SPRINGDALE — Throughout the last four weeks, Joseph Calcagni couldn’t figure out what he was doing wrong.
During that span, Springdale High started 7A-West Conference play 0-3, coming up short in two of those losses by only a combined four points. The bad start frustrated the junior quarterback — and all of his teammates — so badly that he couldn’t stop thinking about why the Bulldogs weren’t getting any breaks.
But Friday night against Fort Smith Northside, Calcagni knew a quick start might get Springdale going in the right direction.
He couldn’t have been more right.
Calcagni threw for 157 yards and four touchdowns — three in the first half — and ran for another as Springdale beat Fort Smith Northside 34-21 in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
“It feels great to get the first conference win,” Calcagni said. “Our offensive line did great, they pushed (Northside’s) defense back and gave me time to throw the ball.
“Our coaches have been preaching to us that if all 11 players work together, we’ll get the job done, and I think we finally did that (Friday).”
Not only was Springdale’s (3-4, 1-3 7A-West Conference) passing game on target, but its running game had one of its best performances of the year, combining for 218 yards on 50 carries.
“(Friday) things finally went our way a little bit, we made some things happen and we didn’t turn the ball over,” Springdale High interim coach Dennis DeBusk said. “The defense got us the turnovers and we took advantage of it and scored, where before we hadn’t been doing that.”
Springdale’s defense forced Northside (2-5, 0-4) into four turnovers, including three fumbles that crippled the Grizzlies chances of putting points on the board.
Northside, which finished with only 79 rushing yards, had good production from quarterback Tanner Knight, who completed 25 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the fourth quarter.
Knight’s first touchdown pass went for 33 yards to Tevin Williams and his second was for seven yards to Shaquille Jones.
Before Northside knew what happened, it was already down 20-0 with 11 minutes left in the first half, something coach Darrell Henry said was too tough to overcome.
“I don’t know if we have voodoo on us or what, but turning the ball over had killed us in the last five weeks,” Henry said. “We came out in the second half and moved the football and we do everything right. I’m really proud of the kids of how they fought back.”
Springdale’s T.C. Barkey not only caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Calcagni in the first quarter, but finished with a team-high 74 rushing yards while Calcagni had 63 rushing yards.
“(This win) is something these kids have been looking forward to and have been trying to get,” DeBusk said. “All it does is it gives us another week, we have to get ready for Rogers Heritage now. Every game we have left will be a war, but if we come out and play like we did (Friday), we’ll have a shot.”
SPRINGDALE HIGH 34, FS NORTHSIDE 21
Northside 0 7 0 14 — 21
Springdale 13 14 7 0 — 34
First Quarter
Spring — Bocchino 13 pass from Calcagni (Garcia kick), 8:04
Spring — Barkey 17 pass from Calcagni (run failed), :49
Second Quarter
Spring — Calcagni 10 run (Garcia kick), 11:18
North — D. Jones 5 run (Martinez kick), 9:00
Spring — Johnson 21 pass from Calcagni (Garcia kick), 5:41
Third Quarter
Spring — Robinson 10 pass from Calcagni (Garcia kick), 8:05
Fourth Quarter
North — Williams 33 pass from Knight (Martinez kick), 11:38
North — S. Jones 7 pass from Knight (Martinez kick), 2:28
North Spring
First Downs 17 22
Rushes-Yards 15-79 50-218
Passing Yards 203 157
Comp-Att-Int 25-38-1 14-20-0
Punts 3-29.7 5-32.2
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-30 14-120
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Northside, Knight 9-51, Poole 2-20, D. Jones 4-8. Springdale, Barkey 13-74, Calcagni 13-63, Yager 12-39, Taylor 11-35, Johnson 1-7.
PASSING—Northside, Knight 25-38-1-203. Springdale, Calcagni 14-20-0-157.
RECEIVING—Northside, Poole 7-56, Williams 6-82, S. Jones 6-33, D. Jones 4-16, Shephard 2-14. Springdale, Bocchino 4-41, Fogg 3-41, Barkey 3-38, Johnson 2-26, Robinson 2-11.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
