FORT SMITH -- Fort Smith Southside scored on its first three possessions and the Rebels never looked back in beating Rogers High 35-13 Friday night in a 7A-West Conference game at Jim Rowland Stadium.
Southside scored touchdowns on its first two possessions as the Rebels rolled up 119 yards of offense the first 12 minutes of the game en route to a 16-0 lead at halftime. Southside then took command when Rebels quarterback Cooper Johnson hit Randy Rainwater for a 49-yard touchdown less than two minutes into the second half for a 22-0 lead.
Fort Smith Southside 35, Rogers High 13
Rogers^0^0^7^6^—^13
Southside^13^3^12^7^—^35
First Quarter
South — Simpson 7 pass from Johnson (Gutierrez kick), 7:33.
South — Johnson 1 run (kick failed), 3:41.
Second Quarter
South — Gutierrez 25 FG, 9:57.
Third Quarter
South — Rainwater 49 pass from Johnson (kick failed), 10:02.
Rog — Brummett 1 run (Lopez kick), 5:10.
South — Johnson 5 run (pass failed), 1:21.
Fourth Quarter
South — Rainwater 16 pass from Johnson (Gutierrez kick), 6:37.
Rog — Freeland 20 pass from Horton (pass failed), 2:24
Johnson finished the game 13-of-19 passing for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson also finished with 88 yards rushing and two more touchdowns. Randy Rainwater caught two touchdown passes and the Rebels junior caught five passes for 116 yards.
Southside held Rogers to 173 yards rushing and 78 yards passing, most of which came on a late Mounties scoring drive.
"We played really well in the first half, and we got on them," said Southside coach Jeff Williams. "The defense played well and we played good assignment football. We really tackled well."
Southside (3-3, 1-2 7A-West) needed just 12 plays on its first two possessions to score two touchdowns for a 13-0 lead. Parker Dixon raced 41 yards on the Rebels second offensive play to put Southside at the Rogers 15 and Johnson then hit Evan Simpson for a seven-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Rebels then needed seven plays to take a 13-0 lead. Johnson had completions of 17 and 23 yards before sneaking in from the one with 3:41 left in the first quarter.
Southside then drove down to the Rogers 5 early in the second quarter and Derek Gutierrez capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal for a 16-0 lead 9:57 before halftime.
"We dug ourselves a hole," said Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan. "We made quite a few mistakes. We didn't come out with very good intensity, and Southside did."
Rogers had a chance to cut into the lead late in the first half after Jay Young intercepted a Johnson pass on the Mounties goal line and returned it 61 yards to the Southside 39. Milacio Freeland then went 30 yards on first down but the Mounties fumbled the ball away on a bad pitch at the Southside 14 on the final play of the first half.
Rogers (1-4, 1-2) returns to Fort Smith next week when they face Northside. Southside travels to Rogers Heritage.
Sports on 10/10/2015