FAYETTEVILLE - The Battle of the Bulldogs lived up to its billing for nearly three quarters Friday night, but a couple of big plays and an injury to a key Springdale player allowed Fayetteville to pull out a 38-14 victory at Harmon Stadium.
Two long runs by Deandre Murray sparked a 10-play, 69-yard drive that helped Springdale (3-2, 1-1 7A/6A-West) pull within a field goal with 5:54 left in the third quarter, but Murray suffered an ankle injury on the next possession that left Springdale’s offense with little punch the rest of the way.
Fayetteville (5-0, 2-0) capitalized quickly on Springdale’s misfortune. Jordan Dennis threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to C.J. O’Grady off a fake field-goal attempt to open the scoring in the fourth quarter, and Fayetteville put it away with a 76-yard fumble return by Dre Greenlaw.
Dennis also caught touchdown passes covering 18 and 7 yards from Mitch Marshall.
“We came out and played with a great deal of emotion,” Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. “I told our guys, you can throw out the records when it’s the Battle of the Bulldogs. It’s always going to be a dogfight for four quarters.”
Murray finished with 103 yards on 19 carries, and caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Fuller Chandler, but Springdale was clearly affected when its standout tailback went down.
“It’s just one of those things that happens,” Springdale Coach Shane Patrick said. “You get down to your thirdand fourth-team running back in there, you just do what you do, but it’s not as good as when you’re top guy is in there.” ROGERS 35, VAN BUREN 14
ROGERS - Brandon Workman ran for five touchdowns to lead Rogers (4-1, 1-1 7A/6A-West Conference) past Van Buren (1-4, 0-2) at Whitey Smith Stadium.
Workman ran for 144 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half and finished with 181 yards on 15 carries.
Rogers fullback Bryan Grigsby had 16 carries for 128 yards and 1 touchdown. SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 42, ROGERS HERITAGE 21
SPRINGDALE - Sain Mathew carried 26 times for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead Springdale Har-Ber (3-2, 1-1 7A/6A-West Conference) past Rogers Heritage (3-2, 1-1).
Mathew scored on run of 36 and 64 yards. He ran for 182 yards in the first half, helping the Wildcats take a 21-14 lead.
Har-Ber receiver Gus Vitt caught three touchdown passes from Kyle Pianalto covering 37, 18 and 25 yards.
Rogers Heritage running back Brandon Gates ran for three touchdowns, including an 80-yarder.
BENTONVILLE 45, SILOAM SPRINGS 3
SILOAM SPRINGS - Betonville scored 21 points in third quarter to put away Siloam Springs.
Bentonville tailback Dylan Smith had 12 carries for 169 yards and 1 touchdown. Hekili Keliiki added a 1-yard touchdown run and caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Kasey Ford, who completed 12 of 15 passes for 172 years.
Kahlil Gunn also scored on runs of 1 and 3 yards.
Sports, Pages 28 on 10/05/2013