‘Tiger Shake’ Lifts Har-Ber To Win

NICHOLSON SCORES GAME-WINNER

By Kurt Voigt

Posted: November 28, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Karen E. Segrave Springdale Har-Ber’s Ryan Luther looks for an open receiver during the Class 7A semifinal game against Cabot on Friday night in Cabot.

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CABOT — The play is called “Tiger Shake.”

It’s intended for Springdale Har-Ber slot receiver Jordan Nicholson, and it’s the play that put the Wildcats in the Class 7A state championship game for the second time in three seasons Friday night.

Trailing 10-7 with under a minute remaining, Har-Ber quarterback Ryan Luther dropped back, glanced to the left, then turned back to the right and threw down the middle of the field. The pass, which was just out of the reach of a Cabot defender, found Nicholson in the back of the end zone for the goahead touchdown — putting the Wildcats up 14-10 with 24 seconds remaining.

“Ryan throws to a spot, and it’s up to me to get to the spot,” said Nicholson, who also caught Har-Ber’s first touchdown. “He had protection because the (off ensive) line did awesome.

“It was perfect.”

The play capped a 73-yard touchdown drive for Har-Ber, a drive that began with 2 minutes, 59 seconds remaining in the game. The Wildcats began the drive with just 170 yards of total off ense in the game, but they found a way to move the ball when it mattered most, fi nishing with 243 yards of off ense.

“We knew we had to pass it,” Nicholson said of the winning drive. “That was the only thing that was working, because they had stopped our run all night.

“Passion. That’s what changed. We had to win it.”

Har-Ber started the gamewinning drive with a pair of completions to senior receiver Kaleb Vaughn, who finished with 10 catches for 101 yards. The first, a 22-yard pass from Luther, moved the Wildcats to their 49.

“Going into the drive, we had to get open and we had to get me time back there,” Luther said. “If we’ve got time, our receivers are going to get open and they are going to catch it, no doubt. Every ball that comes their way.”

Har-Ber eventually moved to the Cabot 31, where it faced a fourth-and-2. Luther calmly hit senior receiver Josh McKinney for a 7-yard gain on the play, giving the Wildcats a first down on the Panthers 24. After a 5-yard run by Luther, who fi nished 21 of 33 passing for 201 yards and the two touchdowns, to the Cabot 19, the Har-Ber junior quarterback found Nicholson for the winning score.

“The ball looked like it took forever to get there,” Vaughn said. “But Jordan caught it and held on to it, and it was just an explosion of feelings and excitement for all of us.”

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