Har-Ber rolls in 2nd half

Aaron Henington, Springdale Har-Ber quarterback, (left) gets off a pass as Rogers linebacker Aaron Jones closes in Friday at Whitey Smith Stadium in Rogers.
Aaron Henington, Springdale Har-Ber quarterback, (left) gets off a pass as Rogers linebacker Aaron Jones closes in Friday at Whitey Smith Stadium in Rogers.

ROGERS -- Springdale Har-Ber struggled in the second half last week in a loss at Jenks, Okla. But the second half was all Wildcats on Friday night.

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Har-Ber broke open a tight game with three third-quarter touchdowns and cruised to a 56-14 victory over Rogers to open 7A-West Conference play at Whitey Smith Stadium.

Junior quarterback Payton Copher ran for a touchdown and threw for two more in the third quarter to help the Wildcats (3-1, 1-0) break away from a 21-14 halftime lead.

Copher, 6-0, 177 pounds, broke an 87-yard touchdown run on Har-Ber's first possession of the second half, then found Trey Smith in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass after Rogers lost a fumble.

Copher and Smith hooked up for another touchdown pass, this time from 38 yards out, with 2:39 left in the third quarter.

Smith caught a third touchdown, turning a screen pass from Grant Allen into a 67-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter. Smith had to juke one defender before racing down the sideline.

Har-Ber coach Chris Wood said his team responded well in the second half after suffering two turnovers in the opening two quarters.

"Careless with the football, a pick six in the red zone and a fumble right before half," Wood said. "Defense played real well in the first half except the one series they go down and score. I thought we were just a little bit flat. Settled down at halftime and made some adjustments.

"We just grinded out a win on the road in the West, and that's what you want to try to do."

Rogers (3-1, 0-1) used a 72-yard interception return from senior Clark Tichy for some early momentum, then pulled within 21-14 with a second-quarter drive that ended with Grayson Lee's 1-yard run out of the wildcat package.

The Wildcats drove inside the Rogers 10 in the final two minutes of the half, but fumbled and Rogers defensive back Landon Harper recovered to stop that scoring chance.

Rogers Coach Mike Loyd said he saw different teams in two halves Friday night.

"That's what this team's got to decide," Loyd said. "You want to be the team you saw in the first half that competed or do you want to be the team in the second half that came out, self destructed and didn't react to adversity very well? Hopefully, we're going to go on and learn from this and get better.

"The game of football is not 24 minutes, it's 48 minutes. It's not two quarters, it's four quarters. Har-Ber got that and we need to understand that."

The Mounties travel to take on crosstown rival Rogers Heritage next week, while Har-Ber hosts rival Springdale.

Sports on 09/24/2016

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