FORT SMITH -- Fort Smith Northside converted three first-half turnovers into touchdowns to cruise past Van Buren 35-0 in the first round of the 7A playoffs Friday at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.
The Grizzlies (7-4) travel to 7A-West champion Bentonville High next week for a quarterfinal matchup.
FS Northside 35, Van Buren 0
Van Buren 0 0 0 0— 0
FS Northside 14 14 7 0 — 35
First Quarter
North — Wise 59 run (Hernandez kick), 10:57.
North — King 18 run (Hernandez kick), 2:33.
Second Quarter
North — Bolton 8 run (Hernandez kick), 3:19.
North — King 9 run (Hernandez kick), 2:28.
Third Quarter
North — King 22 pass from Wise (Hernandez kick), 2:29.
Northside quarterback Derrick Wise rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown, and passed for another score as Northside built a 28-0 halftime.
"We played a great first half," Grizzlies coach Mike Falluer said. "We got stops when we needed to on defense and when we got turnovers, our offense got points."
Falluer said he was also pleased with the Northside defense allowing the Pointers just seven first downs and 143 total yards.
"The defense did a great job tonight," Falleur said. "Hopefully they will continue to get better. We got a big game next week.
"The only thing I was disappointed in was the dumb penalties in the second half. We have to clean those up against a good team like Bentonville. We will work to correct that this week."
Jackson King, who had missed two games with injuries during Northside's 3-game losing streak, played healthy for the first time in a month and scored three touchdowns, two rushing and a 22-yard pass from Wise in the third quarter that invoked the AAA's Sportsmanship Rule and running clock for the final 14 minutes of the game.
"We're glad to have Jackson back healthy. He is a good football player," Falleur said. "We did a good job mixing up the offense running and throwing the football."
The two teams played Sept. 7, with Northside winning that one 46-21. In the rematch, though, the Grizzlies dominated from the start and never let Van Buren (4-7) in the game.
The Pointer turnovers started on the game's first play from scrimmage as Elijah Tabut picked off a Christian Morrow pass, making a leaping catch at the Grizzly 47. Two plays later, quarterback Duece Wise kept on a power play, found a seam and sprinted 59 yards for a touchdown with 10:57 left in the first quarter.
Van Buren turned the ball over again on its third possession of the game as Jude Bartholomew had the ball knocked loose by Tabut and Stetson VanMatre recovered at the Grizzly 30.
A 26-yard scamper by Wise moved the ball into Pointer territory and five plays later, King scored on an 18-yard option pitch for a 14-0 Northside lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter.
The Grizzlies next possession was its most impressive drive of the game, a 16-play, 94-yard march, with the longest play a 14-yard pass from Wise to tight end James Clayton. Eli Bolton finished off the drive with and 8-yard run and it was 21-0 Northside with 3:19 left in the first half.
Khaden Washington recovered a Pointer fumble at the Van Buren 20 with 2:17 left before halftime. After Wise hit King on a slant pattern to the Pointer 9, King scored on another option pitch and it was suddenly 28-0 at halftime.
Sports on 11/10/2018