Wymer’s heroics lift Springdale over Rogers

SPRINGDALE — Drake Wymer’s basketball skills came in handy Friday night.

The Springdale High sophomore and a Rogers High defender both went up for the football in the corner of the Rogers end zone with the game on the line in the final seconds of the 7A/6A-West opener.

The 6-foot-6 Wymer won the battle for the ball. And the game for the Bulldogs.

Wymer’s 24-yard touchdown catch from Fuller Chandler with one second left lifted Springdale to a dramatic 32-28 win over Rogers in the conference opener at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.

“I saw the ball was a little short, so I had to come back for it,” Wymer said. “We were both tangled up for it and I took it away from him. Made a big play out there.”

Rogers (3-1, 0-1 conference) called timeout with eight seconds left after Springdale (3-1, 1-0) lined up to attempt a game-tying 41-yard field goal with Sam Kennedy. But the Bulldogs had a change of heart and sent their offense onto the field when play resumed.

“I thought we had enough time that we could throw one to the end zone and still be able to line up and kick it,” Springdale coach Shane Patrick said. “It was right on our fringe, into the wind, of where we wanted to be to kick it. So when they called timeout, it gave us a chance to calmly be able to call a play and get a chance into the end zone.”

Rogers appeared on the way to a win in the back-and-forth game when quarterback Ty Galyean punched it in from a yard out for the go-ahead score with 1:02 left. Springdale had no timeouts remaining, but quickly marched down the field to set up the game-winning touchdown.

“It’s real tough,” Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan said. “It’s hard. You’ve been in this long enough that until the clock goes off, you’ve never won. That’s what happened.”

EXTRA POINTS

Springdale senior running back Deandre Murray ran for a season-high 316 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. His touchdown runs of 77, 65 and 48 yards helped Springdale keep pace with Rogers. The Bulldogs improved to 3-0 when Murray rushes for at least 200 yards.

Max Harrell and Cole Evans rotated at quarterback early in the game for Rogers before Galyean took over. The senior played well, finishing with 140 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. The Mounties ran for 375 yards, just shy of their 383.7 average entering the game.

Chandler was just 5 of 8 for 27 yards before the final drive, but completed all three of his passes for 66 yards and the game-winning score.

UP NEXT: Springdale will hit the road for a matchup with rival Fayetteville. Rogers will try to bounce back when it hosts Van Buren for homecoming.

HOW THEY SCORED

SPRINDALE HIGH 32, ROGERS HIGH 28

Rogers^0^7^7^14^—^28

Springdale^3^7^0^22^—^32

First Quarter

Spring — Kennedy 25 FG, 2:05

Second Quarter

Spring — Murray 77 run (Kennedy kick), 4:57

Rogers — Young 1 run (Nolan kick), 0:00

Third Quarter

Rogers — Galyean 2 run (Nolan kick), 0:17

Fourth Quarter

Spring — Murray 65 run (Kennedy kick), 8:11

Rogers — Galyean 1 run (Nolan kick), 7:00

Spring — Murray 48 run (Murray run), 5:47

Rogers — Galyean 1 run (Nolan kick), 1:02

Spring — D. Wymer 19 pass from Chandler (Kennedy kick), 0:01

Upcoming Events