Har-Ber Eyes Strong Finish
WILDCATS PREP FOR SHOWDOWN WITH BENTONVILLE
Posted: November 1, 2009 at 2:42 a.m.
SPRINGDALE — Houston Pruitt was there in 2007 when Springdale Har-Ber lost to Fayetteville in the Class 7A state championship game in War Memorial Stadium.
He was there last year when the Wildcats were within seconds of booking a return trip to the championship game - only to lose on a late two-point conversion to Fort Smith Southside in the semifi nals.
After a convincing 39-14 win over Fayetteville on Friday night, a win that kept Har-Ber unbeaten, Pruitt left little doubt about the Wildcats’ mindset as they prepare for a battle for the 7A-West Conference title next week at defending state champion Bentonville.
“Right now it’s just all about finishing,” the Har-Ber senior said. “The last few years we’ve come up short, and right now we just want to fi nish it.
“We want to go in there and beat them.”
Har-Ber (9-0, 6-0) entered Friday’s game against Fayetteville coming o◊two overtime wins inthe last two weeks against Rogers Heritage and Southside. The Wildcats scored only 27 points in regulation in those two games, showing the effects of a series of injuries on offense this season.
Har-Ber’s o◊ense managed a season-high 39 points Friday against the Purple’Dogs, and it did so behind fi ve touchdown passes from quarterback Ryan Luther, - four of which went to senior receiver Jordan Nicholson.
“We had to have it,” said Luther, who finished 9 of 18 passing for 217 yards. “The o◊ense hasn’t been there the last few weeks, and we had to step it up and help our defense out, and we did.”
While Luther spent much of the game looking to take advantage of the deep passing game against Fayetteville (5-3-1, 4-2), he also got plenty of help from the Wildcats’ rebuilt running attack. Withstarter Gordon Welch out with an injury, seniors Kaleb Vaughn and Houston Pruitt combined for 246 yards rushing on 37 carries.
“The whole key is we’ve got to get momentum going,” Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said.
“We’re a week out from the (Class) 7A playoffs. There’s great teams in it, and we’ve got to start playing good ball in all three phases.”
Vaughn had 30 carries for 159 yards in the win, while Pruitt - Har-Ber’s stalwart at safety since his sophomore season - had 87 yards on just seven carries, including a 40-yard touchdown run to open the second half and put the Wildcats up 27-14.
“It’s a lot of fun because of being on defense the past few years,” Pruitt said. “You get on o◊ense more, and you’re eyes get real big.
“I just love being over there.”
Both running backs impressed Wood with theirability to step in and continue to improve at their new positions.
“Houston kind of gave us a fireplug, and Kaleb ran hard in the end,” Wood said.
“Early on, I thought (Vaughn) was kind of feeling his way through. You’re talking about moving a receiver to tailback in a power and counter run scheme.
“It just takes time, but being able to put Houston back there (helped). Once he got to the next level, he was gone.
That helped Kaleb out, and he really took over in the second half and pounded it in there.”
And while Har-Ber’s o◊ense was getting back on track, its defense - the one allowing an average of 12.4 points per game this season - just kept doing its thing. The Wildcats sacked Fayetteville quarterback Brandon Allen three times - one each by Eric Pearce, Preston Cash and Jacob Bundrick - and held the Purple’Dogs to minus-31yards rushing.
“Our defense is just killing people, and we wanted to make a statement and shut them down,” Pruitt said. “And we did.”
Next up now for the Wildcats is a trip to face Bentonville, a team the Wildcats defeated in the regular season last year. Har-Ber secured a fi rst-round playo◊win and home playo◊game with its win over Fayetteville on Friday, but a win over the Tigers would secure the conference title.
“It’s what high school football is all about,” Wood said.
“We’re going to go into a place where they play great at home. They’ve got the best coach in the state (Barry Lunney) leading them. It’s a big challenge for us, but going into it, we’ve got a bye and we’re going to play at home in the playo◊s. This is for an outright conference championship, and hopefully it will be a great game.”
Sports, Pages 7 on 11/01/2009
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Missed Opportunities Frustrate Red’Dogs
For most of the first half Friday night, Springdale High had Bentonville right where it wanted it. Read »
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Bulldogs Still Hungry After State Title
FThe thought is constantly bouncing around in the back of Fayetteville coach Barry Gebhart’s mind. Read »
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