SPRINGDALE -- Isaiah Nichols and a mob of Springdale High teammates raced down the field as the final horn sounded Friday night.
The Bulldogs knocked down a final desperation Conway pass attempt on the game's final play to claim a 19-17 win in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium to open the 2017 season, and set off a celebration with a huge win for a program that has struggled to win these types of games.
Springdale High 19, Conway 17
Conway 0 14 3 0 17
Springdale 0 13 6 0 19
Second Quarter
Conway — Johnson 2 run (Wicks kick), 9:31.
Spring — Cornelius 20 pass from Hutchins (Run failed), 4:39.
Spring — Vaughn 1 run (Barroso kick), 1:31.
Conway — Tufu 5 pass from Hreha (Wicks kick), :23.
Third Quarter
Spring — Cornelius 22 pass from Mueller (Kick blocked), 10:40.
Conway — FG Wicks 33, 8:18.
"Conway is an outstanding program, we know that," Springdale coach Zak Clark said. "They are a whole lot better than they were last year, but we feel like we are, too. We made mistakes, but the bottom line is, we kept getting it done."
And Nichols, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville commit was at the center of most of the big plays. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound senior brought a lot of pressure on the Conway quarterback all night, often fighting through double teams. Nichols came up with the biggest play of the night with 12 seconds left, pressuring Wampus Cat quarterback Andrew Hreha into an intentional-grounding penalty that proved to be huge.
"Every day we just talk about going out there and doing a job," Nichols said. "Put the ball anywhere you want. We'll go in the parking lot and play. We're just going to show you what the Springdale defense is about."
Before Nichols and the defense could put their stamp on a defining victory, it was a special teams play that also proved big for the Red'Dogs. Punter Jesus Barroso crushed a 47-yard punt from near midfield that pinned the Wampus Cats back at their own 6 with 1:31 left.
"I knew I had to get a good one because I hadn't kicked that well the whole game," Barroso said. "I knew I hit it good. It felt good coming off my foot."
Conway (0-1) quickly moved out to near midfield as Hreha hit key passes of 15, 13 yards, and scrambled for another big gain. But Springdale's Jayce Carry and Harrison Vazquez combined to sack Hreha, then Nichols forced the grounding penalty to move the clock down to just four seconds. Springdale (1-0) knocked the a final pass attempt down.
Conway led early, taking advantage of a Springdale fumbled punt, returning the fumble to the Bulldogs' 2, and Jovini Johnson scored one play later.
Springdale answered back driving 75 yards, capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Layne Hutchins to Jaden Cornelius. On the conversion, Nichols was stopped short, leaving the score 7-6.
The Bulldogs took advantage of double 15-yard penalties late in the first half on a Conway punt, and drove 46 yards for the go-ahead score. Hutchins hit Kamond Robinson for 39 yards to the Wampus Cat 2, and Garrett Vaughn scored from there to give Springdale a 13-7 lead.
Conway grabbed a 14-13 lead at halftime by going 80 yards in just 6 plays after the Springdale touchdown. Hreha was 5-of-5 on the drive and hit Nick Tufu for the score from 5 yards out.
Two drives in the second half proved huge in the outcome. The first was Springdale's 80-yard scoring drive to open the second half and a 19-14 lead. Will Mueller stepped in at quarterback and hit Cornelius for his second touchdown of the night with 10:40 left in the third quarter.
Then Conway responded with a long drive to the Bulldogs' 16. But the Springdale defense stopped the drive there and forced a 33-yard field goal by Jordan Wicks.
"That was just huge," Clark said of holding Conway to just three points on the drive. "It just seemed like every time we needed a big sack or a big stop, our guys came through."
Sports on 09/02/2017