NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — As a football fan, surely you are familiar with the old adage that one play on the field doesn’t get a team beat.
Well, try telling that to a 17- or 18-year-old kid who had just experienced an emotion perhaps even worse than his first girlfriend dumping him.
Fayetteville was 17 seconds away from a victory over defending state champion Springdale Har-B er on Friday when, from the Bulldogs’ perspective, the unthinkable happened. Har-Ber’s Shawn Sayarinh sprinted through the middle of the Fayetteville defense on the ensuing kickoff, bounced to the outside and scoredon a 92-yard return with three seconds left to give the Wildcats a 55-51 victory.
“[It’s] like a kick in the gut,” Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. “It’s a tough, tough loss.”
Down the road at Fort Smith Northside, Rogers was poised for its first victory after being outscored 343-52for the season. The Grizzlies called three timeouts before Austin Griffin could attempt a potential game-winning field with no time remaining. When play finally resumed, Griffin’s 37-yard attempt barely missed and Northside escaped with a 28-27 victory over the 0-9 Mounties.
“Game went our way at the end,” Northside Coach Darrell Henry said. “That’s a tough position for that young man to be in.”
So, what do you say to your players when they come back to practice this week after such heart-wrenching defeats?
That’s the challenge facing Patton and Rogers CoachShawn Flannigan, who will finish his first year with the Mounties on Friday night with a game against Springdale.
Fayetteville will still make the Class 7A playoffs, but the Bulldogs need a victory over Rogers Heritage on Friday to help erase the memory of their loss to Har-Ber. Rogers will miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year, but Flannigan expects his players to give great effort this week, especially the seniors who will be playing their last game.
“Any coward can walk away when things are bad, but it takes great character to keep fighting,” Flannigan saidafter a loss earlier this year.
Losing is tough, especially on those who have experienced great success.
Cedarville Coach Kenneth Moore enjoyed much success as a football player at Wynne, where he played on a team that went 12-1 in 1999. But there isn’t much tradition at Cedarville, and the Pirates have been in several close games this season while compiling a 2-7 record.
Cedarville led Mansfield 20-6 in the second half two weeks ago but ended up losing 32-20 to the Tigers, who are still undefeated in 4-3A Conference play.
“We can’t find a way toclose games out, and that’s what’s been so hard,” said Moore, who is in his first season at Cedarville. “We have to develop a ‘we’re not going to lose’ mentality and we’re not there yet.
“It’s been frustrating, but these kids haven’t quit.”
Cedarville will get a final opportunity for victory against Lavaca on Friday. It’ll be interesting to see how teams like the Pirates, Mounties and Bulldogs respond.
Losing is difficult, but it doesn’t have to become a habit.
E-mail Rick Fires at
Sports, Pages 28 on 10/31/2010