LITTLE ROCK -- Senior quarterback Grant Allen completed 12 of 17 passes for 257 yards and three second-half touchdowns as Springdale High held off Little Rock Parkview 35-24 on Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
Springdale (2-0) trailed 16-14 at halftime and 24-21 with 6 minutes, 5 seconds remaining in the game before Allen rescued the Class 7A Bulldogs with two long touchdown passes.
Springdale took the lead for good, 28-24, on a 68-yard scoring pass from Allen to senior wide receiver Brock Pounders with 5:19 remaining. The Bulldogs put the game out of reach, 35-24, on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Pounders at 1:46.
"He's just so calm," Springdale Coach Zak Clark said of Allen, the son of former University of Arkansas quarterback Jason Allen. "He's a difference-maker."
The Class 5A Patriots (0-1) were led by senior tailback Geary Allmon, who ran 34 times for 200 yards and two touchdowns and returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score.
Allmon gave Parkview a 24-21 lead on a 32-yard touchdown run with 6:05 to play in the game.
Springdale needed only two offensive plays to take the lead for good.
On second and 8 from the Springdale 32, Pounders got behind a defender on a pump-and-go move and made the reception near the Parkview 45.
Springdale's final touchdown came three plays after Parkview quarterback Landon Rogers threw incomplete on fourth-and-six from the Parkview 32 with 3:27 remaining.
Allen had given Springdale a 21-16 lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jaden Cornelius with 2:19 remaining in the third quarter. Allen, a transfer from Springdale Har-Ber, was 7 of 7 passing for 116 yards in the third quarter.
"I think the past, the year before that, there's no way we win that game," Clark said. "We're better. We've got good players. We've got a chance to be pretty good. But we've also got guys that have performed well down the stretch of games, and Grant is certainly one of them."
Springdale senior tailback Garrett Vaughan carried 23 times for 117 yards and two first-half touchdowns (1 and 50 yards). Vaughan has rushed for seven touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season.
Parkview outgained Springdale 97-21 in total yardage to lead 7-0 after one quarter. Allmon, formerly Parkview's starting quarterback, ran 13 yards for a touchdown with 4:18 left in the first quarter.
Vaughan ran 50 yards for a touchdown with 7:20 remaining in the second quarter and gave the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead on a one-yard touchdown run with 1:16 left in the first half.
But Allmon returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Parkview regained the lead at halftime, 16-14, when Allen was forced to recover a high center snap in the end zone for a safety with 28 seconds left in the first half.
Sports on 09/01/2018