SPRINGDALE -- Isaiah Nichols and a mob of Springdale teammates raced down the field as the final horn sounded Friday night.
The Bulldogs knocked down a final Conway pass attempt on the game's last play to claim a 19-17 victory in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium to set off a celebration for a program that has struggled to win these types of games.
"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."
Nichols, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville commit, was at the center of most of the big plays. The 6-4, 275-pound senior pressured 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 Cats quarterback Andrew Hreha into an intentional-grounding penalty.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
"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 victory, it was a special teams play that proved big for the Bulldogs. Punter Jesus Barroso crushed a 47-yard punt from near midfield, pinning the Wampus Cats 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 near midfield as Hreha hit passes of 15 and 13 yards, then scrambled for another big gain. But Springdale's Jayce Carry and Harrison Vazquez combined to sack Hreha, then Nichols forced the grounding penalty to wind the clock to four seconds. Springdale (1-0) knocked the final pass attempt down.
Conway led early, returning a Springdale fumbled punt to the Bulldogs 2. Jovini Johnson scored one play later.
Springdale answered by driving 75 yards, capped by a 20-yard touchdown pass from Layne Hutchins to Jaden Cornelius. On the conversion, Nichols was stopped short, leaving Springdale behind 7-6.
The Bulldogs took advantage of two 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 Cats 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 six plays. 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 were pivotal. The first was Springdale's 80-yard scoring drive to open the second half for 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.
Conway responded with a long drive to the Bulldogs 16, but the Springdale defense stopped the drive and forced a 33-yard field goal by Jordan Wicks to maintain the lead at 19-17.
"That was just huge," Clark said of holding Conway to 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