SPRINGDALE — Rogers Heritage players and coaches got to relax as the game clock wound down in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium on Friday night.
The War Eagles broke open a tight game at halftime by scoring the first 33 points of the second half in an impressive 43-10 road win over Springdale High.
Heritage (4-4, 2-3 7A/6A-West) enjoyed the blowout win after dropping three straight games, including failing to hold onto late leads in losses to Fayetteville and Bentonville the previous two weeks.
“We played some really good games the last couple weeks and just came up a little short,” Heritage coach Perry Escalante said. “Basically, it’s been us kind of screwing things up late. We didn’t do that tonight. We played good.”
Heritage senior running back Brandon Gates had another big game, rushing for 188 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. But it was junior Joey Saucier who sparked Heritage’s 19-0 third quarter.
The War Eagles led 10-3 at halftime, then Saucier returned the opening kickoff of the second half 86 yards to the Springdale 4-yard line, setting up his own 2-yard touchdown run. He later hauled in a pinpoint 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Qualls to extend the lead to 29-3 with 21 seconds left in the third.
“Joey’s a very good talent,” Escalante said. “He’s still very, very young. He’s still learning the game. But he’s a dangerous threat anytime he gets a ball in his hands.”
Springdale (5-3, 3-2) helped the Heritage cause in the third quarter, suffering two of its three turnovers in the period, an interception and fumble which led to two long Eric Grom field goals as the game got lopsided.
“You have two turnovers back-to-back like that, it puts your defense in a short field,” Springdale coach Shane Patrick said. “It started with the opening kickoff of the second half when they run it back. We were in a hole early and could just never recover.”
EXTRA POINTS
Gates’ 188 yards upped his conference-leading season total to 1,390. Springdale senior running back Deandre Murray, who entered the game second in the league, ran for 163 yards and a touchdown to bump his season total to 1,324.
Springdale was minus-two in turnover margin after entering the game leading the conference in the category.
Qualls was an efficient 8 of 14 for 95 yards and three touchdowns in the win. He had several long passes dropped, including one would-be touchdown.
Grom made field goals of 50 and 48 yards in the third quarter, showcasing a strong leg as both attempts cleared the goalpost with ease.
UP NEXT: Rogers Heritage will host Van Buren (1-7, 0-5), which has lost its five conference games by an average of 28.2 points. Springdale will play at conference-leading Bentonville (6-2, 5-0), which won last year’s meeting 63-0.
HOW THEY SCORED
Rogers Heritage 43, Springdale High 10
Rogers Heritage^0^10^19^14^—^43
Springdale^0^3^0^7^—^10
Second Quarter
Hert — Gates 33 pass from Qualls (Morales kick), 11:02
Spring — Kennedy 31 FG, 3:08
Hert — Morales 37 FG, 0:12
Third Quarter
Hert — Saucier 2 run (Morales kick), 10:42
Hert — Grom 50 FG, 9:04
Hert — Grom 48 FG, 6:21
Hert — Saucier 38 pass from Qualls (pass failed), 0:21
Fourth Quarter
Hert — Saucier 31 run (Morales kick), 9:41
Hert — J. Spickes 1 pass from Qualls (Morales kick), 7:16
Spring — Murray 1 run (Kennedy kick), 2:25