buffalo passed for 207 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 147 yards on 16 carries and added three more scores. Stuttgart ninth-grader DeVontae Clark rushed for 272 yards on 14 carries with five touchdowns.

While Buffalo finished with 347 yards of total offense to Clark’s 291 yards, it was the Stuttgart freshman that struck first racing 90 yards to put the Ricebirds up 6-0 with 5:15 left in the first half.

Heber Springs responded less than 30 seconds later when Buffalo connected with Weston Warden for a 53-yard touchdown with 4:47 left in the second quarter.

Clark and Buffalo traded touchdown runs (12 yards for Clark and 4 yards Buffalo) in the half but Stuttgart led 14-12 at the break as Clark converted the 2-point conversion after his scoring run.

Heber Springs took the second-half kickoff and marched 66 yards on seven plays as Buffalo scored on run from the 1. Warden had his second consecutive 100-yard receiving night catching five passes for 159 yards, including receptions of 31 and 21 yards on the drive.

The Panthers 18-14 advantage at the 3:30 mark of the third quarter didn’t last as Clark raced 56 yards on the second play of the drive to give the Ricebirds a 20-18 lead.

Heber Springs quickly pushed the ball down the field on first-down runs by Warden and Buffalo and two Seth Dudeck pass receptions. The first for 13 yards and the last an 11-yard scoring strike. Buffalo hit Warden for the 2-point conversion and the Panthers led 26-20 with 39.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Panther defense would force Stuttgart to a three-and-out before adding another score on a 50-yard touchdown run by Buffalo. After a successful 2-point conversion by Buffalo, Clark would responded 22 seconds later to make it 34-26 with 4:42 left in the game.

After a 23-yard kickoff return by Logan Rutledge, Buffalo connected with Carter Julian for no gain before finding Warden for a 43-yard touchdown pass. Rutledge ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 42-26 with just over four minutes left.

Stuttgart’s Jawyan Terry returned the ensuing kickoff 28 yards and would have scored but was brought down by Emmitt Dwyer. However, three consecutive runs by Clark would make it a 10-point game at 42-32 with 3:09 left.

Heber Springs would pick up a pair of first downs to end the contest.

Warden finished with 202 all-purpose yards for the Panthers.

STUTTGART AT LONOKE
SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 
Stuttgart            0  14   6  12 - 32
Heber Springs        0  12  14  16 - 42 
SECOND QUARTER 
S - DeVontae Clark 90-yard run (pass failed), 5:15
HS - Liam Buffalo to Weston Warden 53-yard pass (run failed), 4:47
S - Clark 12-yard run (Clark run), 2:09
HS - Buffalo 4-yard run (run failed), :22
THIRD QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo 1-yard run (run failed), 4:32
S - Clark 56-yard run (pass failed), 3:50
HS - Buffalo to Seth Dudeck 11-yard pass (Buffalo to Warden pass), :39.7
FOURTH QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo 50-yard run (Buffalo run), 5:04
S - Clark 57-yard run (pass failed), 4:42
HS - Buffalo to Warden 43-yard pass (Logan Rutledge run), 4:12
S - Clark 4-yard run (run failed), 3:09
TEAM STATISTICS 
FIRST DOWNS: HS 18, S 8
RUSHES-YARDS: HS 25/190, S 22/292
PASSING YARDS: HS 207, S 45
TOTAL OFFENSE: HS 397, S 337
COMP-ATT-INT: HS 9-16-0, S 3-5-0
FUMBLES: HS 1, L 0
PENALITIES-YARDS: HS 5/25, S 8/94
PUNTS-AVERAGE: HS 1/50, S 3/34.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 
RUSHING: HS, Liam Buffalo 16/147, Weston Warden 9/43. Stuttgart, DeVontae Clark 14/272, Jawyan Terry 7/20, Damariya Lee 1/0. 
PASSING: HS, Buffalo 9/16-207-3/0. Stuttgart, Clark 2/4-9-0/0, Hayden Prine 1/1-36-0/0
RECEVING: HS, Warden 5/159, Seth Dudeck 3/48, Carter Julian 1/0. Stuttgart, Quaterion Johnson 2/9, Peyton Thompson 1/36
KICKOFF RETURNS: HS, Logan Rutledge 2/27. S, Terry 1/28, Johnson 2/20, Orion Talley 1/11.
PUNT RETURNS: None
INT RETURNS: None
FUMBLE RETURNS: None
PUNTS: HS, Buffalo 1/50. Stutgart, Prine 3/104

HEBER SPRINGS JUNIOR HIGH SCHEDULE

(All Games Start at 7 p.m.)

Aug. 26 – Heber Springs 32, Clinton 28

Sep. 09 – Harding Academy 36, Heber Springs 16

Sep. 16 – Heber Springs 26, Dover 12

Sep. 23 – Heber Springs 34, Lonoke 12 *

Sep. 28 – Heber Springs 42, Stuttgart 32 *

Oct. 07 – at Central Arkansas Christian *

Oct. 14 – Bald Knob *

Oct. 21 – at Southside Batesville *

Oct. 28 – at Clinton *

(* – Denotes Conference Contest)

Heber Springs tops Lonoke in junior high action

Heber Springs’ **Weston Warden** looks to get up field after taking a screen pass from Liam Buffalo Thursday night in Lonoke. **PHILIP SEATON PHOTO**

LONOKE – Heber Springs overcame a sluggish start to claim a 34-12 conference-opening victory over Lonoke Thursday night.

Liam Buffalo threw his first interception this season in more than 50 attempts, but that would be the only blemish for the ninth-grader on the night as he was 11 of 14 passing for 201 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 95 yards and three touchdowns on seven attempts.

Weston Warden caught five passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns including a 23-yarder with 7:34 to play in the first half to tie the game at 6-6, and an 85-yarder on a screen pass that he took the distance to give the Panthers (3-1, 1-0) a 12-6 lead with 1:13 left in the half – a lead the Panthers wouldn’t give up.

Lonoke (0-2, 0-1) struck first as Marquez Jackson took the opening kickoff 82 yards for a score to give the Jackrabbits an early 6-0 advantage.

The Panthers first drive was stalled thanks in part to a pair of 10-yard penalties and an interception by Lonoke’s Tanner Starks.

Lonoke appeared to be driving for another score reaching the Heber Springs 28, but on third-and-3, Jacob McMullin threw Lonoke quarterback J.T. Stuart for a seven-yard loss to end the Jackrabbit momentum as a fourth-down pass play came up short.

The Panthers would then drive 74 yards on 10 plays to tie things up on the Buffalo to Warden 23-yard scoring pass.

Heber Springs held Lonoke on their next possession thanks in part to tackles for loss by Luke Elliott and Buffalo.

After a 33-yard punt by Stuart, Buffalo connected with Warden, who did the rest for the 85-yard score.

McMullin, who recovered three onside kick attempts on the night, covered the onside attempt at the Panther 48. Buffalo would race 52 yards for the score with 7:11 left in the third quarter. Buffalo would connect with Logan Rutledge for the 2-point conversion to make it 20-6.

On the ensuing kickoff, Jackson would strike again return the kickoff for 74 yards to make it 20-12.

Heber Springs would use a seven-play, 57-yard drive to respond as Buffalo capped the drive with a 13-yard scoring run to make it 26-12.

The Panthers added a fourth-quarter touchdown on a 5-yard run by Buffalo and a 2-point conversion by Buffalo to set the final score.

Heber Springs returns to action Tuesday night at Panther Stadium against Stuttgart.

HEBER SPRINGS AT LONOKE
SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 
Heber Springs   0  12  14   6 - 32 
Lonoke          6   0   6   0 - 12 
FIRST QUARTER 
L - Marquez Jackson 82-yard kickoff return (run failed), 7:47
SECOND QUARTER 
HS - Liam Buffalo to Weston Warden 23-yard pass (pass failed), 7:34
HS - Buffalo to Warden 85-yard pass (run failed), 1:13
THIRD QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo 52-yard run (Buffalo to Logan Rutledge pass), 7:11
L - Jackson 74-yard kickoff return (run failed), 6:59
HS - Buffalo 13-yard run (run failed), 3:45
FOURTH QUARTER 
HS - Buffalo 5-yard run (Buffalo run), 7:14
TEAM STATISTICS 
FIRST DOWNS: HS 15, L 5
RUSHES-YARDS: HS 21/161, L 21/33
PASSING YARDS: HS 201, L 34
TOTAL OFFENSE: HS 362, L 67
COMP-ATT-INT: HS 11-14-1, L 4-11-1
FUMBLES: HS 0, L 0
PENALITIES-YARDS: HS 6/40, L 0/0
PUNTS-AVERAGE: HS 0, L 1/33
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 
RUSHING: HS, Liam Buffalo 7/95, Lucas Garcia 6/49, Logan Rutledge 1/13, Carter Julian 1/7, Weston Warden 5/2, Team 1/(-5). Lonoke, D'Mar Eason 4/17, Marquez Jackson 5/14, J.T. Stuart 7/13, Will Payne 1/2, Alex Whiting 2/2, Dexter Rollason 1/(-4), Team 1/(-11).
PASSING: HS, Buffalo 11/14-201-2/1, Stuart 4/11-34-0/1
RECEVING: HS, Warden 5/124, Ty West 2/22, Julian 2/20, Seth Dudeck 1/27, Rutledge 1/8. L, Tanner Starks 1/22, Cameron Hooten 1/9, Jaden Mays 1/5, Payne 1/(-2).
KICKOFF RETURNS: L, Jackson 2/156, T.J. Terry 1/7.
PUNT RETURNS: None
INT RETURNS: HS, Caleb Carr 1/29. L, Starks 1/18
FUMBLE RETURNS: None
PUNTS: L, Stuart 1/33.

HEBER SPRINGS JUNIOR HIGH SCHEDULE

(All Games Start at 7 p.m.)

Aug. 26 – Heber Springs 32, Clinton 28

Sep. 09 – Harding Academy 36, Heber Springs 16

Sep. 16 – Heber Springs 26, Dover 12

Sep. 23 – Heber Springs 34, Lonoke 12 *

Sep. 28 – Stuttgart *

Oct. 07 – at Central Arkansas Christian *

Oct. 14 – Bald Knob *

Oct. 21 – at Southside Batesville *

Oct. 28 – at Clinton *

(* – Denotes Conference Contest)