Har-Ber’s Defense Rises After Kickoff Return
Posted: November 21, 2009 at 4:44 a.m.
The Wildcats had been in this position before and once again, they didn’t panic.
And once again, it was Springdale Har-Ber’s defense that led the way in a 30-7 win over Russellville on Friday night.
The Cyclones scored their points on the opening play Friday, a 95-yard kickoff return by Andrew Tryon. The play was reminiscent of Har-Ber’s win over Fayetteville last month — a game in which the Bulldogs ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown.
Just like against Fayetteville, Har-Ber’s defense did its best against Russellville to atone for the early score. The Wildcats allowed only 63 yards of offense in the first half in building a 17-7 lead, and they allowed only 163 yards in the game.
“We just kept our calm and went out there and played our game,” Har-Ber senior linebacker Jacob Bundrick said. “And we got it done.”
Against Fayetteville in the earlier victory, Har-Ber — the 7A-West Conference’s top defense this season — allowed only one touchdown following the opening kickoff. Against Russellville, the Wildcats were never threatened after the opening kickoff, save for a late Cyclones drive that began deep in Har-Ber territory thanks to a Wildcats fumble.
That drive ended for Russellville with one of three Wildcats’ interceptions of Cyclones quarterback Barrett Hughes.
“We were pretty mad about (the kickoff),” Har-Ber senior nose guard Eric Pearce said. “We just wanted to go hit them in the mouth, and we accomplished that.”
Pearce, who had a second-half sack of Hughes to halt a Russellville drive, said the Wildcats were able to control the line of scrimmage with their base defense. That, he said, led to frustration on the Cyclones offense in the second half.
“We brought (the pressure) to them,” Pearce said. “It was our normal blitzes, but we really got after them.”
Har-Ber defensive coordinator Travis Moreland said the Wildcats didn’t change anything about their defensive game plan after the opening kickoff despite the early deficit.
“It was just the opening kickoff,” Moreland said. “There was still a lot of football left to play.
“The opening kickoff means nothing. All it did, I think, was make our kids mad because they had to wait longer to go out there to play.”
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