The Van Buren Pointers put offense and defense together on Friday night.

The Pointers forced Rogers Heritage into turnovers on five straight possessions and the offense capitalized for a 32-14 win to cap homecoming and notch their first 7A-West victory.


Kameron Collins intercepted two passes, and Mile Malone intercepted another while Alex Hesson covered a fumble to lead Van Buren’s defense.

Walter Green paced the option offense for Van Buren (2-4, 1-2) with 140 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

A pair of fumbles were pivotal in a very short first quarter in which each team had one possession and the two teams combined for only 24 plays.

Heritage took the opening kickoff and drove to Van Buren’s 2 before Hesson ended the threat with a fumble recovery.

Van Buren drove 96 yards to notch a touchdown, but only after offensive tackle Russell Davis pounced on a loose ball in the end zone. Van Buren failed on the two-point try but led 6-0.

That was the beginning of each team trading scores until halftime.

Heritage (0-6, 0-3) needed just one play after Van Buren’s kickoff went out of bounds to strike on Trey Kitterman’s 65-yard touchdown pass to Jay De la Rosa. Zach Gall converted the placement for a 7-6 lead.


Van Buren took the lead back on a short drive after Hesson dragged down Heritage’s punter after a bobbled snap. Caleb Salisbury capped the 34-yard drive with a 1-yard bootleg, but Van Buren missed the placement and led 12-7.

Heritage again struck quickly, needing only five plays to go up, 14-12, with Kitterman hitting De la Rosa, who went up and took the ball away from a Van Buren defender to converted a 53-yard third-down heave.

Van Buren took the lead for good after Malone’s interception, going 64 yards and scoring on Salisbury’s 48-yard scoring pass to Caleb Christenen with 45 seconds left in the half. Van Buren two-point pass came up short, and the Pointers led 18-14.

Van Buren answered with another touchdown to open the new half with fullback Dylan Burnham pounding out a 3-yard scoring run to cap a 79-yard drive. Joseu Recinos punched through the extra point for a 25-14 advantage with 8:15 left in the third quarter.

Van Buren’s defense halted a pair of fourth-down tries in the second half, and Green scored on 2-yard run, right after a 38-yard run, with 2:56 left to put the game out of reach. Recinos tacked on the extra point for the final.

Salisbury was 5-of-9 passing for 119 yards, and ran for 34 yards. Burnham added 48 yards on 10 totes.

Kitterman completed only 8-of-20 passes but for 168 yards. He also ran for 76 yards. Dylan Qualls ran for 78 yards for Heritage.