Rogers Heritage football coach Perry Escalante has seen a lot of high-scoring offensive performances in the conference the past few years, but Friday’s 70-21 win against Siloam Springs was different.
“I’ve seen some good ones before, not particularly like that one,” Escalante said.
Heritage quarterback Josh Qualls and receiver Forrest Johnson had one of the best tandem performances ever in the conference. They are this week’s combined NWA Media Players of the Week.
Qualls threw for 327 yards, needing just 11 completions in 20 attempts, and five touchdowns. Johnson had 232 receiving yards on just five catches with three touchdowns.
In the modern Spread attack, a lot of offenses are built around slants or screens with receivers blocking to spring big gains. Friday, Qualls and Johnson did it the old-fashioned way — going deep.
Escalante moves Johnson around a lot in Heritage’s formations. Johnson is either lined up wide in the War Eagle’s base twin receiver set or is the middle receiver when they go three receivers to one side.
Either way, Qualls looks to Johnson first although Tanner O’Brien, Jeremy Spickes and Carlos Hernandez are all capable receivers as well.
ALSO STELLAR
Certainly not overlooked in Friday’s game between Rogers High and Springdale High was the performance of Bulldogs’ running back Deandre Murray.
Murray rushed 23 times for 271 yards and six touchdowns.
Murray ran for touchdowns of 6, 77, 18, 2, 80 and 8 yards, which tied Tearris Wallace’s conference record of six rushing touchdowns in Bentonville’s 64-28 win against Rogers Heritage in 2010.
Murray’s performance was part of a 445-yard rushing effort by Springdale.
Springdale still operates out of the Spread, but utilizes a two-back set as well to set up a triple-option style of offense.
Murray has proven to be one of the most exciting players in the conference this season with three straight 100-yard rushing performances and an electrifying 91-yard punt return for a touchdown in a 35-0 win against Batesville in the season opener that was reminiscent of the punt return by Arkansas’ Joe Adams last year that was an ESPY finalist.
SPEAKING OF RUSHING
Murray’s performance on Friday was one of many as resurgence in the rushing game has emerged around the conference.
Murray was one of nine 100-yard rushing outings by conference runners on Friday.
Also in the Springdale vs. Rogers game, Will Whatley ran for 145 yards for Springdale while Ty Galyean added 101 yards and touchdown for Rogers.
In Fayetteville’s 27-13 win against Van Buren, Braydon Cook ran for 126 yards for Fayetteville while Van Buren quarterback Jacob Eason ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
In Bentonville’s 28-7 win over Springdale Har-Ber, Wallace ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
In Heritage’s 70-21 win against Siloam Springs, Brandon Gates had 153 yards and three touchdowns for Heritage while Scout Alexander ran for 184 yards and touchdowns of 80 and 65 yards for the Panthers.
BATTLE OF THE BULLDOGS
Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton certainly understands the historical significance of Friday’s annual Battle of the Red Bulldogs of Springdale and his Purple Bulldogs of Fayetteville.
Friday night, Springdale and Fayetteville will meet for the 115th time, spanning 113 years since 1908, with Springdale holding a 62-38-14 lead in the series.
Fayetteville, though, has won three straight and five of the last six. The Purple Bulldogs’ three-game win streak in the series is their longest over their Washington County rivals since winning three straight in 1964, 1965 and 1966.
Patton is the first Fayetteville head coach to hold an advantage of the rival Red Bulldogs, winning six of nine meetings, since Tom Hardin guided the Purple Bulldogs to that 3-0 mark from 1964 through 1966.
While the spark may have diminished a little in Springdale since the split into two schools in 2006 and the formation of crosstown rival Har-Ber High, the Bulldogs remain the chief rival for Fayetteville.
BETWEEN THE LINES
Rogers committed its first turnover of the year on Friday night in its 47-42 win against Springdale. … Bentonville has given up three offensive touchdowns in four games. … Conference teams have scored 129 offensive touchdowns this season, and 85 of them have been on the ground. … No team passed more than it ran on Friday night. Rogers Heritage scored 5 rushing touchdowns and 5 passing touchdowns against Siloam Springs.