ROGERS — Rogers High showed offensive balance in a 47-42 victory Friday against Springdale High in its 7A/6A-West Conference opener.
Rogers rushed for 344 yards as Preston Young (127) and Ty Galyean (101) both eclipsed the 100-yard mark. Young had a 58-yard touchdown run while Galyean setup a touchdown with an 80-yard run.
The Mounties also showed they can pass the football when needed. Quarterback Nick Wary completed all three of his passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns, completions of 46 and 10 yards to Stokes Wenzler. He hit Zach Jones for a 58-yard gain down to the Bulldogs one during a 35-point first half outburst.
Rogers is 4-0 for the first time since 2006, and they opened conference play with a victory for the first time since 2006.
The Mounties defense also shined in the second half, giving up just one touchdown and four first downs.
Plays of the Night: Zach Jones is one of the Mounties two receivers, and the senior does more blocking than pass catching in the triple option. Plus, Jones got around some Springdale blocking when it mattered most.
Jones had to play linebacker because of an injury, and he made two defensive stops in the closing minutes of the game. Jones stopped Springdale running back Deandre Murray for a 4-yard loss on third-and-1 at the Rogers 10. Jones then blocked a Will Whatley pass on fourth down to stop the drive and preserve the Mounties win.
Injury Update: Safety Zack Wary (ankle) and slot back Brandon Workman (ankle) didn’t dress out Friday. Workman was still wearing a protective boot.
Player of the Game: In addition to his two defensive stops, Jones also had a 58-yard reception. With Rogers trailing 27-21, Jones broke past the Springdale defense for a catch and run that gave the Mounties the football at the one. Preston Young went in for a touchdown a play later for a 28-27 lead.
Notable: Rogers lost its first fumble of the year. ... Springdale had two one-play scoring drives, touchdown runs of 77 and 80 yards by Murray. ... Wary is now 5-for-8 passing for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
The Lingo: “Jones just hammered him (Murray). He made two big plays back-to-back. You don’t see back-to-back plays much bigger than that.”
— Charlie Hesse
Rogers defensive coordinator, on the two stops by Jones
Up Next: Rogers travels to Van Buren to face the Pointers for the first time in a conference game since 2007. Van Buren rejoined the conference this season after being a Class 6A school for the past four seasons. The Pointers were in the 7A-West from 1991 until 2007 and they posted a 9-7 record against the Mounties. The two schools played a nonconference game the past four seasons with each team winning twice. Van Buren lost 27-13 Friday to Fayetteville.