FORT SMITH — Rogers High was an inch short of its first victory Friday night.
Austin Griffin’s 37-yard field goal attempt with no time remaining just hit the inside of the left upright and bounced off and Fort Smith Northside escaped with a 28-27 victory over the Mounties in a 7A-West Conference game.
And the missed field goal wasn’t the only breakdown on special teams. Rogers seemed poised to tie the game at 28-28 with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left, but a bad snap on the PAT left the Grizzlies with a one-point lead.
“We shouldn’t have been in that position, it should have been a tie game,” said Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan. “If he missed it, we should have gone to overtime. That’s the important part of special teams.”
The last second chance at victory was setup when Blake Neil intercepted Northside quarterback Tanner Knight with under two minutes left. Neil returned the interception to the Northside 13, but two penalties and two runs for no net gain forced the Mounties to attempt the field goal on third down.
Northside had three time outs remaining and Grizzlies coach Darrell Henry used them all in an attempt to ice Griffin.
“Game went our way at the end,” Henry said. “I think it helped, we were going to use them (timeouts) and say it did, anyway. That’s a tough position for a young man to be in. Using all three of them makes him stand there a little longer and we hoped it helped.”
Rogers trailed 14-7 at halftime and 21-7 in the fourth quarter, but Bronson Carpenter scored his second touchdown of the night on a five-yard run and quarterback Nick Wary hit Stokes Wenzler for a 21-yard touchdown as the Mounties tied the game at 21-21 with 8:19 left.
Northside regained the lead on a 93-yard touchdown run by Donnie Jones with just under five minutes left in the game. But Wary completed three-straight passes for 65 yards before rushing in from the five to cut the Northside lead to 28-27.
Wary had his best game of the year as the sophomore completed 13 of 22 passes for 212 yards. He also rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries. Carpenter had 117 yards on 22 carries.
“They played their hearts out ... one point,” Flannigan said. “We didn’t get it done earlier.”
Rogers took its biggest lead of the year when the Mounties took the opening possession 69 yards in 16 plays for a 7-0 lead with 4:20 left in the first quarter. Carpenter capped the drive with a two-yard run.
But Northside took a 14-7 lead at halftime with consecutive second quarter scoring drives. Donnie Jones ended an 80-yard drive with a short touchdown run that tied the game and Knight completed six straight passes on a 75-yard drive that gave the Grizzlies a 14-7 lead with 3:07 before halftime. Knight ended the drive with a 12-yard touchdown throw to Curan Townsel.
Rogers ends the season Friday when the Mounties host Springdale High.
Prep Football
7A-West Conference
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 28, ROGERS HIGH 27
Rogers 7 0 0 20 — 27
Northside 0 14 7 7 — 28
First Quarter
Rogers — Carpenter 2 run (Griffin kick) 4:20.
Second Quarter
North — Jones 4 run (Martinez kick) 5:20.
North — Townsel 12 pass from Knight (Martinez kick) 3:07.
Third Quarter
North — Jones 6 run (Martinez kick) 10:01.
Fourth Quarter
Rogers — Carpenter 5 run (Griffin kick) 11:56.
Rogers — Wenzler 21 pass from Wary (Griffin kick) 8:19.
North — Jones 93 run (Martinez kick) 4:43.
Rogers — Wary 5 run (kick failed) 3:18.
Gamebreaker
Fort Smith Northside 28, Rogers High 27
Why The Grizzlies Won
Donnie Jones’ 93-yard touchdown run gave the Grizzlies the lead for good late in the game and receiver Shaquille Jones had eight catches for 126 yards. Three timeouts that iced Rogers kicker Austin Griffin with one second left in the game also didn’t hurt.
Why The Mounties Lost
Special teams and two lost fumbles kept Rogers from its first victory. A bad snap on a PAT attempt kept the Mounties from tying the game late and Rogers then missed a 37-yard field goal as time expired.