Wildcats rally to stun Pointers, 34-31

Springdale Har-Ber overcame four turnovers with a late Friday night flurry. The Wildcats scored the final two touchdowns of the game in the final four minutes, three seconds to rally to a 34-31 win over Van Buren at Citizens Bank Stadium at Blakemore Field. Blaise Wittschen threw two touchdowns to JaJuan Boyd in the fourth quarter as Har-Ber (5-3, 3-2) erased a 31-21 deficit. Van Buren (4-4, 2-3) scored twice earlier in the fourth quarter for a 24-21 lead on Brayden Rivas’ 1-yard scoring with 9:41 left right after Drew King forced a fumble on a sack that Cha’Raun Page recovered at the 1. Van Buren stuffed a fake punt on Har-Ber’s next possession, and Gary Phillips drilled a fourth-down touchdown pass to Jaiden Henry across the middle into the end zone to take a 31-21 lead with 5:04 left. Har-Ber needed just 61 seconds left to rally. Wittschen completed three passes in a five-play drive, finding Boyd deep across the middle wide open on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 4:03 left to trim Van Buren’s lead to 31-28. Har-Ber forced a quick three-and-out and took over at Van Buren’s 45 with 2:57 left. Har-Ber picked up two first downs, the first on a third-down try and then on fourth down, before Wittschen hit Boyd again from 24 yards out with 46 seconds left. Har-Ber shanked the extra point, leaving its lead at 34-31. Van Buren had six plays, but the clock ran out with the Pointers at Har-Ber’s 35. Van Buren finished with 406 yards of offense with Rivas running for 125 yards and Phillips adding 110. Phillips also passed for 151. Wittschen finished with 252 yards through the air to lead Har-Ber. Running back Max Pena added 196 yards on the ground.

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WILDCATS RALLY TO STUN POINTERS, 34-31

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 10/26/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Mitchell