Saucier’s Returns Spark Heritage
By Leland Barclay
Special to NWA Media
Joey Saucier gave Rogers Heritage a big lift not just once but twice Friday night.
Saucier returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, and the War Eagles needed both of them in the 52-35 win against Harrison.
Saucier returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to stake Heritage to a 7-0 lead just 13 seconds into the game.
“We got off to a fast start after that,” Heritage coach Perry Escalante said. “It woke us up. Joey had an exceptional game. He’s a great kid and a hard worker. It’s not surprising to see him explode in a game like that.”
In a game that was an offensive slugfest for three quarters, Harrison took a 35-27 lead with 1 minute, 46 seconds left in the third quarter before Saucier took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Brandon Gates added the two-point conversion to tie the game at 35-35. After that, Heritage added two more touchdowns and a field goal for the win.
“Joey changed it, and we never looked back after that,” Escalante said. “Our offense just blew it up after that. He changed the whole game pretty quick. That’s just great for him.”
If he was touched on either kickoff, it was only a couple of finger tips. The two kickoffs were also carbon copies of each other. After catching the kickoffs, Saucier shot up the middle, broke to the left and then ran down the sideline.
Saucier is part of a two-pronged kickoff return tandem that is dangerous. Back deep with him is Gates, who is leading the conference in rushing with 591 yards.
“Those are guys with great hands and great speed,” Escalante said. “Joey can take it back any time, and Brandon is ball security more underneath. Those are our two best ones, but our short guys are good, too. We have a speedster and a guy that is real solid back there. Brandon has speed, too, but not like Joey.”
Saucier, a track competitor who runs a 10.8 in the 100 meters, also provides a scoring threat on offense as well. Generally, he lines up as a slot receiver, where he can catch passes or run speed sweeps, or as a running back when the War Eagles go to a two-back set.
“We line him up all over the place,” Escalante said. “He causes the defense a lot of problems because they have to know where he’s at.”
Friday, he also ran for a 3-yard touchdown. Saucier has caught 11 passes for 141 this year with a touchdown.
“We’re trying to get him more touches each game,” Escalante said. “When they start loading the box up, he can go hard on the outside. We try to get it to him on bubble screens, the slant routes and hitches and then give him the ball on jet sweeps. He’s dangerous. He can score from anywhere on the field pretty quick.”
Saucier broke the school record for longest kickoff return. His two kickoff returns for a touchdown in a single game are also a school record and is believed to be a conference record.
“He set two records on the same night for our school,” Escalante said.
PANTHERS READY FOR FINALE
Siloam Springs will open 7A/6A-West play Friday at Heritage.
The Panthers, along with Van Buren, will leave the conference after this season for the 7A/6A-Central with Fort Smith Northside and Southside joining the West for the next two seasons. The move is more for balance among 6A and 7A schools than geography.
Siloam Springs and Van Buren will join a newly formed conference consisting of Greenwood, Alma, Russellville, Conway, Little Rock Catholic and Bryant. Just last week, though, Bryant was denied an appeal to remain in the 7A/6A-South although a possible lawsuit could complicate that issue.
“In my profession, you can’t get caught looking ahead so I haven’t thought much about it,” Siloam Springs coach Bryan Ross said. “It will be better for us since we will play some 6A schools. With Greenwood and Alma, you’re still talking about some really outstanding football teams. It’s still going to be very difficult for us.”
For now, Siloam Springs will join a conference where the longest trip is Bryant and the shortest is Van Buren. That makes the shortest trip for the Panthers longer than the longest trip currently in the 7A/6A-West. However, Siloam Springs will play in a conference with three other 6A schools instead of seven 7A schools, some of which are among the biggest in the state.
“Anything is going to be better for us than the schedule we’re having to play now,” Ross said. “All of our kids grew up in the 5A-West so we were routinely taking road trips to Vilonia, Greenbrier and Morrilton and for a few years there even Little Rock Christian or Central Arkansas Christian. We grew up with that so the travel won’t be that big of a deal.”
The 7A-West will be comprised of just 7A schools. The 6A-South will be comprised solely of 6A schools. The 7A/6A-Central and the 7A/6A-East will be made up of half 7A and half 6A schools. Playoff berths for 6A in those two conferences will be determined by only the games against the other 6A teams meaning Siloam Springs’ post-season hopes will be determined only by its games against Greenwood, Alma and Russellville. Three of the four teams will go to the 6A playoffs based on the old 13-point tie-breaking procedure used before the points rating system that has been used the past few years.
“Any time that it is settled on the field is better than going through a process of trying to figure out who is better based on how many points you score,” Ross said. “That will be better. There is a little light at the end of the tunnel.”
That also means the three nonconference games as well as the games against Van Buren, Little Rock Catholic, Conway and Bryant won’t mean anything as far as the playoffs.
A tentative schedule has Siloam Springs playing Alma in week five, Greenwood week eight, and Russellville week nine.
CONFERENCE PLAY BEGINS
Fayetteville travels to Van Buren, while Springdale High hosts Rogers High to open 7A/6A-West play and renew old rivalries.
Fayetteville and Van Buren first played in 1922 when the schools were part of the old Northwest Arkansas Conference when schools formed their own conferences. The first official districts were formed in 1946 by the Arkansas Activities Association. Fayetteville won its first conference championship in 1929, sharing the title with Springdale.
Springdale and Rogers have played 110 times with the Bulldogs holding a 60-39-11 edge in the series that dates back to 1907. Springdale and Rogers were first united in the same conference in 1921 when Rogers won the first championship.
THAT FIGURES
186 – yards covered on Saucier’s two kickoff returns for touchdowns against Harrison
110 – games played between Springdale and Rogers
17 – penalties committed by Springdale against Bixby, Okla., on Friday
0 – turnovers and punts by Van Buren against Little Rock Fair on Friday
7A/6A-West Conference
Team^Conf.^Overall
^W-L^W-L-T^PF^PA
Fayetteville^0-0^3-0-0^96^67
Rogers High^0-0^3-0-0^118-34
Rogers Heritage^0-0^2-1-0^118^101
Springdale High^0-0^2-1-0^121-78
Springdale Har-Ber^0-0^2-1-0^106^117
Siloam Springs^0-0^1-1-1^82^94
Bentonville^0-0^1-2-0^54^66
Van Buren^0-0^1-2-0^116^91
Last Week’s Scores
Euless (Texas) Trinity 21, Bentonville 13
Rogers Heritage 52m Harrison 35
Springdale Har-Ber 35, FS Southside 27
Fayetteville 27, Muskogee, Okla. 22
Siloam Springs 24, Gravette 14
Van Buren 49, LR Fair 13
Rogers high 30, FS Northside 28
Bixby, Okla. 45, Springdale High 38
This Week’s Games
Rogers High at Springdale High
Fayetteville at Van Buren
Siloam Springs at Rogers Heritage
Springdale Har-Ber at Bentonville
7A/6A-WEST CONFERENCE STATISTICAL LEADERS
TEAM OFFENSE
TEAM^RUSH^PASS^TOTAL^AVG/GM
Rogers Heritage^685^536^1221^407.0
Van Buren^516^675^1191^397.0
Springdale Har-Ber^665^506^1171^390.3
Rogers High^1035^116^1151^383.7
Springdale High^626^394^1020^340.0
Fayetteville^434^580^1014^338.0
Siloam Springs^373^571^944^314.7
Bentonvillle^338^478^816^272.0
TEAM DEFENSE
TEAM^RUSH^PASS^TOTAL^AVG/GM
Rogers High^413^253^666^222.0
Van Buren^500^471^971^323.7
Springdale High^424^547^971^323.7
Bentonville^487^505^992^330.7
Fayetteville^456^556^1012^337.3
Rogers Heritage^486^675^1161^387.0
Springdale Har-Ber^642^630^1272^424.0
Siloam Springs^511^864^1375^458.3
OFFENSIVE SCORING
TEAM^RUSH^PASS^DEF^SPEC^TOTAL
Rogers High^14^2^1^0^17
Springdale High^10^5^2^0^17
Van Buren^11^6^0^0^17
Rogers Heritage^7^7^0^2^16
Springdale Har-Ber^8^7^0^0^15
Fayetteville^3^7^1^1^12
Siloam Springs^4^6^0^1^11
Bentonville^5^1^0^0^6
DEFENSIVE SCORING
TEAM^RUSH^PASS^DEF^SPEC^TOTAL
Rogers High^2^3^0^0^5
Bentonville^3^6^0^0^9
Fayetteville^7^2^0^0^9
Springdale High^6^4^1^0^11
Siloam Springs^4^8^0^0^12
Van Buren^5^6^1^1^13
Rogers Heritage^9^5^0^0^14
Springdale Har-Ber^7^7^2^0^16
TURNOVERS
TEAM^TAKEAWAYS^GIVEAWAYS^TOTAL
Springdale High^11^3^+8
Rogers High^5^2^+3
Rogers Heritage^5^4^+1
Fayetteville^5^4^+1
Bentonville^6^6^even
Springdale Har-Ber^5^7^-2
Van Buren^3^6^-3
Siloam Springs^6^10^-4
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING
PLAYER, SCHOOL^COMP^ATT^INT^YDS^TD
Bradley Eversole, Van Buren^59^96^4^631^6
Mitch Marshall, Fayetteville^40^63^1^580^6
Chris Lampton, Siloam Springs^54^94^5^571^6
Josh Qualls, Rogers Heritage^52^87^2^536^7
Caleb Daniels, Springdale Har-Ber^25^69^1^420^5
Fuller Chandler, Springdale High^30^57^2^394^5
Kyle Pianalto, Springdale Har-Ber^16^31^2^296^2
Kasey Ford, Bentonville^23^45^4^287^0
Jake Slocum, Bentonville^18^30^0^191^1
Max Harrell, Rogers High^3^6^0^91^1
Cole Evans, Rogers High^1^1^0^25^1
RUSHING
PLAYER, SCHOOL^ATT^YDS^TD
Brandon Gates, Rogers Heritage^80^591^5
Deandre Murray, Springdale High^64^500^9
Braydon Cook, Fayetteville^68^390^1
Sain Matthew, Springdale Har-Ber^43^306^2
Rickey Hughes, Siloam Springs^47^281^1
Hekili Keliiliki, Bentonville^55^278^4
Preston Young, Rogers High^28^266^3
Tyrone Joseph, Van Buren^36^264^4
Brandon Workman, Rogers High^22^218^4
Kyle Pianalto, Springdale Har-Ber^24^197^1
Max Harrell, Rogers High^29^157^1
Bradley Eversole, Van Buren^32^146^5
Luke Hannon, Springdale Har-Ber^31^134^2
Bryan Grigsby, Rogers High^24^120^1
Cole Evans, Rogers High^7^116^3
Tim Faubus, Springdale Har-Ber^19^89^0
Chris Lampton, Siloam Springs^43^84^3
Terrell Tyson, Fayetteville^23^77^1
Kahlil Gunn, Bentonville^11^70^0
Fuller Chandler, Springdale High^21^69^1
Matt Garrison, Springdale Har-Ber^12^69^3
RECEIVING
PLAYER, SCHOOL^NO^YDS^TD
Chandler Gregory, Siloam Springs^24^277^1
Jeremy Spickes, Rogers Heritage^17^181^2
Andrew Martin, Van Buren^16^271^3
Cody Scroggins, Bentonville^16^236^0
Gus Vitt, Springdale Har-Ber^15^257^1
Camden Scott, Springdale Har-Ber^11^216^5
Cheyenne O’Grady, Fayetteville^11^190^4
Joey Saucier, Rogers Heritage^11^141^1
Micca Brown, Rogers Heritage^11^109^2
Jimmie Jackson, Bentonville^10^112^1
Parker Baldwin, Siloam Springs^9^116^2
Jordan Dennis, Fayetteville^9^94^1
Terry Mounce, Springdale High^9^88^0
Tyrone Joseph, Van Buren^9^43^1
Quiency Patton, Springdale High^8^176^3
Jake Freeman, Van Buren^8^154^1
Luke Rapert, Fayetteville^8^71^0
Michael Cureton, Van Buren^7^43^1
Zane Washington, Siloam Springs^7^39^0
Matt Garrison, Springdale Har-Ber^6^107^0
Chase Morse, Bentonville^6^57^0
Carlos Hernandez, Rogers Heritage^6^47^0
Deandre Murray, Springdale High^6^23^1
Ethan Hudspeth, Van Buren^6^13^0