West Football Notebook: VB hustles for win

Russell Davis, all 260 pounds, hustled all the way from his left tackle position to pounce on a teammate’s fumble on the other side of the field in the end zone. The play exemplified the Pointers’ effort in Friday’s 32-14 win against Rogers Heritage. “He’s our left tackle, and he came all across the field to recover it,” Van Buren head coach Greg Werner said. “He did a good job, and they all played really good up front on both sides of the ball. That was a key for us.” The play gave Van Buren a 6-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter. That was on the offensive position after Heritage had driven all the way to Van Buren’s 2 and fumbled, which Alex Hesson recovered. “That’s a ball that we haven’t been getting and now, we’re finally getting the football,” Werner said. “We’re playing harder to get on those.” Van Buren’s defense forced turnovers on five straight possessions after Heritage took a 14-12 lead with 4:51 left in the second quarter. Miles Malone and Kameron Collins intercepted passes to squelch Heritage’s final two drives of the first half, which allowed the Pointers to take an 18-14 halftime lead. Malone knocked down a fourth-down pass on Heritage’s opening drive of the second half, and Collins intercepted a pass to end the War Eagles’ next series. “We’ve talked so much about getting on the ball and causing some turnovers,” Werner said. “That was nice because coming into this game we were minus-12 turnover ratio. You don’t win many games with a negative-12. To see us get some turnovers was just huge for us.” Finally, sacks by Ja’Cory Taylor and Hesson led to a long fourth-down attempt by Heritage, which was an incomplete pass with 4:28 left. “Our defense did some great things in crucial situations,” Werner said. “We got some big stops and created some turnovers. It was a huge game. It was nice to see us make some plays that we haven’t been making. We made some.” Offensively, the Pointers were solid as well with 264 yards on the ground and another 119 through the air by junior Caleb Salisbury. Junior Slotback Walter Green provided some electricity for the Pointers on offense with 140 yards and a touchdown. Four of his 13 carries were double-digit runs, including 33- and 38-yarders. “He’s that type of back,” Werner said. “He’s not going to carry it 30 times, but when he gets his carries, he can sure make some things happen. He had a great off-season. He’s so strong. He doesn’t look like it on the field, but he’s strong. He breaks some tackles, and his ability to move in the open field is so important for us.” The win was the Pointers’ first in the 7A-West after being realigned back in the conference this season. Van Buren travels to Rogers on Friday night.

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WEST FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: VB HUSTLES FOR WIN

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 10/13/2016