THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

The Van Buren Pointers didn’t have a fancy name for the first play of the game on Friday night against Alma. “It was just our first play of the game,” Van Buren head coach Crosby Tuck said. “I’d really decided a while back that we were going to start the game with that play. We worked on it every day this week. It was going to be the first play of the game, here we go. It was good to see us execute it.” Junior quarterback Gary Phillips hit Jude Bartholomew for 54 yards, and Van Buren scored two plays later for a touchdown just 47 seconds into the game on the way to a 53-21 win over rival Alma. “We were hoping that we would be able to get it going,” Tuck said. “We won the toss, which allowed us to take the football. We had our usual formation, the motion, a double play action, to start the game off. It worked.” Phillips said his eyes kind of lit up when he saw Bartholomew open deep. “Oh, yes,” Phillip said. “I had to give my fakes and take my drop, then I saw him by himself. It was a deep ball, and I just launched it. I knew he’d get under it.” The play was all about setting the tone early against the Airedales. “We knew we wanted to take a shot and set the mood,” Phillips said. “Jude’s a great receiver. We were going to run a deep ball and see if he could go get it. I threw it up there, and I knew he was going to make the catch. We had been planning that. We executed it well.” The play was also the beginning of a big night for Phillips and the Pointers. The Van Buren Pointers didn’t have a fancy name for the first play of the game on Friday night against Alma. “It was just our first play of the game,” Van Buren head coach Crosby Tuck said. “I’d really decided a while back that we were going to start the game with that play. We worked on it every day this week. It was going to be the first play of the game, here we go. It was good to see us execute it.” Junior quarterback Gary Phillips hit Jude Bartholomew for 54 yards, and Van Buren scored two plays later for a touchdown just 47 seconds into the game on the way to a 53-21 win over rival Alma. “We were hoping that we would be able to get it going,” Tuck said. “We won the toss, which allowed us to take the football. We had our usual formation, the motion, a double play action, to start the game off. It worked.” Phillips said his eyes kind of lit up when he saw Bartholomew open deep. “Oh, yes,” Phillip said. “I had to give my fakes and take my drop, then I saw him by himself. It was a deep ball, and I just launched it. I knew he’d get under it.” The play was all about setting the tone early against the Airedales. “We knew we wanted to take a shot and set the mood,” Phillips said. “Jude’s a great receiver. We were going to run a deep ball and see if he could go get it. I threw it up there, and I knew he was going to make the catch. We had been planning that. We executed it well.” The play was also the beginning of a big night for Phillips and the Pointers.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Van Buren High School Athletics

PHILLIPS CLICKS AT QUARTERBACK FOR VAN BUREN

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 9/10/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Submitted Photo