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Southside Holds Off Har-Ber
Last updated Saturday, October 25, 2008 12:04 AM CDT in Prep Sports
By Jonathan W. Gipson
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FORT SMITH -- Springdale Har-Ber coach Chris Wood emphasizes how important it is to execute in all three phases of the game.
The Wildcats were good enough offensively and stellar defensively. Special teams? That proved to be the Wildcats' downfall.
Fort Smith Southside took advantage of two Har-Ber first-half punting blunders and an interception to build a 17-0 lead and held on for a 27-22 win on Friday night in 7A-West play in Southside Stadium.
"We stayed in it until the bitter end and showed a lot of fight, but there's three phases of the game," said Wood, whose Wildcats outscored Southside 22-10 in the second half. "Those two punts really put us in a bad predicament."
And how.
Har-Ber (6-2, 3-2) contained Southside's potent running game in the first half -- the Rebels had only 70 yards rushing -- and kept its hit-and-miss passing attack grounded for the most part -- Rebels quarterback Trent Welbern was only 3 of 8 passing for 74 yards.
The Wildcats' miscues, however, aided all three of the Rebels' first-half scoring drives and a 17-0 deficit.
Faust was intercepted by Southside's Colby Jacobs on the Wildcats' first drive. Eight plays later, the Rebels took the lead on a 3-yard run by Richard Kirksey with 6:22 left in the first quarter.
Southside (6-2, 3-2) forced Har-Ber to punt on the ensuing drive after a quick three-and-out, but punter Oscar Escobar dropped the snap and was force to fall on the ball for an 11-yard loss back to the Har-Ber 17.
The Wildcats' defense again stiffened, holding the Rebels to a 20-yard field goal by Azeez Ihmedian with 2:35 left in the first quarter.
Har-Ber's special team woes continued on its next drive. After picking up a first down on the opening play -- an 11-yard strike from Faust to Derek Brinker -- the Wildcats were forced to punt again from their own 33.
Faust's quick kick was blocked by Kirksey at the 22, where Southside took over with under a minute left in the first quarter. Five plays later, Welbern connected with Quai Anderson on a 26-yard, fourth-down touchdown strike with 10:37 left in the second quarter.
"On the road in this league, you can't give a team like Southside a short field on every possession in the first quarter," Wood said. "I thought our defense kept us in it. They fought hard and gave us a chance. We made a run at it in the fourth."
Har-Ber erupted for 22 fourth-quarter points on a 4-yard run by Derek Brinker, a 1-yard run by Faust and a 13-yard catch by Brye Payton.
Payton's catch put the Wildcats within 27-20 with 2.2 seconds left, and Faust pushed Har-Ber even closer, connecting with Brad Taylor on the 2-point conversion to narrow the gap to 27-22.
Har-Ber recovered the on-side kick, but time had already run out.
"When you're playing catch-up, sometimes things are a little deceiving," Wood said. "Their scheme might have changed a little bit in the fourth quarter while trying to get that clock to run and move on. ... I thought we fought pretty hard until the end."
Southside finished with 297 yards of offense -- 155 passing and 142 rushing -- and Welbern was 8 of 17 passing with two touchdowns and one interception. McGee finished strrong, rushing for 31 carries for 107 yards.
The Rebels' only mustered 10 second-half points, but Welbern's 42-yard touchdown strike to Spencer Tooley with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter was huge, putting the Rebels ahead 24-7.
"The difference in the game was the kicking game," Southside coach Jeff Williams said. "I thought we played extremely well defensively, and they've got a great defense, too. We made a couple big plays in the passing game that got us the lead."
Har-Ber answered with a Faust's 1-yard run -- a scoring drive that was set-up by a 53-yard catch and run by Brinker on a screen pass -- to make it 24-14. Southside padded its lead with a 30-yard field goal with one minute left to briefly get the much-coveted 13-point lead used in breaking ties in the conference standings.
The Wildcats had 331 yards of total offense -- 308 passing and 23 rushing -- with Brinker rushing for 56 yards and Faust passing for 308.
GAMEBREAKER
WHY THE REBELS WON
The Rebels capitalized on two special team mistakes and an interception by the Wildcats to take a 17-0 halftime lead.
WHY THE WILDCATS LOST
Early breakdowns in the kicking game put the Wildcats behind and forced them to play catch-up.
I
7A-WEST CONFERENCE
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 27, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 22
Har-Ber 0 0 0 22 -- 22
Southside 10 7 0 10 -- 27
First Quarter
Sou -- Kirksey 3 run (Ihmedian kick), 6:22
Sou -- Ihmedian FG 20, 2:35
Second Quarter
Sou -- Anderson 26 pass from Welbern (Ihmedian kick), 10:37
Fourth Quarter
Har -- Brinker 4 run (Escobar kick), 11:54
Sou -- Anderson 42 pass from Welbern (Ihmedian kick), 8:55
Har -- Faust 1 run (Escobar kick), 6:34
Har -- Payton 13 pass from Faust (Taylor pass from Faust), 0:02
Har Sou
First downs 19 13
Rushes-yards 33-23 45-142
Passing 308 155
Comp-Att-Int 18-36-2 8-17-1
Punts-Avg. 4-28 3-34
Fumbles-Lost 2-10-0
Penalties-Yard 3-27 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Har-Ber, Brinker 23-56, Vaughn 2-(minus)4, Faust 6-(minus)7, team 2-(minus)22. Southside, McGee 31-107, Warren 6-15, Kirksey 6-15, Welbern 2-5.
PASSING -- Har-Ber, Faust 18-35-2-308, Brinker 0-1-0-0 . Southside, Welbern 8-17-1-155.
RECEIVING -- Har-Ber, McKinney 3-165, Brinker 3-68, Payton 3-44, Taylor 3-37, Vaughn 3-26, Nicholson 1-13, Tyler 1-8, Moser 1-6. Southsiide, Anderson 4-47, Dixon 2-58, Tooley 2-50.
MISSED FIELD GOAL -- None.
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catfan wrote on Oct 25, 2008 7:11 AM: