Pointers can’t hang on, drop to No. 5 seed

The Springdale Bulldogs prevented Van Buren from winning two games on Friday night over their city. Springdale rallied from behind to edge the Pointers, 35-24, in the regular-season finale for both teams. The Arkansas Activities Association sent out official notification about 15 minutes into Friday’s game that Van Buren, along with Rogers, received a forfeit victory due to Springdale Har-Ber using an ineligible player in those two wins. Har-Ber also forfeited a nonconference win over Pine Bluff. The two 7A-West forfeits meant the winner of Friday’s game between Springdale and Van Buren would earn the fourth seed and a home playoff game against the loser of the game between Northside and Southside. With the loss, Van Buren will be the fifth seed and travel to Northside on Friday. Until late in the third quarter, Van Buren looked to be in good shape to earn that home playoff berth. Dylan Dye recovered a pooch kick on the opening kickoff, but Van Buren managed just a 34-yard field goal by Chris Flores just 59 seconds into the game. Springdale (7-3, 4-3) took a 7-3 lead on Garrett Vaughan’s 1-yard touchdown run with 4:04 left in the half. Van Buren (4-6, 3-4) answered quickly, spurred by a 40-yard run by quarterback Christian Morrow on the first play after the ensuing kickoff. Morrow also completed two passes in the drive, including a 13-yard pass to Logan Humphreys to Springdale’s 31. Three plays later, Morrow caught a 15-yard pass from Gary Phillips for a 10-7 halftime lead. Van Buren took the second-half kickoff and scored in four plays on Morrow’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Jude Bartholomew, who caught the contested pass and kept his balance to score just 1:03 into the half for a 17-7 lead. Springdale started its rally late in the third quarter with a 13-play, 96-yard drive with Will Mueller’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Chops Sanders to cut Van Buren’s lead to 17-14 with 26 seconds left in the third quarter. Springdale needed just three plays to take the lead on Vaughan’s 1-yard touchdown run with 10:01 left in the game for a 21-17 advantage. Van Buren went ahead with a 5-play, 66-yard drive, started with a 16-yard run by Phillips, who hit Humphreys for 25 yards two plays later. Brayden Rivas carried 12 yards and then 15 for the touchdown with 8:36 left to take a 24-21 lead. David Evans intercepted a pass for Van Buren on Springdale’s next play from scrimmage, but Springdale’s defense forced a punt and took the lead on Mueller’s 28-yard touchdown pass down the middle to Jared Cornelius with 1:51 left. Brock Pounders intercepted a pass to end Van Buren’s next drive and Vaughan capped a 38-carry, 211-yard night with a 33-yard touchdown run to set the final score with 62 seconds left. Phillips ran nine times for 115 yards for Van Buren. Morrow threw for 144 yards. Van Buren finished with 399 yards.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

POINTERS CAN’T HANG ON, DROP TO NO. 5 SEED

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 11/5/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School Athletics