Mountain Home Coach Steve Ary admitted he wasn't sure how the Bombers would fare in 2020.
In fact, his expectations for wins weren't high going into his first season at the Baxter County school.
"I didn't really expect to win a playoff game," Ary said. "I didn't know if we would win two games. We didn't tackle well, we didn't catch it well and we didn't throw it well [in the offseason]. We didn't get our hands on them until the summer.
"But the kids are drinking the Kool-Aid right now."
Ary is glad to be wrong, though, especially after the Bombers came from behind to win at Pine Bluff 24-20 on Friday night in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs for the school's first playoff victory since 2006.
Gage Hershberger scored from 11 yards out with 1:09 to give the Bombers the lead. The touchdown was set up by Logen Walker's 69-yard kickoff return.
"It was exactly what we needed," Ary said of Walker's return. "We had just gotten down 20-17. I told my offensive coordinator [Darin Acklin], 'Just get us in field goal range.' Then Logen takes the ball. He took it out from inside the 20. I said, 'Alright, let's go put it in.' He's been doing that for us all year."
Mountain Home (6-5) trailed 14-0 at halftime and 14-7 at the end of the third quarter. But the Bombers scored 17 points in the fourth quarter for their third second-half comeback victory of the season.
Hershberger had two touchdown runs (11, 1) to lead the Bombers. Bryce McKay threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dawson Tabor who also kicked a 25-yard field goal.
Part of Mountain Home's success this season, Ary said, has come from not making any excuses and focusing on themselves.
"Everybody would say, 'Nobody could get on the bus and get off the bus and win,'" said Ary. "When we went to Siloam Springs, we wanted to check that off the list.
"We had to improve our toughness. Everybody wanted to be injured when things weren't going right. I told our guys we weren't going to tap out anymore. We're going to play for four quarters."
The Bombers' last playoff victory came in the Class 6A semifinals against Marion before losing to Texarkana in the Class 6A state championship game in 2006.
Fourteen years later, the Bombers are preparing for a quarterfinal game. This quarterfinal trip is at Greenwood, the 6A-West Conference champions who won the teams' previous meeting 40-7 on Oct. 2 in Mountain Home.
Ary isn't shying away from the challenge of facing a tradition-rich program like Greenwood, calling it a measuring stick game for the Bombers.
"To be the best, you have to beat the best," Ary said of the Bulldogs, who have won nine state championships since 2000. "They have been untouched. They handily whipped us. They put out a better product that night [Oct. 2].
"They may have a better football team, but we will compete. We hope to be the ones one day to have that target on our backs. We want to be the ones who win the state championships.
"They are who we want to be."
Proud Panthers
Clarksville was trailing Greene County Tech 20-14 with 1:16 remaining in its first playoff game since 2011.
Senior center Nalidje Powell sent a message to his team before they went on the field for the eventual game-winning drive, though.
"He got our guys laser-focused," Clarksville Coach Khris Buckner said. "He said, 'We are winning this thing.'"
Powell's message resonated with his Panthers, as they went on to win 21-20 in a Class 5A play-in game thanks to Jacob Buckner's 14-yard touchdown run. The touchdown happened after Greene County Tech had called a timeout.
Buckner's assistant coaches told him that Greene County Tech was expecting Clarksville to throw the ball with 27 seconds left. So instead, Buckner went with what he believed was the Panthers' best running play out of the Single-wing scheme.
The play worked and resulted in the Panthers' first playoff win in Class 5A. Their last playoff victory before Friday came in 2011 against Lonoke while they were members of Class 4A.
"That was a tough team we faced in Greene County Tech," Buckner said. "I'm just proud of my kids."
Clarksville (4-7) was one of five teams from the 5A-West Conference to win a playoff game Friday along with Morrilton, Vilonia, Greenbrier and Farmington. Alma and Pea Ridge lost, while conference champion Harrison earned a bye.
The Panthers also got touchdown runs of 47 yards from Broderick Robinson and 2 yards by Arthur Alvarez.
Buckner is a 1996 graduate of Clarksville. He helped lead the Panthers to a then-Class AA state semifinal appearance in 1995. Friday's victory was just as special as his playing days, Buckner believed.
"We are some proud people in Clarksville," Buckner said. "It's good to see all that hard work come to fruition."
The Panthers' next playoff game is Friday at Little Rock Christian.
7A-West woes
It was not a good night for the 7A-West Conference on Friday.
The league went 1-5 on the field with Springdale Har-Ber earning the only victory over Fort Smith Northside. Fayetteville lost to Little Rock Central, while Springdale fell to Conway. In other 7A-West games, Rogers was throttled by Cabot, Fort Smith Southside was shut out by North Little Rock and Rogers Heritage was defeated by Bryant.
Bentonville earned a first-round bye thanks to Little Rock Southwest deciding not to opt-in to the playoffs. Bentonville West was forced to forfeit after announcing Thursday that it had 14 cases of covid-19 in its program.
In the quarterfinals Friday, Bentonville hosts Cabot and Springdale Har-Ber travels to Bryant.
Looking ahead
The second week of the high school football playoffs presents some quality matchups.
Leading Class 6A will be Little Rock Parkview at Sylvan Hills in the quarterfinals. Parkview enjoyed a 42-7 victory over Searcy on Friday behind Landon Rogers' five rushing touchdowns. Sylvan Hills, the 6A-West Conference champion, dispatched Russellville 54-19. This is usually a great matchup to watch on the basketball court, but come Friday, the Patriots and Bears will be battling on the football field for the right to reach the Class 6A semifinals.
Morrilton at Texarkana is an intriguing Class 5A first-round game. Texarkana is 6-0, having missed four games this season because of opponents' covid-19 situations. But the Razorbacks earned a 28-24 victory over Alma on Friday thanks to Torie Blair's 207 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Morrilton is usually a contender in the Class 5A playoffs, and while Texarkana is undefeated, it's the Devil Dogs who will be hosting because of being on the top line of the bracket (both teams are No. 2 seeds).
Other key playoff matchups Friday include Crossett at Central Arkansas and Arkadelphia at Mena in Class 4A; Harrisburg at Jessieville in Class 3A; and Clarendon at Fordyce in Class 2A, which is a rematch from Sept. 25 won by the Redbugs 51-16.