ROGERS — Even Rogers Heritage football coach Perry Escalante acknowledged his team’s season was disappointing.
The War Eagles returned 15 starters from last year’s team, which finished 7-4 and made playoffs. But Heritage had a couple of big fish wiggle off the hook in the middle of the season, then struggled in back-to-back losses to end the year 5-6.
Instead of building off its first playoff appearance since 2009 with a senior-laden team, Heritage again made a quick exit with a 49-16 loss at North Little Rock.
“Absolutely disappointing,” Escalante said. “We had an opportunity to beat Fayetteville and played
Rogers Heritage 2013 Schedule
Date^School^Result
Sept. 6^at Fort Smith Southside^L, 45-28
Sept. 13^at Fort Smith Northside^W, 38-21
Sept. 20^at Harrison^W, 52-35
Sept. 27^Siloam Springs^W, 42-7
Oct. 4^at Springdale Har-Ber^L, 42-21
Oct. 11^Fayetteville^L, 28-27
Oct. 18^Bentonville^L, 13-10
Oct. 25^at Springdale High^W, 43-10
Nov. 1^Van Buren^W, 35-0
Nov. 8^at Rogers High^L, 56-31
Nov. 15^at North Little Rock^L, 49-16
Bentonville down to the wire. And we let both games get away from us. A fumble and a missed assignment on a kickoff return cost us. Then we put the ball on the ground against Southside a couple of times.
“Those are all games we thought we had a really good chance of winning and didn’t. There’s your season in a nutshell.”
Heritage posted big wins over Springdale High and Van Buren after the two-tough losses to Bentonville and Fayetteville. But the season closed with blowout losses at crosstown rival Rogers High and North Little Rock.
“We had some injuries that hurt us more, I think, than we thought they would,” Escalante said. “But at the end, mentally, we just weren’t there.”
The War Eagles were missing three starters in the last two games. Defensive back Daniel Spickes and offensive lineman Kevin Merlos missed the last three games because of injuries, while tight end Micca Brown missed the last two.
One constant for the War Eagles this season was senior running back Brandon Gates, who rushed for a school record 1,647 yards on 247 carries and 13 touchdowns. He had a season-high 250 yards against Fort Smith Southside and topped 100 yards in nine of 11 games.
“He had a great year,” Escalante said. “He had some good games against some good teams, Southside, Har-Ber, Bentonville. You can’t ask anymore from a guy like that. That was awesome.”
Gates and Josh Qualls, a three-year starter at quarterback, will be tough to replace. Qualls threw for just under 7,000 yards in his career and 75 touchdowns in 32 starts. But Heritage returns multiple starters on the offensive line and junior Joey Saucier, who could move from receiver to running back as a senior.
Saucier caught 44 passes for 793 yards and eight touchdowns, but he also lined up in the backfield some and rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries. The 6-0, 188-pound speedster also return two kickoffs for touchdowns.
The Heritage defense will be hit hard by graduation led by defensive linemen Colby Isbell and Carson Scott, along with linebackers Forrest Ward and Brandon White, who were both three-year starters. Juniors Collin Gorman and Austin Pitts return on the defensive line, while Damian Gonzalez started at linebacker.
“We’re going to take a hit there,” Escalante said. “We’ve got some kids that we think will be OK, but they may need some time.”
Junior placekicker Eric Grom emerged as a great weapon for the War Eagles. He went 10 of 11 on field goal attempts, including a 48- and 50-yarder on the same night. Grom also made 16 of 17 extra points.
“There’s no telling how good he can be,” Escalante said. “He’s still learning the game, but he did an outstanding job for us."