Brown Delivers For Heritage

QB SET TO LEAD WAR EAGLES IN FIRST PLAYOFF GAME

By Paul Nielsen

Posted: November 10, 2009 at 4:19 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

ROGERS — Three years ago, Reed Brown and his eighthgrade junior high football buddies squeezed into Gates Stadium to watch something that hadn’t happened in Rogers since 1978. A playoff game was being played in town and Brown didn’t want to miss it.

During a two-week span, Brown watched Rogers High first defeat Conway, then Fayetteville to advance to the Class 7A state championship game. Those games drew some of the largest crowds to ever watch a football game in the city.

During those two weeks, Brown often thought about playing quarterback in a big game in front of a packed stadium. At thetime, Brown didn’t know if he would be in a Mounties uniform or would be wearing a Rogers Heritage jersey as the district was getting ready to open a second high school. But it didn’t matter, Brown just dreamed of getting a chance to shine on the big stage.

He’ll get his chance this week.

Brown will lead Heritage in the school’s first playoff game when the War Eagles host Little Rock Catholic in Gates Stadium on Friday night in the fi rst round of the Class 7A playoffs.

Heritage (8-2) is the No. 3 seed from the 7A-West Conference, while Catholic (5-5) is the No. 6 seed from the 7A-Central.

“We would all talk back then and say, ‘That’s going to be us someday, and we are going to play on this fi eld,’” Brown said. “The atmosphere here Friday is going to be crazy. This is what you dream about. Being in a playoff game in our second season is also a dream in itself.”

Like the rest of his teammates, Brown was thrown into the fire a year ago and started all 10 games as a sophomore. Brown passed for more than 2,500 yards last season, but Heritage didn’t win a league game while finishing 3-7 in its inaugural season.

Heritage was no threat to run the football a year ago, and Brown often stayed in the pocket far too long. That was a recipe for disaster.

“We were one-dimensional last year,” said Heritage offensive coordinator Chad Harbison. “We averaged 2.2 yards a carry.”

But Heritage worked hard in the offseason on improving its running attack, and the payoff has been huge. Heritage rushed for 602 yards in 2008 but has 1,384 yards on the ground this season.

Zac Stewart leads the way with 1,015 yards as the War Eagles have 100 more rushing attempts this season. That has taken a huge load off of Brown and the passing game and the stats prove it.

Brown has completed 173 of 276 passes (63 percent) for 2,335 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has thrown just six interceptions and the junior is coming o◊his best game as a War Eagle.

Brown completed 21 of 26 passes for 244 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 49-20 victory against Fayetteville.

“Stewart has been real successful and the offensive line has done a great job,” Brown said. “Being able to run the ball has been a key to our success. It has really opened the passing game up.”

Heritage coach Perry Escalante said Brown was inconsistent his sophomore season and some of that carried over to this season. But Escalante said Brown and the War Eagles o◊ense is clicking on all cylinders at the right time.

“Brown picked a perfect night (Fayetteville) to be on against a quality team,” Escalante said. “There have been times throughout the season he has done the same thing, but not for four quarters. We are kind of peaking at the right time.

“Last year, he was wideeyed and stood in the pocket and got beat up a little bit. This year, he moves around a little bit more and he gets out of the pocket and makes things happen. He is making better decisions.

“Our offense is more balanced and that makes it harder to defend us.”

Sports, Pages 7 on 11/10/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.