Joey Saucier was the leading receiver for Rogers Heritage last year, but it was easy for coach Perry Escalante to move the speedster to running back for his senior season.
"It was a pretty easy decision," Escalante said. "He's our best athlete back there. We knew if we were going to give ourselves an opportunity, we had to get the ball in Joey's hands as much as possible instead of two or three times a quarter."
That Figures
According to the Associated Press poll:
3 — ranked teams beaten by Fort Smith Northside this season, including No. 6 Pine Bluff, No. 5 Greenwood and No. 1 Fayetteville
6 — wins and four losses for Fayetteville while ranked No. 1 all-time
1994 — Northside’s last win against No. 1 team
7A-WEST CONFERENCE STATISTICAL LEADERS
TEAM OFFENSE^RUSH^PASS^TOTAL^AVG/GM
Springdale Har-Ber^898^701^1599^399.8
Fayetteville^683^737^1420^355.0
Springdale High^488^902^1390^347.8
Rogers High^1159^168^1327^331.8
FS Northside^656^565^1221^305.3
Rogers Heritage^975^172^1147^286.8
FS Southside^604^534^1138^284.5
Bentonvillle^460^438^898^224.5
TEAM DEFENSE^RUSH^PASS^TOTAL^AVG/GM
FS Southside^285^480^765^191.3
Bentonville^646^356^1002^250.5
FS Northside^595^621^1216^304.0
Fayetteville^609^652^1261^315.3
Rogers High^683^723^1406^351.5
Rogers Heritage^866^650^1516^379.0
Springdale Har-Ber^975^594^1569^392.3
Springdale High^1100^763^1863^465.8
OFFENSIVE SCORING
^RUSH^PASS^DEF^SPEC^TOTAL
Fayetteville^7^9^0^1^17
FS Northside^12^2^1^2^17
Springdale Har-Ber^10^3^0^0^13
FS Southside^6^5^1^0^12
Springdale High^5^7^0^0^12
Rogers High^10^1^0^0^11
Rogers Heritage^8^1^0^0^9
Bentonville^2^2^0^0^4
DEFENSIVE SCORING
^RUSH^PASS^DEF^SPEC^TOTAL
FS Northside^5^3^0^0^8
FS Southside^2^4^2^0^8
Bentonville^5^2^4^0^11
Fayetteville^6^6^2^0^14
Rogers Heritage^7^8^0^0^15
Rogers High^9^7^0^0^16
Springdale Har-Ber^9^8^0^0^17
Springdale High^14^9^1^0^24
TURNOVERS
^TAKEAWAYS^GIVEAWAYS^TOTAL
FS Northside^11^2^+9
FS Southside^7^4^+3
Fayetteville^8^8^even
Bentonville^4^6^-2
Springdale High^6^8^-2
Rogers Heritage^5^8^-3
Springdale Har-Ber^3^8^-5
Rogers High^4^10^-6
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING^COMP^ATT^INT^YDS^TD
Fuller Chandler, Springdale High^59^108^5^902^7
Taylor Powell, Fayetteville High^41^81^3^589^7
Kasey Ford, Bentonville^53^105^4^438^2
Clay Tyler, FS Southside^40^62^1^397^2
Grant Hood, FS Northside^35^54^0^373^2
Caleb Daniels, Springdale Har-Ber^17^32^2^317^2
Luke Brackett, Rogers Heritage^16^33^3^142^1
Cooper Johnson, FS Southside^7^13^2^137^3
Brandon Still, Springdale Har-Ber^7^24^2^128^1
Cole Evans, Rogers High^5^18^1^117^0
Jack Lindsey, Fayetteville^9^20^2^96^1
RUSHING^ATT^YDS^TD
Bryan Grigsby, Rogers High^79^644^5
Joey Saucier, Rogers Heritage^65^522^6
Luke Hannon, Springdale Har-Ber^61^489^3
Luke Rapert, Fayetteville High^84^432^5
Justin Curry, FS Northside^84^419^7
Malcolm Neal, Springdale High^59^345^3
Joel Brackett, Rogers Heritage^58^286^2
Cole Evans, Rogers High^47^266^3
Terrance Rock, Fayetteville High^36^253^2
D’erek Fernandez, FS Southside^46^243^4
J.D. Rivaldo, FS Southside^53^216^0
Sione Nasilia, Springdale Har-Ber^49^214^3
Dylan Smith, Bentonville^59^200^0
Grant Hood, FS Northside^43^179^3
Trey Smith, Springdale Har-Ber^24^147^2
Kahlil Gunn, Bentonville^21^146^1
Sage White, Rogers High^23^141^1
Fuller Chandler, Springdale High^54^134^2
Hekili Keliiliki, Bentonville^24^126^1
Luke Bolton, FS Northside^20^119^1
Justice Thompson, Rogers High^17^106^1
Emmanuel Martinez, FS Southside^17^90^0
RECEIVING^NO^YDS^TD
Salvador Sandoval, Springdale High^26^439^3
Cody Scroggins, Bentonville^23^233^0
Shakari Jones, FS Northside^18^181^0
Chris Owens, Springdale High^13^241^3
Zach Burton, Springdale High^13^110^0
Garland Allison, Fayetteville High^12^144^2
Andrew Barley, FS Southside^11^144^1
Ben Barron, Bentonville^11^88^0
D’erek Fernandez, FS Southside^10^81^0
C.J. O’Grady, Fayetteville High^9^174^3
Deyon Jordan, FS Southside^9^122^2
Trey Smith, Springdale Har-Ber^9^120^0
Tyson Morris, Fayetteville High^8^116^2
Collin Christian, Rogers Heritage^8^25^0
Bruce Armstrong, Fayetteville High^7^142^1
Justice Thompson, Rogers High^5^125^1
Terrance Rock, Fayetteville High^5^100^0
Luke Hannon, Springdale Har-Ber^5^88^1
Mason Edgmon, FS Southside^5^42^1
Dylan Smith, Bentonville^5^11^0
Hunter Necessary, Springdale High^4^50^0
Tyrone Mahone, Bentonville^4^41^1
Joey Saucier, Rogers Heritage^4^19^0
Saucier had his breakout game as a running back Friday, rushing 34 times for a school-record 296 yards and a touchdown in all four quarters in a 40-35 win against Springdale High. He is this week's 7A-West Conference Player of the Week.
"We gave it to him 34 times on Friday night," Escalante said. "We got it in his hands ... inside zone, outside zone, buck sweep."
Friday was just his third game at running back full time after being moved to the position in the spring.
"He's a threat to score any time he touches it," Escalante said. "He's such a strong runner and so fast. He has that breakaway speed. He's No. 2 in the state in the 100 meters. He has that blazing speed."
His speed was on full display Friday. Saucier scored on runs of 7, 20 and 38 yards before cementing the win with an 80-yard jaunt with 4 minutes, 35 seconds left in the game.
"The O-line did a good job, and they're really coming together," Escalante said. "The quarterback reads it and gives it to him. He gets a good block here and there, and there he goes. All he needs is one good block."
Saucier has that rare blend of speed and power at 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds. He won the long jump at last year's Meet of Champs. He was one of the fastest in the 100 and 200 meters and ran on Heritage's 4x100 relay team.
"He's either going to run over the guy or run by him," Escalante said. "He's very physical. He's strong. One guy's not going to get him on the ground. He will run through arm tackles."
Last year, Saucier led the War Eagles in receiving with 48 receptions for 816 yards and eight touchdowns. He also ran for 234 yards on 56 carries with three touchdowns, mostly on sweeps. In all, he averaged a little more than 11 touches per game and averaged a touchdown per game.
Saucier also had a 200-yard receiving game last year, catching seven passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-7 win against Siloam Springs.
When Saucier was moved to running back in the spring, he was glad to hear about it.
"He was ready for it," Escalante said. "This year he's the guy. He was tickled to death when we told him we were moving him to running back and putting him at the pistol. He was excited about it and ready to go."
It didn't take long for the lifelong receiver to make the adjustment.
"That wasn't an issue," Escalante said. "He's very intelligent, real, real smart."
This year, he's already scored six touchdowns in three games. He missed last week's game due to an injury and came back just in time to lead Heritage to a win in the 7A-West opener.
"He had over 100 yards in week one and over 100 yards in week two, and then he got hurt in week three," Escalante said. "He bounced back from a hamstring issue in week four and did a great job for us."
IT'S BEEN SUCH A LONG TIME
Fort Smith Northside's 27-24 win at Fayetteville on Friday marked the first time for the Grizzlies to knock off the top team in the state, according to the Associated Press poll, since 1994.
The Grizzlies, ranked sixth, romped past No. 1 Russellville, 35-6, in 1994 in week six and recorded the second-worst defeat of a No. 1 team since the merger of the big-school conference into the current playoff system in 1983.
Northside also defeated a pair of No. 1 teams in 1992, beginning with Springdale, 16-14, in week eight. Two weeks later, the Grizzlies knocked off No. 1 Fort Smith Southside, 20-19.
Going into this season, Northside was 0-14-1 in its last 15 games against a ranked team since beating sixth-ranked Bryant, 36-21, in the second week of 2010.
This season, though, Northside is already 3-0 against ranked teams. The Grizzlies opened the season with a 26-15 win against No. 6 Pine Bluff, and beat No. 5 Greenwood, 42-17, in the final nonconference game before Friday's win.
Northside had lost six straight against top-ranked teams before Friday, losing in 2011, 2010, 2008, 2005, 2004 and 1998.
Short Stay
Fayetteville's 27-24 loss to Northside on Friday marked a short stay at the top of the Associated Press poll, but that's not unusual for the Bulldogs.
Fayetteville moved up to No. 1 following its win against North Little Rock and Bentonville's second consecutive nonconference loss following the second week of the season.
The Bulldogs beat Muskogee, Okla., last week as the new No. 1 team in the state before losing to Northside on Friday.
Fayetteville has never stayed longer than three weeks atop the poll.
The Bulldogs spent just two weeks last year and won both times. The statewide pollsters obviously weren't impressed with their 28-27 win against Heritage and voted them down to No. 2 in favor of Bentonville after week 6.
Fayetteville began the season No. 1 for the first time ever in 2012 and lost to Memphis (Tenn.) University in the opener. The Bulldogs returned to No. 1 for the final poll after beating Bentonville for the state title.
Fayetteville's only time at the top of the poll in 2011 was the best time to be there, beating Bentonville for the state title and earning the final spot at No. 1.
Fayetteville was No. 1 the first two weeks of the season in 2008 but lost to Russellville to drop out.
In 2007, the Bulldogs were No. 1 only when it mattered most, again after beating Springdale Har-Ber for the state championship.
Fayetteville earned its first trip to the top of the poll ever in 2006 and stayed there three weeks before losing in week six to Rogers.
HALL OF FAME
Bentonville coach Barry Lunney was inducted into the Southside Hall of Fame on Friday.
Lunney, who played for Northside and coached Southside from 1989 through 2004, was inducted along with former coach Bob Gatling, Dick Bumpas, Connie Christiansen and Melissa Satterfield. Lunney guided Southside to four state championships.
Gatling played on Camden's state championship team in 1952 and guided Southside to the state title in 1983 in the upset over Little Rock Parkview.
Bumpas was an All-American defensive lineman for Arkansas in 1970 and is currently the defensive coordinator for Texas Christian.
Sports on 09/30/2014