ROGERS — The quest for an undefeated season and a Northwest Arkansas Conference continues for the Rogers Heritage ninth-grade football team.
The War Eagles withstood a stiff challenge Thursday night from cross-town rival Rogers High and improved to 9-0 this season with a 21-14 victory in Mountie Stadium. Heritage used a 13-play, 68-yard touchdown drive in the second half to score the contest’s only points after halftime.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Heritage coach Jason Upton said. “We’re making history. The guys stepped up when they needed to and made some big plays.”
The victory sets up a winner-take-all matchup for the conference championship next week against Bentonville Gold (7-1), a 35-0 winner Thursday night over Bentonville Black.
For a while against the Mounties (5-4), it appeared that Heritage might lose its first game of the season. The War Eagles received the opening kickoff and needed only five plays to score on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Josh Qualls to Carlos Hernandez.
Rogers responded, however, to take a 14-7 lead. Ty Galyean’s 47-yard run led to a 1-yard TD sneak by Max Harrell, and a muffed punt set the Mounties up for Brandon Workman’s 1-yard TD plunge with 44 seconds left.
Heritage immediately halted the momentum, however, when Jose Campos raced 77 yards untouched on the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. Campos' return tied the game at 14 with 5 seconds left before halftime.
“Jose Campos made some big, big plays in this game,” Upton said. “He turns it on when the lights come on. That kickoff return let us feel like it was a new ballgame at halftime.”
The Mounties took 4 minutes off the clock to open the second half but had to punt. Heritage responded with its game-clinching drive that took 5:45.
Qualls capped the march with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Colton Noeltner that put Heritage up 21-14. Qualls converted two fourth-down passes to Jeremy Spickes to keep the drive alive, a 6-yarder on fourth-and-3 and a 12-yarder on fourth-and-8.
Rogers mustered only one first down before a crucial sack by Micca Brown forced a Mounties punt at the 2:30 mark. Heritage earned a first down on a 12-yard run by Qualls on third-and-7 to seal its ninth consecutive victory.
“That was a real tough one,” Rogers coach Johnny Brewer said. “I think we showed we’re a much better team than the first time we played. But it’s tough to lose like that. We fought hard, and I hope our fans are proud of the way we battled.”