ROGERS -- Junior quarterback Joel Brackett took the snap and took a knee on consecutive plays, then celebrated with his teammates as Rogers Heritage held on for a tough 7-6 win over Russellville on Friday night.
The War Eagles (1-1) and coach Perry Escalante were all smiles as they exchanged congratulations near midfield in Gates Stadium. A direct contrast from a week earlier when Escalante and his players were stunned as a late turnover helped Olathe (Kan.) North skate away with a late victory.
How They Scored
Russellville^0^6^0^0^—^6
Rogers Heritage^0^0^7^0^—^7
Second Quarter
RUSS-Daibert FG 40, 7:17.
RUSS-Daiber FG 42, 2:28.
Third Quarter
HERT-Brackett 56 run (Grom kick), 6:23.
However, the Heritage defense came up with stop after stop, holding Russellville (1-1) scoreless in the second half to pick up the win. Brackett broke a 56-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper midway through the third quarter and kicker Eric Grom added what turned out to be the game-winning point on the PAT.
The War Eagle defense made it stand up, stopping Russellville on downs twice in the final five minutes. This time the Heritage offense was able to salt away the win.
Escalante couldn't have been happier.
"We needed that, to win in that fashion," Escalante said. "Boy, that defense, they're good. They fight and fight and fight."
It looked as though Russellville might be getting in position to kick a possible game-winning field goal in the final seconds. The Cyclones had a first down at the Heritage 29 with 2 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.
Russellville picked up two yards, but Cyclones quarterback Michael Mullin fumbled a snap which resulted in an 11-yard loss. That pushed Russellville out of field goal range and the War Eagles held on downs with a little more than a minute left.
Russellville coach Jeff Holt said his team just failed to take advantage of opportunities.
"We had plenty of chances to put points on the board and didn't," Holt said. "We struggled in our special teams tonight. It was so good to us last week. That hurt us. Defensively played lights out. We've got little things to fix and we'll move on."
The Cyclones had first-and-goal at the Heritage 5 late in the first half. But a fumbled snap and an incompletion forced them to settle for a field goal and a 6-0 halftime lead.
Extra Points:
• Heritage senior running back Joey Saucier did not play because of an injured hamstring.
• Senior place-kicker Allen Daiber accounted for all of Russellville's points with field goals of 40 and 42 yards in the first half.
• Heritage finished with just three yards passing and just three first downs in the first half.
Up Next: The War Eagles play their first road game of the season next week at Navasota, Texas. The Rattlers (2-0) were ranked No. 2 in Class 4A in Texas by the Associated Press earlier this week.
Sports on 09/13/2014