ROGERS — Springdale Har-Ber coach Chris Wood was proud of his team’s resilience Friday night.
The Wildcats shook off two early turnovers and used a strong second half to roll past Rogers Heritage 56-20 in 7A/6A-West Conference play at Gates Stadium.
“We just stayed the course, made plays in the second half,” Wood said. “We though our kids were real resilient. I was proud of the whole team’s effort tonight.”
Gamebreaker
Springda1e Har-Ber 56
Rogers Heritage 20
Why The Wildcats won
Quarterback Kyle Pianalto rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another as Har-Ber pulled away in the second half to an easy win.
Why The War Eagles lost
The Heritage offense sputtered in the second half and the War Eagle defense couldn’t ever find an answer to slow down the Wildcats.
Har-Ber (2-3, 1-1) took momentum into halftime when quarterback Kyle Pianalto scored on a 1-yard sneak for a 20-13 lead. But it took a while to figure the play out.
Pianalto disappeared into the line, but officials never signaled whether he scored as the final nine seconds of the second quarter ticked off. A scuffle ensured after the play and both teams had to be separated. Officials huddled for a short period of time before deciding he had scored.
Kicker Miguel Salgado added the PAT, and the teams went to the dressing rooms with Har-Ber leading 21-13.
The Wildcats scored twice in the first three minutes of the third quarter to take command and never looked back. Running back Tucker Lee broke the second play from scrimmage for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Pianalto capped the second drive of the half with a 12-yard keeper for a touchdown and a 35-13 Har-Ber lead.
Heritage coach Perry Escalante said his team just lost its composure after halftime.
“We got so mad,” Escalante. “We never recovered from that. We lost complete emotional control at that point. We had the guy stopped and he popped outside. After that they just lined up and took it to us.”
Nonconference
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 56, ROGERS HERITAGE 20
Har-Ber 0 21 21 14 — 56
Heritage 7 6 7 0 — 20
First Quarter
Hert — Johnson 8 run (Morales kick), :48.
Second Quarter
Harb — Pianalto 5 run (Salgado kick), 8:57.
Harb — Vitt 24 pass from Pianalto (Salgado kick), 5:16.
Hert — Saucier 58 run (Kick failed), 3:43.
Harb — Pianalto 1 run (Salgado kick), :00.
Third Quarter
Harb — Lee 58 run (Salgado kick), 11:16.
Harb — Pianalto 12 run (Salgado kick), 9:48.
Hert — Spickes 33 pass from Qualls (Morales kick), 6:33.
Harb — Pianalto 1 run (Salgado kick), 3:43.
Fourth Quarter
Harb — Guzman 1 run (Salgado kick), 11:43.
Harb — Thompson 8 pass from Phillips (Salgado kick), 8:54.
Pianalto enjoyed a big night, running for four touchdowns and throwing for another, which drew praise from Wood.
“Kyle had those two turnovers, but he was resilient and grew up there,” Wood said.
Wood said the Wildcats’ tough nonconference schedule helped them through the early adversity, losing three of their first four games. But the team bounced back strong Friday.
“We never hit the panic button,” Wood said. “Our nonconference was brutal. Any mistake you made was magnified. Tonight we played better, played cleaner and got the win.”
Heritage (4-1, 1-1) hits the road next week to take on Fayetteville, while Har-ber hosts Van Buren.