ROGERS -- Rogers High has surrendered points in bunches this season, but the Mounties' defense held crosstown rival Rogers Heritage scoreless in the second half to earn a 35-20 win Friday night at Whitey Smith Stadium.
Senior quarterback Hunter Loyd threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns, including a 61-yarder to Mason Ross in the second half to set the final score as the Mounties secured the No. 6 seed from the 7A-West Conference.
Rogers coach Mike Loyd acknowledged the miscues but couldn't have been more pleased with his team's effort.
"Fumbled a punt, penalties, the kids were geared up," Loyd said. "But you know what they get to walk off this field as seniors winning their last game here, beating Heritage four years in a row and going to the playoffs four years in a row.
"The kids played hard and played with some enthusiasm. You're going to make mistakes in this game. Both teams played hard. They slowed the game. They limited our possessions and took advantage of it. But I'm happy with the win and happy for our kids."
The Mounties still led only 28-20 late in the third quarter, but Loyd found Ross running free in the middle of the field for a 61-yard touchdown catch and run. That pushed the Rogers lead to 35-20 with 2:30 left in the third.
Loyd finished 27 of 37 passes with Ross as his favorite target. Ross had 10 catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
Rogers (2-8, 2-5 6A-West) trailed early after Heritage quarterback Jeb Brown went 46 yards on a keeper to give the War Eagles a 7-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the game. But that lead lasted a little more than 60 seconds of game time as Loyd engineered a three-play, 74-yard drive to tie it.
The senior completed all three passes he attempted, finishing it with a 33-yard completion to Ross to tie the game at 7 with 9 minutes, 32 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Heritage (0-10, 0-7) took advantage of Mounties' miscues to stay close in the first half. The War Eagles recovered a muffed punt inside the Heritage 10, and Brown scored two plays later on a 7-yard keeper for a 14-14 tie.
Sophomore Brandon Baxley also made a pair of field goals for the War Eagles. His second 35-yarder to end the half, came after the Mounties were hit with a 15-yard personal foul penalty. He had missed a 50-yard attempt on that play but made the most of a second chance.
Four Downs
• Rogers improves to 8-4 against its crosstown rivals and has now won five in a row.
• The Mounties will travel to Conway next week for the first round of the playoffs. Rogers is 0-5 in the playoffs since making the finals in 2006 -- four of those losses have come to Conway. Heritage failed to make the playoffs and finishes the season on a 24-game losing streak.
• Heritage's Elliot Villatoro picked off a Hunter Loyd pass in the second half.
• The Rogers High defense had five three-and-outs in the first half but still gave up 20 points.
Sports on 11/09/2019
Rogers High 35, Rogers Heritage 20
Heritage^14^6^0^0^—^20
Rogers^14^14^7^0^—^35
First Quarter
Hert-Brown 46 run (Baxley kick), 10:36.
Rogers-Ross 33 pass from Loyd (Munoz kick), 9:32.
Rogers-Bray 16 pass from Loyd (Munoz kick), 5:11.
Hert-Brown 7 run (Baxley kick), 2:54.
Second Quarter
Rogers-Rendon 1 run (Munoz kick), 11:55.
Hert- Baxley 35 FG, 5:44.
Rogers-Rendon 24 pass from Loyd (Munoz kick), 2:29.
Hert-Baxley 35 FG, :04.9.
Third Quarter
Rog-Ross 61 pass from Loyd (Munoz kick), 2:30.