The Pointers also played two timed quarters on their scrimmage on Tuesday against Prairie Grove.

Prairie Grove scored the scrimmage’s first two touchdowns, and Van Buren came back with three touchdowns but fell, 27-21.

“We played really bad early,” Van Buren head coach Greg Werner said. “There wasn’t anything glaring, but we did a lot of little things that we can’t do to be successful. We’ve got to fix the way we start.”

Walter Green capped Van Buren’s second scoring drive, which was set up by Geoffrey Scott’s 82-yard kickoff return, with a two-run run.

Junior quarterback Christian Morrow led Van Buren’s final touchdown drive, sparked by a 26-yard run by Green.

“Up front, we played really well on both sides of the ball,” Werner said. “A lot of our younger kids played well. Once Walter knocked the rust off he ran really well. He hasn’t been hit in a long time, so it took him a few carries to get back to normal. He did well.”

Van Buren suffered two sacks early that killed drives and then lost a fumble on another possession.

“We have to do things right,” Werner said. “We’ve got to run things the way they’re supposed to be run. When we don’t, we put ourselves in bad spots.”

Van Buren has already suffered a big loss before the season even began. On the sack that ended Van Buren’s second drive, after just six games in the scrimmage, quarterback Caleb Salisbury suffered a thumb injury to his non-throwing hand. He had surgery on Friday and will miss most of the season.

“We’re not going to make any excuses,” Werner said. “Losers make excuses and we’re not going to make excuses. Christian Morrow is a great quarterback and he’s going to lead us. I’m excited about the possibilities with him back there.”

Van Buren opens the season Tuesday at home against rival Alma. The game will kick off at 7 p.m.