Friday, September 28, 2012
SPRINGDALE — The only place Rogers High didn't run to Thursday night was the locker room at halftime.
Instead the Mounties plopped down on a knee in the north end zone, a look as old-school as their ground-and-pound attack.
ROGERS HIGH 17, SPRINGDALE GEORGE 10
Rogers 3 0 7 7 — 17
George 0 3 7 0 — 10
First Quarter
Rogers — FG Jiminez 27, 0:48.
Second Quarter
Geo — FG Bautista 32, 4:12.
Third Quarter
Geo — Lane 34 run (Bautista kick), 4:20.
Rogers — Mabry 56 run (Jiminez kick), 2:37.
Fourth Quarter
Rogers — Mabry 3 run (Jiminez kick), 3:08.
Four running backs combined for 277 yards for Rogers (3-2), and the Mounties outgained Springdale George 119-24 in the first half.
George defeated Elmwood 22-0 in the eighth-grade game.
"Our varsity team has gone to more a run-heavy offense, and we are doing our best to model what they are doing," Rogers coach Jody Aldridge said. "Generally we try to ride the back with the hot hand and tonight it was Brandon (Mabry).”
Playing without its starting quarterback and starting running back due to injury, George finally caught a break in the second quarter when Rogers lost a fumble inside its own 20-yard line.
George failed to reach the end zone, but John Bautista nailed a 32-yard field goal to even the score 3-3 at the half.
Kenneth Lane gave George (2-3) a 10-3 lead on its first drive of the second half. Lane had runs of 12 and 15 yards before breaking off a a 34-yard touchdown run. Lane finished with 123 yards in his second start of the season.
Rogers was quick to answer, driving 67 yards in four plays on the ensuing drive. Mabry accounted for all of the yards on the drive, including a 56-yard burst that tied the game 10-10. He finished with nearly 200 yards rushing, and his 3-yard run with just over three minutes left was the game-winner.