7A-WEST NOTEBOOK: Wildcats Ready To Rejuvenate Themselves

By Nathan Allen, Ryan Malashock, Paul Nielsen

Posted: November 19, 2009 at 4:29 a.m.

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Springdale Har-Ber’s players can’t help but feel a little anxious this week.

Coming off a 17-0 loss against Bentonville two weeks ago and a bye last week in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs, coach Chris Wood said his players are more than ready to be back on the field Friday night to play a game.

“We need to play again, we need to get back into that routine,” Wood said. “Coming off a loss and then a bye, it can be a tough thing, but our kids are strong and stay focused. They know what’s ahead of them and they’ll be ready.”

Har-Ber, which hosts No. 3 Russellville on Friday in the second round of the playoffs, had light practices all last week and mostly used the time off to rest and heal any remaining injuries.

Against the Cyclones, seniors Tre Tyler (running back) and Josh McKinney (receiver) will be back after missing most of the season to various injuries.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve said we’re all ready to go,” Wood said. “But in this case, I think we are. We’ve got a good game plan, we just need to get on the field and play the game.”

— NATHAN ALLEN

Tigers Step Up In Boydston’s Absence

BENTONVILLE — Bentonville has suffered only one major injury this season, but it meant the Tigers needed replacements on offense, on defense and on special teams.

Hayden Boydston, a senior who started at tight end, linebacker and punter, tore his right ACL during Bentonville’s 48-0 victory over Rogers High on Oct. 16.

And while the Tigers certainly have missed Boydston, his replacements have thrilled Barry Lunney. Before the Tigers’ practice Wednesday, Bentonville’s coach complimented all of the new contributors.

“Austin Griffith is a senior and he’s done very well at tight end,” Lunney said. “He was catching some balls even before Hayden went out. Austin’s blocked well and really stepped up. He hasn’t caught many passes lately.

“That’s because our wideouts have caught them. That’s the luxury of our offense.”

Lunney said three Tigers have filled in the last three games at outside linebacker for Boydston, led by starter Calvin Coleman.

“Calvin’s a senior who just gets the job done,” Lunney said. “We also have (juniors) Nick Mansfield and Morgan Harris. (Calvin) almost broke into the lineup last year, and he just didn’t quite make it. We had a lot of quality (outside linebackers) last year.”

The Tigers don’t punt often, but when they do, Lunney has the upmost confidence in junior wide receiver Austin Molitor.

“Austin’s doing great,” Lunney said. “In fact, I think Austin had gotten to the point in practice where we would’ve felt very comfortable having him punt even before Hayden went down. We thought about having him punt since Hayden was doing so much.”

— RYAN MALASHOCK

Purdy’s Return Sparks War Eagles

ROGERS — The return of Rogers Heritage defensive lineman Spanky Purdy has softened the blow of losing Jeff Couch to a broken leg.

Couch, also a defensive lineman, broke his leg against Fayetteville in the regular season finale and Purdy was pressed back into duty after only appearing with the PAT and field goal units against Fort Smith Southside and in the first half against the Purple’Dogs.

Purdy suffered a shoulder injury against Springdale High, but was back at full speed in the War Eagles’ 17-10 victory against Little Rock Catholic last week in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs.

Heritage (9-2) travels to North Little Rock (8-2) for a quarterfinal game Friday night. North Little Rock had a first-round bye.

Purdy had several key tackles against Catholic as Heritage held the Rockets to 167 yards of offense, including just 69 on the ground.

“We lost Couch and that hurt us but we had some kids step up and play their tails off,” said Heritage defensive coordinator Jerrod Blockburger. “Spanky Purdy was one of them. He got his shoulder hurt and we held him out until he was ready to go. And he was ready to go at the right time, thank goodness.

“The defense as a whole did an outstanding job against Catholic. Friday night, the defense was on their game and the offense scored enough points for us to win the game. We need to build on that this week.”

—PAUL NIELSEN

Class 7A State Playoffs

First Round

Friday

Rogers Heritage 17, Little Rock Catholic 10

Conway 45, Fayetteville 42

Russellville 27, Springdale High 26

Quarterfinals

Friday

Fort Smith Southside (5W) at Bentonville (1W)

Rogers Heritage (3W) at North Little Rock (2C)

Russellville (3W) at Springdale Har-Ber (2W)

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