FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville Ramay has two of the most dynamic athletes in the Northwest Arkansas Conference in Terrance Rock and Jon Conley.
The Indians (1-2), however, have been shut out twice in three games, something that coach Craig Foringer doesn’t want happening again.
“We had a penalty here, a missed block there, and we couldn’t keep anything going (against Gold),” Foringer said. “We can’t rely on 80-yard runs. We need to be able to sustain drives, especially against physical football teams like we’ve played.”
Ramay makes its first trip away from Fayetteville this Thursday, visiting Gates Stadium and Rogers Heritage.
“Hopefully we’ll be more physical on offense this week,” Foringer said. “We need to have less penalties and quit missing blocks.”
Heritage puts it together
Rogers Heritage unleashed two weeks of frustration on Siloam Springs last Thursday night. The War Eagles (1-2) defeated the Panthers 19-14 after losing to Rogers High and Bentonville Black by a combined four points.
“Our team came out and was ready to play from the beginning,” Heritage coach Aaron Ledbetter said. “They had a great mindset after two tough losses so it was good to get a victory.”
Nathan Stacy had a key interception and was in on a number of tackles for Heritage, while Caleb Evans and Joe Britton had good nights running the football.
“We will continue to work on building our team’s confidence and prepare them for a tough, physical game against a solid Ramay team,” Ledbetter said.
Black battles to end
Bentonville Black and Fayetteville Woodland shared the Northwest Arkansas Conference title last season, and played a game worthy of it last Thursday.
Black (1-2) fell 7-6 to the Cowboys, but coach Chris Hutchens knows the game can serve as a lesson.
“I thought our team battled with about everything we had, we just ended up a couple of points short on the scoreboard,” Hutchens said. “We have some things that we can improve at and we will get better.”
Jacob Clark ran for 167 yards and a touchdown for the Tigers, who host Springdale Southwest this week.
“Southwest is traditionally one of the most physical teams in the conference,” Hutchens said. “Everybody wants to be good on Thursday, but our success will be determined by the time and energy put in during the week.”
Lakeside gets on scoreboard
Springdale Lakeside scored its first points against Rogers High last week, but was unable to post its first victory.
Rogers High got the best of the Golden Eagles (0-3), but coach Jeff Bowerman was excited that his team got in the end zone.
“We are getting better and better each and every week and we’re hungry for a win,” Bowerman said. “It will happen for them if they continue improving like they have the last three weeks.”
Oscar Iraheta orchestrated Lakeside’s lone scoring drive by hitting tight end Justin Toscano on a 47-yard pass and then keeping it for six yards, reaching paydirt.
Kameron Dickerson had four solo tackles, five assists and two tackles for loss for the Golden Eagles, who host Siloam Springs this week.
Southwest unlucky so far
Through three games, Springdale Southwest has yet to taste victory, as it has fallen to Springdale Central, Fayetteville Ramay and Springdale George.
Luckily for the Cougars (0-3), no division games have been played yet.
“We’ve been reiterating to the kids that we are three plays away from being 3-0 and we’ve stressed character-building in tough times,” Southwest offensive coordinator Rob Wright said.
Trey Smith stood out offensively for the Cougars again, while Enrique Ambriz, Garrett Thresher and Ty Henderson led the way on defense. They get a chance to post their first win against Bentonville Black this week.
“We need to continue playing good defense, eliminate mistakes, and play to our offensive strengths,” Wright said.