ROGERS — Rogers Heritage football coach Perry Escalante forced a little smile as he visited with well wishers near midfield in Gates Stadium following his team’s thrilling 23-21 victory over crosstown rival Rogers High on Friday night.
The War Eagles held Roger scoreless in the second half and forced two turnovers in the final two quarters, after the Mounties chewed up yardage in chunks in the first half.
“It ended up OK, but boy it was hard getting there,” Escalante said. “We made some adjustments at halftime. We couldn’t get them where we wanted during the game. We did a little better job taking away the mid-line and we started coming up and hitting the pitch in the mouth, caused a fumble. So they got away from that.
“I can’t express how hard these guys played from start to finish tonight.”
Heritage (3-2, 2-0 7A-West) took advantage of Rogers’ third lost fumble of the night to get a chance at the victory. Junior quarterback Joel Brackett scored on a 7-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 with 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan was pleased with the performance of his defense, but disappointed with the offense in the second half.
Flannigan was concerned about Saucier’s explosiveness prior to the game and the senior running back showed why as he broke a 69-yard touchdown run in the first half. However, the Mounties defense held him in check relatively well besides that as he finished with a game-high 117.
“I can’t say enough about how our defense played,” Flannigan said. “We knew Saucier was going to get his and he got the one at the beginning, but we pretty much held him in tow. Our offense just did not show up in the second half. You come out in the first half and you’re unstoppable and in the second half you can’t move the ball.
“It’s pretty disappointing.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Brackett earned that honor as he also threw for 135 yards and a touchdown in addition to the game-winning score. He found Collin Christian in the right corner of the end zone for a 9-yard scoring strike on third-and-goal to pull Heritage within 21-16 early in the fourth quarter.
PLAY OF THE NIGHT: Brackett stuck the ball in Saucier’s belly and nearly the entire Mounties defense descended on the senior running back. But the junior quarterback pulled the ball out and ran untouched around the left end and into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
Saucier had run the ball on the previous four plays.
INJURY UPDATE: Rogers Heritage offensive lineman Noah Madryga missed most of the second half with a possible knee injury. His status is uncertain.
NOTABLE: Rogers at least got a chance at a last-second field goal attempt thanks to a nice hook-and-lateral play that gained 36 yards. … Mounties quarterback Cole Evans rushed for 115 yards on 25 carries and three first-half touchdowns. … The teams combined for five turnovers as Rogers lost three fumbles, but the Mounties also intercepted two Brackett passes.
UP NEXT: Heritage travels to Fort Smith on consecutive weeks now and will take on Northside on Friday. The Mounties play host to Fort Smith Southside.