Wildcats Back To Prowling Form

By Nathan Allen

Posted: November 21, 2009 at 4:43 a.m.

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Gordon Welch never had a doubt Friday night.

Despite Springdale Har-Ber coming off its only loss of the season and a two-week layoff, the junior running back knew if his team could get into a rhythm against Russellville, the Wildcats would have no problems finding a way to win in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs.

Welch couldn’t have been more right.

Har-Ber overcame an early 7-0 deficit and scored 30 unanswered points on Friday in a 30-7 victory against the Cyclones in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.

Welch totaled 146 rushing yards and two touchdowns, helping Har-Ber (10-1) earn its third straight trip to the state semifinals.

The Wildcats will play at Cabot, the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central, next week for a chance to play for the Class 7A state championship on Dec. 5 in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

“We wanted to come out and show what we could do,” Gordon said. “We wanted to get closer to Little Rock. We knew we had to beat Russellville to keep going and achieve our goal of getting to Little Rock.”

Besides a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Russellville’s Andrew Tryon at the start of the game, Har-Ber dominated on both sides of the ball.

The Wildcats’ defense only gave up 163 yards of total offense, including 40 rushing yards, while their offense totaled 505 yards, including 271 on the ground.

“I was pleased with how our guys came out, the running game really set the tone for us,” Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said. “This was the last time at (this stadium) for these seniors, so they wanted to not only win, but find a way to get closer to Little Rock.”

Har-Ber quarterback Ryan Luther, who completed 19 passes for 234 yards, had several options at receiver, including seniors Josh McKinney and Kaleb Vaughn. McKinney and Vaughn combined for 179 receiving yards on just 13 catches.

Meanwhile, Russellville quarterback Barrett Hughes had trouble making any plays against Har-Ber after being rushed on nearly every down.

Hughes, who threw three interceptions against Har-Ber, completed only 45 percent (16 of 35) of his passes for 123 yards, a performance that was completely opposite from last week’s first-round victory against Springdale High.

“Har-Ber is very good, I mean, what can you say?” said Russellville coach Jeff Holt, whose team ends its season at 8-3-1. “We couldn’t move the ball, we couldn’t stop their running game and there was nothing we could do. That team is very disciplined, very talented and will probably go a long way. We just didn’t have the kind of start I was hoping for.”

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