SCORING BY QUARTERS Heber Springs 28 42 10 13 - 93 (31 ppg) Opponent 0 12 0 8 - 20 (6.7 ppg) TEAM STATS First Downs by Rush: Heber Springs 15, Opponent 10 First Downs by Pass: Heber Springs 29, Opponent 1 First Downs by Penalty: Heber Springs 0, Opponent 4 Total First Downs: Heber Springs 44, Opponent 15 Penalties: Heber Springs 18/154, Opponent 12/73 3rd-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 7/20, Opponent 3/19 4th-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 7/10, Opponent 2/4 Fumbles/Lost: Heber Springs 6/1, Opponent 4/3 Sacks/Yards Lost: Heber Springs 4/36, Opponent 0/0 Total Offense: Heber Springs 1070, Opponent 225 Total Offense Per Game: Heber Springs 356.7, Opponent 75 Rush/Yards/Avg: Heber Springs 51/308/6, Opponent 51/117/2.3 Rushing Yards Per Game: Heber Springs 102.7, Opponent 39 Passing (A/C-Yards-TD/Int): Heber Springs 44/71-762-7/0, Opponent 14/35-108-1/5 Passing Yards Per Game: Heber Springs 254, Opponent 36 Punts: Heber Springs 2/43/21.5, Opponent 9/340/37.8 INDIVIDUAL STATS OFFENSE Rushing: Gideon Tate 17/79, Weston Warden 8/70/1, Dalton Yancey 3/44/1, Parker Brown 5/40/1, Xander Lindley 2/34/1, Hayden Johnson 5/25, Liam Buffalo 4/10/1, Hud Haggard 1/9, Jacob Golden 1/5, Ladd Choate 2/5, Bryce Seigrist 1/(-6), Team 2/(-11). Passing: Liam Buffalo 42/69-691-6/0, Zachary Parker 2/2-71-1/0. Receiving: Dalton Yancey 10/195/2, Xander Lindley 7/160/2, Weston Warden 6/45, Hud Haggard 6/65/1 Parker Brown 6/188/2, Ty West 2/3, Chris Roberts 1/28. Kickoff Returns: Heber Springs, Hud Haggard 2/0, Corbin Jones 1/0, Xander Lindley 1/0. Punt Returns: Xander Lindley 1/13 Interception Returns: Parker Brown 2/46/1, Liam Buffalo 2/0, Logan Rutledge 1/0. Total Offense: Liam Buffalo 701, Gideon Tate 79, Zachary Parker 71, Weston Warden 70, Dalton Yancey 44, Parker Brown 40, Xander Lindley 34, Hayden Johnson 25, Hud Haggard 9, Jacob Golden 5, Ladd Choate 5, Bryce Seigrist (-6). All-Purpose Yards: Parker Brown 274, Dalton Yancey 239, Xander Lindley 207, Weston Warden 114, Gideon Tate 79, Hud Haggard 74, Chris Roberts 28, Hayden Johnson 25, Liam Buffalo 10, Jacob Golden 5, Ladd Choate 5, Ty West 3, Bryce Seigrist (-6). DEFENSE Sacks/Yards lost: Parker Brown 2/15, Hud Haggard 1/11, Chris Roberts 1/10 Interceptions: Liam Buffalo 2, Parker Brown 2, Logan Rutledge 1, Fumble Recoveries: Ladd Choate, Xander Lindley, Team Punts: Liam Buffalo 2/43/21.5 SCORING Parker Brown 36, Xander Lindley 22, Dalton Yancey 20, Gideon Tate 7 (4/5 XP, 1/1 FG. MADE: 25), Liam Buffalo 6, Weston Warden 6, Hud Haggard 6
Tag: Parker Brown
Junior Panthers improve to 3-0 on season
By PHILIP SEATON
With Lonoke starting quarterback Bradon Allen moved up to the senior high team, the Heber Springs Junior Panthers took full advantage of his absence scoring 33 first-half points en route to a 40-6 victory over Lonoke Thursday night at Panther Stadium.
Heber Springs improved to 3-0 on the season, but more importantly opened 2-4A conference play with a victory.
“We had a great game,” Heber Springs coach James Ortiz said. “We were prepared. We watched a lot of film during the week. Our guys were focused. We were ready to win and that’s all there is to it.”
In Allen’s absence, the Panthers were able to limit Lonoke to 21 yards of total offense, including 1 of 4 passing for one yard.
Freshman Xander Lindley had a big night scoring three times and finishing with 166 all-purpose yards for Heber Springs.
After Liam Buffalo opened the scoring for the Panthers with a 6-yard run to make it 6-0 with 5:12 left in the first quarter, Lindley would score the next three times Heber Springs had possession – a 27-yard run with 3.2 seconds left in the first, a 23-yard reception with 6:53 in the second and a 37-yard reception with 2:51 left in the half – as the Panthers built a 26-0 lead.
Lindley also had a hand in Heber Springs’ next score after he recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give the Panthers the ball on the Lonoke 40. Three plays later, Weston Warden raced 31 yards to make it 33-0 (after the Gideon Tate PAT kick) with 2:07 left in the half.
Lonoke managed to get on the board late in the half on a seven-play, 61-yard drive that Tripp Sullivan capped off with a 1-yard run with no time left on the clock. Lonoke picked up it’s only first downs of the night on the drive with two those coming on runs and three coming on Panther penalties.
Heber Springs got on the board again on its first possession of the second half as Zachary Parker connected with Dalton Yancey on a 52-yard scoring pass to make it 40-6. Tate added the PAT.
Buffalo was effective on the night for the Panthers completing 11 of 15 pass attempts for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Lindley caught five of the Buffalo offerings for 139 yards while Yancey added four receptions for 74 yards.
Warden paced Heber Springs on the ground with 56 yards while Tate rushed for 42 yards as the Panthers finished with 369 yards of total offense.
Heber Springs will travel to Stuttgart for a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday with the Ricebirds.
STATS
Lonoke 0 6 0 0 - 6 Heber Springs 12 21 7 0 - 40 FIRST QUARTER Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 6-yard run (Pass failed), 5:12 Heber Springs, Xander Lindley 27-yard run (Pass failed), 3.2 SECOND QUARTER Heber Springs, Buffalo to Lindley 23-yard pass (Buffalo to Lindley pass), 6:53 Heber Springs, Buffalo to Lindley 37-yard pass (Pass failed), 2:51 Heber Springs, Weston Warden 31-yard run (Gideon Tate kick), 2:07 Lonoke, Tripp Sullivan 4-yard run (Pass failed), :00 FOURTH QUARTER Heber Springs, Zachary Parker to Dalton Yancey 52-yard pass (Tate kick), 5:08 TEAM STATS First Downs by Rush: Heber Springs 6, Lonoke 2 First Downs by Pass: Heber Springs 9, Lonoke 0 First Downs by Penalty: Heber Springs 0, Lonoke 3 Total First Downs: Heber Springs 15, Lonoke 5 Penalties: Heber Springs 7/53, Lonoke 4/20 3rd-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 2/6, Lonoke 1/5 4th-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 3/4, Lonoke 0/0 Fumbles/Lost: Heber Springs 2/0, Lonoke 2/2 Sacks/Yards Lost: Heber Springs 2/17, Lonoke 0/0 Total Offense: Heber Springs 369, Lonoke 21 Rush/Yards/Avg: Heber Springs 22/147/6.7, Lonoke 16/20/1.3 Passing (A/C-Yards-TD/Int): Heber Springs 12/16-222-3/0, Lonoke 1/4-1-0/1 Punts: Heber Springs 0/0, Lonoke 4/145/36.3 INDIVIDUAL STATS OFFENSE Rushing: Heber Springs, Weston Warden 4/56, Gideon Tate 10/42, Xander Lindley 1/27, Parker Brown 1/8, Liam Buffalo 1/6, Jacob Golden 1/5, Ladd Choate 2/5, Hayden Johnson 1/4, Bryce Seigrist 1/(-6). Lonoke, Kemarcus Jones 1/18, Zhorion Gipson 6/14, Tripp Sullivan 9/(-12). Passing: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 11/15-170-2/0, Zachary Parker 1/1-52-1/0. Lonoke, Tripp Sullivan 1/4-1-0/1. Receiving: Heber Springs, Xander Lindley 5/139, Dalton Yancey 4/74, Weston Warden 2/3, Parker Brown 1/6. Lonoke, Zhorion Gipson 1/1. Kickoff Returns: Heber Springs, Hud Haggard 1/0. Lonoke, Kemarcus Jones 3/21, Tripp Sullivan 2/18, Alex Whiting 1/7, J.T. Stuart 1/1. Total Offense: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 176, Weston Warden 56, Zachary Parker 52, Gideon Tate 42, Xander Lindley 27, Parker Brown 8, Jacob Golden 5, Ladd Choate 5, Hayden Johnson 4, Bryce Seigrist (-6). Lonoke, Kemarcus Jones 18, Zhorion Gipson 14, Tripp Sullivan (-11). All-Purpose Yards: Heber Springs, Xander Lindley 166, Dalton Yancey 74, Weston Warden 59, Gideon Tate 42, Parker Brown 14, Liam Buffalo 6, Jacob Golden 5, Ladd Choate 5, Hayden Johnson 4, Bryce Seigrist (-6). DEFENSE Sacks/Yards lost: Heber Springs, Hud Haggard 1/11, Parker Brown 1/6 Interceptions: Heber Springs, Logan Rutledge 1/0. Fumble Recoveries: Ladd Choate, Xander Lindley. Punts: Lonoke, Tripp Sullvian 4/145/36.3 Kicking: Heber Springs, Gideon Tate (2/2 XP)
Junior Panthers sink Pirates
By PHILIP SEATON
Heber Springs finished with more than 400 yards of total offense and held Dover to negative yards in the first half in a 30-8 road victory.
Liam Buffalo was 14 of 21 passing for 291 yards and two touchdowns with Parker Brown catching two of Buffalo’s passes for 99 yards and a score and Dalton Yancey catching three balls for 91 yards and a score for the Panthers.
While the offense was efficient, it was the defense that kept the Pirates at bay, especially in the first half where Dover recorded zero first downs on one of five passing for minus seven yard and for a one-yard loss on nine rushing attempts.
Dover avoided the shutout with a 3-yard touchdown run by Draxton Mediano 31 seconds left in the contest.
“We started playing real sloppy in the second half,” Heber Springs coach James Ortiz said. “Wish we could have left the goose egg up there, but we tried to get some more guys out there and for some others to get some reaps.
“Overall the defense was great. We came out with confidence and excitement, and played great.”
The Panthers got on the board with 3:31 left in the first quarter when Dalton Yancey scored his first-ever touchdown with a 3-yard run. Buffalo connected with Yancey for the 2-point conversion.
After holding Dover to a three-and-out, Heber Springs marched 81 yards on seven plays. Buffalo found Weston Warden for a 12-yard pass completion on first down from the Panther 19. On third down from the Panther 35, Warden ran for 17 yards followed by an 18-yard pass completion to Yancey and a 28-yard strike to Brown to put the ball on the Dover 2. From there, Brown carried the ball over to make it 16-0 with 7:09 left in the half after the 2-point conversion pass from Buffalo to Brown.
The Panthers went up 23-0 with 4:08 left in the quarter after Buffalo connected with Yancey on a 70-yard pass play. Gideon Tate kicked the PAT.
Heber Springs threatened to score again right before the half before the clocked ended the drive at the Dover 14.
After a scoreless third quarter, the Panthers added another score when Buffalo connected with Brown for a 71-yard touchdown. Tate kicked the extra point to make it 30-0 with 5:52 left.
“Our offense was spectacular,” Ortiz said. “We got bogged once or twice, but those are very fixable problems.”
Yancey finished with 135 all-purpose yards for the Panthers while Brown had 125 all-purpose yards and added a sack on defense.
Heber Springs will host Lonoke at 7 p.m. Thursday in the 2-4A conference opener.
“We are going to be ready for it,” Ortiz said. “We’ll be prepared for our conference and it’s just a matter of getting them prepared and ready to go.”
GAME STATS
HEBER SPRINGS AT DOVER Junior High Football September 17, 2020 Heber Springs 8 15 0 7 - 30 Dover 0 0 0 8 - 8 FIRST QUARTER Heber Springs, Dalton Yancey 3-yard run (Liam Buffalo to Yancey pass), 3:31 SECOND QUARTER Heber Springs, Parker Brown 2-yard run (Buffalo to Brown pass), 7:09 Heber Springs, Buffalo to Yancey 70-yard pass (Gideon Tate kick), 4:08 FOURTH QUARTER Heber Springs, Buffalo to Brown 71-yard pass (Tate kick), 5:52 Dover, Draxton Mediano 3-yard run (Landon Meador run), :31 TEAM STATS First Downs by Rush: Heber Springs 6, Dover 7 First Downs by Pass: Heber Springs 9, Dover 0 First Downs by Penalty: Heber Springs 0, Dover 0 Total First Downs: Heber Springs 15, Dover 7 Penalties: Heber Springs 5/40, Dover 3/20 3rd-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 3/5, Dover 2/8 4th-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 1/2, Dover 1/2 Fumbles/Lost: Heber Springs 1/1, Dover 0/0 Sacked/Yards Lost: Heber Springs 0/0, Dover 1/9 Total Offense: Heber Springs 422, Dover 91 Rush/Yards/Avg: Heber Springs 14/112/8, Dover 23/76/3.3 Passing (A/C-Yards-TD/Int): Heber Springs 15/22-310-2/0, Dover 5/14-15-0/1 Punts: Heber Springs 0, Dover 4/153/38.3 INDIVIDUAL STATS OFFENSE Rushing: Heber Springs, Dalton Yancey 3/44, Gideon Tate 4/28, Parker Brown 3/26, Weston Warden 4/14. Dover, Draxton Mediano 11/60, Drew Masters 7/12, Landen Canfield 1/2, Talvin Leavell 4/2. Passing: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 14/21-291-2/0, Zachary Parker 1/1-19-0/0. Dover, Talvin Leavell 5/14-15-0/1. Receiving: Heber Springs, Parker Brown 2/99, Dalton Yancey 3/91, Weston Warden 4/42, Bryce Seigrist 2/35, Xander Lindley 2/25, Hud Haggard 2/18. Dover, Landen Canfield 1/11, Colton Shuffield 3/2, Draxton Mediano 1/2. Kickoff Returns: Heber Springs, Corbin Jones 1/0. Dover, Colton Shuffield 2/65, Landen Canfield 2/20 Punt Returns: Heber Springs, Xander Lindley 1/13 Interceptions: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 1/0 Total Offense: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 291, Dalton Yancey 44, Gideon Tate 28, Parker Brown 26, Zachary Parker 19, Weston Warden 14. Dover, Draxton Mediano 60, Talvin Leavell 17, Drew Masters 12, Landen Canfield 2 All-Purpose Yards: Heber Springs, Dalton Yancey 135, Parker Brown 125, Weston Warden 56, Xander Lindley 38, Bryce Seagrist 35, Gideon Tate 28, Hud Haggard 18. Dover, Draxton Mediano 62, Colton Shuffield 62, Landen Canfield 33, Drew Masters 12, Talvin Leavell 2. DEFENSE SACKS/YARDS LOST: Heber Springs, Parker Brown 1/9 PUNTS: Dover, Talvin Leavell 4/153/38.2 KICKING: Heber Springs, Gideon Tate (2/2 XP)
Panthers open junior high season with convincing win
By PHILIP SEATON
Heber Springs took advantage of four Harding Academy turnovers and cruised to a 23-6 win over Harding Academy in junior high football action at Panther Stadium Thursday night.
Heber Springs junior high coach James Ortiz was concerned about Harding Academy after the Panthers “week zero” game at Clinton was canceled because of the remnants of Hurricane Laura.
“We didn’t have a game one like a lot of others did, I know other schools are in the same boat, but I can’t worry about them,” he said. “I worry about me. So that was one thing that I kind of worried about is that we didn’t have something to prepare us for Harding as much as I wanted us to.”
His worries were put to ease by ease by eighth-grader Liam Buffalo, who was 17 of 33 passing for 230 yards and two touchdowns, and ninth-grader Parker Brown, who had three receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown and also picked off two Wildcat passes — including returning one 46 yards for a score.
“He’s unbelievable,” Ortiz said of Brown who moved back into the district after spending the last two seasons in Texas. “He’s just an athlete. He has great hands, great feet. He can run and he’s a great kid. We are fortunate to have him. He definitely makes our team better.”
Buffalo had a slow start, completing only three of his first 10 passes for 20 yards, as the game remained scoreless until late in the first quarter when Brown picked off the Miller Owen pass attempt and returned it for a score. Xander Lindley ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 8-0 in favor of Heber Springs with 2:13 to play.
The Heber Springs defense held Harding Academy to 113 total yards of offense — with 52 of those coming on one pass play- and three first downs, and it was after a defensive stop that Buffalo found his rhythm completing three passes for 75 yards — including a 33-yarder to Hud Haggard and a 35-yard scoring strike to Brown — to make the score 14-0 in favor of the Panthers with 7:12 left in the first half.
“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Ortiz said of Buffalo. “I could be nit picky about one or two things … but overall I can’t ask for anything else for my quarterback.”
The Wildcats got on the board on their next possession as Owen connected with Kyler Hoover for a 52-yard scoring strike to make it 14-6 with 5:02 left in the first half. The 2-point conversion failed.
The score remained that way until the Panthers first possession of the second half. After Brown picked off an Owen pass attempt in the end zone, Heber Springs marched 72 yards on 12 plays before the 5:57 drive stalled at the Wildcat 8 on fourth down. Freshman Gideon Tate connected on the 25-yard field goal attempt to make it 17-6 in favor of the Panthers with 7:11 left in the contest.
Heber Springs added another score less than three minutes later. Haggard recovered a Wildcat fumble on the Harding Academy 19 and three plays later Buffalo connected with Haggard for the 4-yard touchdown to make it 23-6. The PAT was no good.
Haggard finished the night with six receptions for 65 yards for Heber Springs while Dalton Yancey (for 23 yards), Lindley (for 21 yards) and Ty West (for 3 yards) each had a pair of receptions.
The Panther defense limited Harding Academy to 21 yards rushing on 16 attempts. Heber Springs which finished with 279 yards of total offense and 14 first downs.
Heber Springs will look to improve to 2-0 on the season Thursday when they travel to Dover for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Game Stats: Harding Academy at Heber Springs Junior High
HARDING ACADEMY AT HEBER SPRINGS Junior High Football September 10, 2020 at Panther Stadium Harding Academy 0 6 0 0 - 6 Heber Springs 8 6 3 6 - 23 FIRST QUARTER Heber Springs, Parker Brown 46-yard interception return (Xander Lindley 2-point run), 2:13 SECOND QUARTER Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo to Brown 35-yard pass (pass failed), 7:12 Harding Academy, Owen Miller to Kyler Hoover 52-yard pass (pass failed), 5:02 FOURTH QUARTER Heber Springs, Gideon Tate 25-yard field goal, 7:11 Heber Springs, Buffalo to Hud Haggard 4-yard pass (kick failed), 5:04 TEAM STATS First Downs by Rush: Heber Springs 3, Harding Academy 1 First Downs by Pass: Heber Springs 11, Harding Academy 1 First Downs by Penalty: Heber Springs 0, Harding Academy 1 Total First Downs: Heber Springs 14, Harding Academy 3 Penalties: Heber Springs 6/61, Harding Academy 5/33 3rd-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 2/9, Harding Academy 0/6 4th-Down Conversions: Heber Springs 3/4, Harding Academy 1/2 Fumbles/Lost: Heber Springs 3/0, Harding Academy 2/1 Sacked/Yards Lost: Heber Springs 0/0, Harding Academy 1/10 Total Offense: Heber Springs 279, Harding Academy 113 Rush/Yards/Avg: Heber Springs 15/49/3.3, Harding Academy 12/21/1.7 Passing (A/C-Yards-TD/Int): Heber Springs 17/33-230-2/0, Harding Academy 8/17-92-1/3 Punts: Heber Springs 2/43/21.5, Harding Academy 1/42 INDIVIDUAL STATS OFFENSE Rushing: Heber Springs, Hayden Johnson 4/21, Hud Haggard 1/9, Gideon Tate 3/9, Xander Lindley 1/7, Parker Brown 1/6, Liam Buffalo 3/4, Team 2/(-11). Harding Academy, Kyler Hoover 5/28, Owen Miller 6/(-6), Jack Citty 1/(-1). Passing: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 17/33-230-2/0. Harding Academy, Owen Miller 8/17-92-1/3. Receiving: Heber Springs, Hud Haggard 6/65, Parker Brown 3/83, Dalton Yancey 3/30, Xander Lindley 2/21, Ty West 2/3, Chris Roberts 1/28. Harding Academy, Kyler Hoover 4/65, Endy McGalliard 3/21, Jack Citty 1/6. Kickoff Returns: Heber Springs, Hud Haggard 1/0, Xander Lindley 1/0. Harding Academy, Kyler Hoover 2/37, Jack Citty 2/35, Kohl Griffin 1/(-2). Interceptions: Heber Springs, Parker Brown 2/46, Liam Buffalo 1/0 Total Offense: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 234, Hayden Johnson 21, Hud Haggard 9, Gideon Tate 9, Xander Lindley 7, Parker Brown 6. Harding Academy, Owen Miller 86, Kyler Hoover 28, Jack Citty (-1). All-Purpose Yards: Heber Springs, Parker Brown 135, Hud Haggard 74, Dalton Yancey 30, Xander Lindley 28, Chris Roberts 28, Hayden Johnson 21, Gideon Tate 9, Ty West 3. Harding Academy, Kyler Hoover 130, Jack Citty 40, Endy McGalliard 21, Kohl Griffin (-2), Owen Miller (-6) DEFENSE SACKS/YARDS LOST: Heber Springs, Chris Roberts 1/10. PUNTS: Heber Springs, Liam Buffalo 2/43/21.5. Harding Academy, Owen Miller 1/42. KICKING: Heber Springs, Gideon Tate (0/1 XP, FG: Made - 25)