Panthers drop ‘Birds in dramatic fashion; earn home playoff game

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Heber Springs junior Weston Warden with a first-quarter run. Warden scored two touchdowns, including a 60-yard fumble return, blocked an extra point and finished with eight tackles on the night at Stuttgart. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

By PHILIP SEATON
MarkedTime.com Publisher

STUTTGART – The stakes were high for both teams Friday night at Ned Moseley Stadium in a 2-4A clash between Stuttgart and Heber Springs.

The winner would all but be guaranteed the No. 2 seed and more importantly a first-round home playoff game, and for the Panthers, a chance to meet Harding Academy this upcoming Friday for the conference championship.

The Ricebirds had taken a 28-21 lead with 3:21 left in the contest after marching 35 yards in six plays, all runs by Matthew Luster, taking 2:57 off the clock. The drive was capped by an 8-yard run by Luster. Freshman Cain Price connected with Jacob Hayes for the 2-point conversion.

Now it was Heber Springs’ turn. After a 10-yard return on the kickoff by Logan Rutledge, the Panthers took over on their own 43. With only one timeout left, Heber Springs hurried, but remained methodical, as Bryce Seigrist took five straight fullback dives up the middle as the clock continued to run. The sophomore picked up two first downs and moved the ball 28 yards down the field.

It appeared that the Panthers were going to attempt to the same thing on a second-and-7, but instead senior slotback Parker Brown took the pitch and raced 29 yards to make it 28-27 in favor of Stuttgart with 1:14 to play.

“Coach had a great plan this drive,” Brown said. “We put in the heavy personnel, and we were just hammering it.

“He (Heber Springs coach Van Paschal) was like they are going to adjust to that and then we are going to hit them on the outside. That’s exactly what we did.”

Kick the extra point and go into overtime, or go for the win?

“I didn’t want to go into overtime,” Paschal said. “It’s their home, they are going to get the calls (from the officials) obviously, so we might as well do it now.”

As Heber Springs lined up for the 2-point try, Stuttgart coach Josh Price used his final timeout to set up his defense.

Before the timeout, the Ricebirds had lined up in a normal formation, but after the stoppage, Paschal saw something and immediately used his final timeout.

“I think I had called ‘belly’ (a fullback dive off tackle),” he said. “I saw that had nobody back there and they that were going to bring it (defensive pressure). I thought let’s roll the dice.”

The ball was now in the hands of Heber Springs quarterback Xander Lindley. The senior, who had started the past two seasons behind center but gave way to junior Liam Buffalo in the offseason, was thrust back into the starting position after a season-ending injury to Buffalo last week at Lonoke.

“We got that timeout, and he (Paschal) pulled me over to the sideline,” Lindley said. “He told me and Parker, ‘We were going to run the belly play again’. Well, this time, he is like I want you to fake the handoff, turn around and throw it to Parker in the back of the end zone.

“They were all up front on the line of scrimmage. They were all blitzing. As soon as he said it knew it was going to work.”

And he was right. Lindley faked to Seigrist and lofted the ball into the back into the endzone into the waiting arms of a wide-open Brown for the 2-point conversion and the 29-28 lead sending the Panther sidelines into a frenzy and the contingent of fans that had made the nearly two-hour drive from Cleburne County.

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Heber Springs’ Parker Brown stiff arms a Stuttgart defender. Brown finished the night rushing for 110 yards and two touchdowns. PHILP SEATON PHOTO

“It was awesome,” Lindley said. “It felt like three seconds (the ball being in the air), I watched the whole thing and I was like, ‘Please catch it, please’ because I knew the game was on the line right there. I was shaking when I threw it, and it was awesome whenever he caught it.”

Though the Panthers had just taken the lead, Stuttgart still had 74 seconds left to attempt to win the game.

Gideon Tate placed the ensuing kickoff at the Ricebird 15-yard-line along the Panther sideline. Stuttgart’s Quarterion Johnson took the ball found a couple of blockers and nothing but open field and Tate in front of him.

“Coach Paschal called for a sky kick, and that’s what I delivered,” Tate said. “There was no way I was going to let my ball get run back and disappoint coach (Paschal). This is the first year that I am just the kicker/punter, but those old linebacker skills kicked in.”

Paschal was not disappointed.

“He got up and got it done, didn’t he?” he asked. “He thumped him. It was a great form tackle.”

Tate doesn’t take part in many tackle drills in practice, so he harkened back to his youth football days to make the play.

“As a second grader, I actually played up and played for coach Joe Cusick with the third grade (team),” the senior said. “He always said, ‘Be the hammer not the nail’ … but in that exact moment, everything went slow motion around me. When he got closer, I made sure I got the angle on him. Then he slowed.

“So, when he got close enough, I just leapt, wrapped him up and rolled him up like ole coach Joe taught us.”

One of his teammates thought he was going to score.

“I thought that guy was gone,” Lindley said. “Gideon came out of nowhere and made the perfect tackle. It was awesome.”

Though it was perfect tackle, it was going to take a few more stops to wrap-up the win as the Ricebirds took over at the 50 after the 35-yard return.

A false-start penalty pushed Stuttgart back five yards with 67 seconds to play, before Heber Springs started getting those stops.

Junior Jordan Tidwell blew past the offensive lineman that attempted to block him and wrapped up Cain Price for a sack and a 14-yard loss.

A jubilant assistant coach, Easton Seidl, high-stepped his way 20 yards down the sideline before Tidwell could complete the tackle.

“Jordan ‘freaking’ Tidwell,” Seidl said on social media after the game.

“I’m so proud of this young man,” the first-year Heber Springs’ defensive line coach added. “I was very hard on him tonight, and in the biggest moment of the game this is what he does. He squashed every bit of hope they had. With no timeouts and less than 50 seconds on the lock. Doesn’t get better than seeing your players grow and get better every week.”

Stuttgart still had time but Carter Julian, who paced the Panthers with a game-high 12 total tackles, brought down Deontae Clark after a six-yard pass play. Sophomore Eli Buffalo followed on third down by holding Ross Atkinson to an 11-yard gain. On fourth-and-12, Stuttgart unsuccessfully attempted the ‘hook-and-ladder’ play as Atkinson caught the ball near the line of scrimmage lateraled to Clark who was immediately brought down by Brown and Julian for a one-yard loss sealing the 29-28 win for Heber Springs.

“It is a special win,” Brown said. “We hadn’t beat Stuttgart in a while, and to beat them at their place, it’s a great day.”

It was the fifth-straight win for the Panthers, who improve to 5-2 on the season and remained undefeated in conference play with a 4-0 mark. Heber Springs wrapped the conference’s second seed for the upcoming playoffs and guaranteed themselves a home playoff game for the first time since 2018.

Stuttgart fell to 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in the 2-4A.

The Panthers travel to Searcy on Friday to tangle with Harding Academy. With the winner claiming the conference’s top seed and most likely conference title.

“They are really good,” Paschal said of the Wildcats. “We are going to have to play well. They have so many weapons. At this stage of the game for us, we want to win the ballgame, but it’s a measuring stick for the playoffs.

“If we win, bonus, but we aren’t supposed too. We are going to prepare to win, but here’s the deal, to get the two seed, to get that home game, that’s big. Let’s just see how that booger rolls out and then we build on that.”

Heber Springs rolled out to a 14-0 lead Friday night at Stuttgart.

The Panthers struck first with 3:10 remaining in the first quarter as Weston Warden scored on a six-yard run. The junior had put Heber Springs in that position by making a 27-yard reception on a third-and-10 play from the Panther 44.

After Stuttgart picked up a couple of first downs, Luke Elliott sacked Price for a seven-yard loss on third down forcing a punt.

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Heber Springs junior linebacker Brodie Basford gets up after making the tackle on Stuttgart’s Deontae Clark. Basford finished the night with 11 total tackles, including nine unassisted. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

Taking over own their own 19, runs by Seigrist, Warden and Brown moved the ball into Ricebird territory. On second-and-10, Brown took the pitch and didn’t stop until he crossed the goal line. Tate added the kick to make it 14-0 with 6:57 to play in the half.

But penalties and the Stuttgart defense would slow down the Panther offense almost the rest of night. Heber Springs was flagged 12 times for 120 yards and held to two yards of total offense on their next five possessions.

“I thought we would score 50 points to be honest with you,” Paschal said. “They were teeing off on us. We were running our base stuff, and they just whipped our butt … nothing much was working.”

In the meantime, Stuttgart was closing the gap. The Ricebirds put six points on the scoreboard on a two-yard run by senior Kemarion Pickett with 2:16 left in the first half. Warden blocked the extra point for Heber Springs leaving the score at 14-6 heading into the break.

Stuttgart would tie things up with 5:12 remaining in third quarter as Price connected with Johnson for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Price then found Pickett for the 2-point conversion.

While the offense continued to struggle, the Panther defense stepped up.

Sophomore Emmett Dwyer picked off a Price pass at the Heber Springs 5 and returned it 32 yards to keep the Ricebirds off the board with 11:50 to play.

On Stuttgart’s next possession, the Ricebirds picked up a first down and appeared to have a second one in Panther territory, but Stuttgart’s Jeremiah Thomas was stood up by a pair of Heber Springs defenders and Warden stripped the ball loose. The junior then raced 60 yards for the score.

“I felt the ball go into my arms and I just took off with it,” Warden said. “I just saw grass and I ran as fast as I could.”

It was the second week in a row that Warden has had a 60-yard defensive score, returning an interception for a touchdown last week against Lonoke.

A high snap almost derailed the extra-point attempt as Lindley got the ball down just low enough for Tate to barely push it over the cross-bar for the 21-14 lead with 8:45 to play.

“Those are the moments when having years of training as a striker in soccer pays off,” Tate said. “That ball is always going to go in the direction your hips are pointed. Since we are not using a block, I had to put more hip into it than leg. It wasn’t pretty, but I managed to get it over.”

But Stuttgart wasn’t going to disappoint the gathered homecoming crowd, as Price found Clark on the Ricebird’s first play from scrimmage for a 77-yard scoring with 8:25 to play. The 2-point conversion attempt was stopped leaving the Panthers up 21-20.

“Craziest game I ever been part of,” Warden said. “Just a team effort couldn’t do without my teammates. We fought to the end and came out with the ‘W’.”

Warden’s defensive coordinator Kevin Youngblood took to social media after the game to talk about the team effort.

“Our kids are amazing,” he said. “All we hear at the state level is our kids are too slow, too little up front, too young and everything else.

“But what they are quickly find out is that our kids have grit, heart, desire and determination. This a true football team.”

HEBER SPRINGS 29, STUTTGART 28: Game Stats

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Heber Springs’ Britt Grice and Joenah Cordell (52) hold off Stuttgart’s Nykeal Bradley on an extra-point attempt Friday night at Stuttgart. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

HEBER SPRINGS AT STUTTGART
SENIOR HIGH
October 20, 2023
TEAM STATS
TIME OF POSSESSION: Heber Springs 24:46, Stuttgart 23:14
TOTAL FIRST DOWNS: Heber Springs 13, Stuttgart 18
BY RUSH: Heber Springs 12, Stuttgart 9
BY PASS: Heber Springs 1, Stuttgart 8
BY PENALTY: Heber Springs 0, Stuttgart 1
TEAM RUSHING: Heber Springs 42/216/3/5.1, Stuttgart 35/92/2/2.6
TEAM PASSING: Heber Springs 1/5-23-0/0, Stuttgart 20/28-290-2/1
TOTAL OFFENSE: Heber Springs 47/216/4.6, Stuttgart 63/382/6.1
3RD CONVERSION: Heber Springs 3/9, Stuttgart 7/14
4TH CONVERSION: Heber Springs 0/1, Stuttgart 1/2
RED-ZONE: Heber Springs 1/1, Stuttgart 3/4
TURNOVERS: Heber Springs 0, Stuttgart 2
POINTS OFF TURNOVERS: Heber Springs 7, Stuttgart 0
FUMBLES/LOST: Heber Springs 1/0, Stuttgart 4/1
PENALTIES: Heber Springs 12/120, Stuttgart 7/40
KICKOFF RETURNS: Heber Springs 4/48, Stuttgart 5/40
PUNT RETURNS: Heber Springs 2/25, Stuttgart 2/19
PUNTS: Heber Springs 5/194/38.8, Stuttgart 3/101/33.7
PUNTS INSIDE 20: Heber Springs 1, Stuttgart 0
SACKS: Heber Springs 2/21, Stuttgart 0
TACKLES FOR LOSS: Heber Springs 9/48, Stuttgart 11/49
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: Heber Springs, Bryce Seigrist 18/82/4.6, Weston Warden 9/43/1, Parker Brown 6/110/2, Xander Lindley 6/13, Logan Rutledge 1/(-10), Team 2/(-27). Stuttgart Cain Price 9/11, Matthew Luster 8/39/1, Deontae Clark 7/30, Jeremiah Thomas 7/25, Kemarion Pickett 3/4/1, Kevon Conway 1/(-1), Team 1/(-16).
PASSING: Heber Springs, Xander Lindley 1/5-23-0/0, Lonoke, Cain Price 20/28-290-2/1
RECEIVING: Heber Springs, Weston Warden 1/23. Stuttgart Deontae Clark 9/167/1, Ross Atkinson 5/28, Quarterion Johnson 3/70/1, Matthew Luster 1/12.
KICKOFF RETURNS: Heber Springs, Weston Warden 2/30, Parker Brown 1/14, Logan Rutledge 1/4.
PUNT RETURNS: Heber Springs, Parker Brown 2/25
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: Heber Springs, Emmett Dwyer 1/32
FUMBLE RETURNS: Heber Springs, Weston Warden 1/60/1
ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: Heber Springs, Parker Brown 149, Weston Warden 116. Stuttgart, Deontae Clark 214
TOTAL OFFENSE: Stuttgart, Cain Price 301
PUNTING: Heber Springs, Gideon Tate 5/194/38.8/1 (Long 63). Stuttgart Hayden Prine 3/101/33.7/0 (Long 38)
SCORING
PAT KICKS: Gideon Tate 3/3
FIELD GOALS: None
POINTS: Parker Brown 14, Weston Warden 12, Gideon Tate 3
DEFENSIVE STATS
SACKS: Team Total (2).
INDIVIDUAL SACK TOTAL: Luke Elliott, Jordan Tidwell
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Weston Warden
FORCED FUMBLES: Weston Warden, Logan Rutledge
INTERCEPTIONS: Emmett Dwyer
PBU: Emmett Dwyer 2, Brodie Basford, Eli Buffalo, Carter Julian
QB HURRIES: Luke Elliott, Jordan Tidwell, Brodie Basford

TACKLES (U/A/TFL – TOTAL)
Carter Julian       6 6 1  12
Parker Brown     4 2 1  6
Elijah Jones         5 1 1  6
Weston Warden 7 1 1  8
Jordan Tidwell   4 3 1  7
Luke Elliott         2 2 1  4
Brodie Basford   9 2 1 11
Eli Buffalo            4 1 0 5
Jacob McMullin  2 0 1 2
Dyce Young          0 1 0 1
Caleb Carr             0 1 0 1
Logan Rutledge 0 1 0 1
Gideon Tate         1 0 0 1

Rough night with Ricebirds

Heber Springs senior Thad Bray battles with Stuttgart’s Caleb Barnard Thursday night at Stuttgart. PHILIP SEATON PHOTO

By LARRY “SCOOP” McCARTY

STUTTGART – A rough start in the 2-4A Conference football chase didn’t damper the spirit of the Heber Springs Panthers.

The Panthers (0-2 in conference, 1-3 overall) returned with a new determination for Friday’s practice following Thursday’s 42-0 loss to Stuttgart (2-0 in conference, 4-1), which advanced to last year’s state semifinals and the favorite to win the conference championship, at Ned Moseley.

Stuttgart stopped Heber Springs’ school-record streak of avoiding a shutout at 87 games. The last time the Panthers’ were shutout came on Oct. 18, 2013, at Newport (35-0).

After playing the two teams projected to finish one-two in preseason rankings, Heber Springs will play three of the next four games at Panther Stadium, starting with Central Arkansas Christian on Friday. After a road game against Bald Knob, Heber Springs will face Southside Batesville for homecoming and Clinton. The Panthers will finish the regular season at Little Rock Mills.

“I told the players we were in a similar situation last year,” Heber Springs coach Todd Wood said. “We need to focus on it is not the end of the road, but we have an opportunity at getting into the playoffs in the remaining games. CAC will be our first opportunity. Our goal is to make the playoffs.”

Stuttgart rushed 25 times for 219 yards, an average of 8.8 yards per attempt.

The Ricebirds completed 4-of-8 passes for 86 yards and finished with 300 yards of offense.

Heber Springs had 66 yards on 31 carries, an average of 2.1 yards per carry. The Panthers connected on 3-of-9 passes for 15 yards and compiled 81 yards of total offense.

Sophomore Parker Brown rushed 11 times for 41 yards, plus 53 yards on kickoff returns. Junior Easton Cusick had 51 yards on kickoff returns. Sophomore Dalton Yancey caught two passes.

“We made mistakes on offense and defense,” Wood said. “We couldn’t control the ball, which put more pressure on our defense. We never clicked on offense, and the defense could not get going.”

Wood knew before Thursday’s game that the Panthers faced a major challenge.

“You can’t give a good team like Stuttgart that many opportunities and momentum, especially early in the game,” Wood said. “It’s hard to get out that deep of the hole during the first quarter (28-0). We couldn’t recover from the slow start.”

Stuttgart received an onside kickoff and drove 54 yards on five plays to start the game. Cedric Hawkins ran 38 yards for the touchdown with 9:32 left in the first quarter. Jack Hosman kicked the extra point for the 7-0 lead.

After forcing a Heber Springs punt, the Ricebirds needed nine plays on a 59-yard drive for their second touchdown. Kameron Harper’s 34-yard catch of a Tymir Coppins pass started the series. Coppins finished the drive by throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jack Ledbetter. The try for the conversion kick was unsuccessful.

Stuttgart’s defense was able to put points on the board too. Bryer West scooped up a Heber Springs fumble and returned 25 yards for a score with 3:26 left. Coppins passed to Ledbetter for a 2-point conversion, increasing the lead to 21-0.

The Ricebirds reached the end zone again before the end of the first quarter. Coppins passed 40 yards to Hawkins for a score with 41 seconds left. Hosman kicked the extra point for the 28-0 lead.

Stuttgart added two touchdowns during the second quarter. Daniel Poole had a 66-yard scoring run with 8:01 to go, and Higgins scored on a 1-yard plunge to cap a 56-yard drive with 2:37 remaining in the first half. Hosman kicked the extra points.

Kickoff for Friday’s game against CAC is 7 p.m. Senior players, along with senior cheerleaders and the band, will be recognized in a pregame ceremony.

HEBER SPRINGS AT STUTTGART
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 
Heber Springs (1-3, 0-2)   0   0   0   0 -  0
Stuttgart (4-1, 2-0)      21  21   0   0 - 42 
FIRST QUARTER 
S - Cedric Hawkins 39-yard run (Jack Hosman kick), 9:32
S - Tymir Coppins to Joel Ledbetter 7-yard pass (kick failed), 4:31
S - Bryer West 25-yard fumble return (Coppins to Ledbetter pass), 3:26
S - Coppins to Hawkins 40-yard pass (Hosman kick), :41
SECOND QUARTER 
S - Daniel Poole 61-yard run (Hosman kick), 8:01
S - A.J. Higgins 1-yard run (Hosman kick), 2:27
TEAM STATISTICS 
FIRST DOWNS: HS 6, S 11
RUSHES-YARDS: HS 31/66, S 25/219
PASSING YARDS: HS 15, S 86
COMP-ATT-INT: HS 3/-0, S 4/8-0
TOTAL OFFENSE: HS 81, S 305
FUMBLES: HS 2, S 0
PENALITIES-YARDS: HS 5/25, S 6/50
PUNTS-AVERAGE: HS 4/28.3, S 1/49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 
RUSHING: HS, Parker Brown 11/41, Gideon Tate 6/12, Jackson West 5/10, Easton Cusick 1/6, Xander Lindley 8/(-3). S, Daniel Poole 3/72, Cedric Hawkins 5/62, Landon Melynchuk 3/31, A.J. Higgins 6/29, Prince O'Neal 2/12, Tymir Coppins 1/12, Kemarion Pickett 3/3, Team 1/2, Matthew Luster 1/0, Jaxson Robinson 1/(-4).
PASSING: HS, Lindley 2/6-4-0/0, Cusick 1/3-11-0/0. Lonoke, Coppins 3/6-52-2/0, Melynchuk 1/2-34-0/0
RECEVING: HS, Dalton Yancey 2/4, Austin Winchester 1/11. S, Hawkins 1/40, Kameron Harper 1/34, Jack Ledbetter 1/7, O'Neal 1/5.
KICKOFF RETURNS: HS, Brown 3/53, Cusick 3/51, West 1/9. 
PUNT RETURNS: S, Coppins 1/2, Chance Rabeneck 1/1.
INTERCEPTION RETURNS: None
FUMBLE RETURNS: Bryer West 1/25
PUNTS: Heber Springs, Lindley 4/113, S, Jack Hosman 1/49