The Tigers forced a punt on the next possession and scored in eight plays on junior Pearson Gean’s 1-yard quarterback sneak. Larimer picked off another Conley pass on Rogers’ first ensuing play, and Bentonville needed only two plays to lead 20-0 when senior Courtney Haskell surged in from 6 yards out.

Haskell’s second touchdown of the night, a 7-yarder late in the first quarter, put the Tigers up 27-0.

Peacock inserted Graham Parker at quarterback late in the first quarter, and the junior did lead the Mounties to four first downs. Still, the Tigers added two more touchdowns in the second quarter and finished the first half with a 257-58 advantage in total yards.

Gean’s 9-yard roll-out touchdown pass to senior Austin Griffith with 46 seconds left in the half ensured the second half would start with a running clock. Gean finished the night 12-of-13 with 126 passing yards, all in the first half.

“It was a struggle for us early (on the ground), and we have to be diverse on offense,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “The kids caught the ball well, and Pearson threw it well. It was very good offensive execution.”

The only downer for Bentonville: A possible season-ending injury to Hayden Boydston. The senior linebacker suffered an ACL injury to his right knee on the opening kickoff of the second half, and Lunney said he was still awaiting MRI results.

Despite being bummed about Boydston’s injury, Lunney seemed optimistic about the state of his team.

“(Friday night) meant a lot because we’re hitting the stretch right now where we’re competing for a conference championship,” Lunney said. “(Offense, defense and special teams) are going to have to all come together if you want to compete for it, and it was good to see that out there.”

BENTONVILLE 48, ROGERS HIGH 0

Rogers High    0    0    0    0    —    0
Bentonville    27    14    7    0    —    48
First Quarter
Bent — Larimer 33 interception return (Levin kick), 11:07
Bent — Gean 1 run (Levin kick), 5:43
Bent — Haskell 6 run (kick failed), 4:34
Bent — Haskell 7 run (Levin kick), :42
Second Quarter
Bent — Boedeker 5 run (Levin kick), 7:53
Bent — Griffith 9 pass from Gean (Levin kick), :46
Third Quarter
Bent — Shackelferd 2 run (Levin kick), 4:43

Rog    Ben
First Downs    5    22
Rushes-Yards    14-30    45-238
Passing Yards    47    148
Comp-Att-Int    7-14-2    12-13-0
Punts    4-32.3    0
Fumbles-Lost    0-0    2-0
Penalites-Yards    6-32    4-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Rogers, Parker 8-29, Austin 2-13, Carpenter 1-2, Conley 1-2, Oller 1-(minus 3), TEAM 1-(minus 13). Bentonville, Shackelferd 15-78, Boedeker 6-69, Haskell 11-45, Murphy 6-24, Gean 4-15, Sanderlin 1-3, Hardison 1-2, McKane 1-2.
PASSING—Rogers, Parker 6-11-0-44, Conley 1-5-2-3. Bentonville, 10-11-0-126, Sanderlin 2-2-0-22.
RECEIVING—Rogers, Melton 3-15, Oller 2-24, Fountain 1-5, Parker 1-3. Bentonville, Edwards 3-40, Gneiting 2-34, Griffith 2-25, Snow 2-23, Trudo 1-10, Cole 1-9, Vanderpool 1-8.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

“I’ve never had the number of injuries to key players that we have had the last couple of years,” Peacock said. “And it has happened in an offense where you build everything around the quarterback. It’s just unfortunate.”

It’s no coincidence that the Mounties most successful season came when their quarterback remained upright for the entire season. In 2006, Rogers reached the 7A state championship game, where it lost 23-22 to Fort Smith Southside in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock behind the play of senior quarterback Cody Kirby.

Peacock coached at Class 5A Greenwood for seven seasons and guided the Bulldogs to the 5A state championship in 2000. Greenwood also made a trip to the finals in 1996 and made four semifinal appearances under Peacock. Rogers runs the same spread offense that Peacock used at Greenwood.

“When we were at Greenwood, the quarterback was a pretty big deal and we never lost a quarterback,” Peacock said. “Never. Some of the best years that you have, some of the best teams that you have is because you didn’t have any injuries. The state championship year (2000), we didn’t lose any of our starters.”

The Big Hurts

Kirby, now the starting quarterback at Missouri State, led the Mounties to a 12-1 record in 2006. But his sophomore season at Rogers never got off the ground after he broke an ankle in the first junior varsity game of the 2004 season. A year later, he suffered another broken ankle in the 7A-West Conference opener against Bentonville.

Kip Allen replaced Kirby at quarterback in 2005, but he never finished the year after being injured early against Springdale High the 10th week of the season.

Kirby was slated to be Johnny Brewer’s backup in 2004 and his injury proved critical when Brewer went down with a shoulder injury against Fort Smith Northside the second week of the conference schedule.

Entering the Northside game, Brewer had passed for 1,307 yards and Rogers was 3-1 overall and primed to move to 2-0 in conference play. Brewer eventually returned late in the season that year, but he was never the same as Rogers finished 4-6. A total of 12 starters missed playing time that season because of various injuries.

Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was the Springdale coach in 2004 and said at the time that losing Brewer was a devastating blow.

“Rogers was a team doing great things until their leader (Brewer) went down,” Malzahn said at the time.

And the injury wave since 2006 hasn’t subsided for the Mounties. Last season, quarterback Andy Couture (thumb) and running back/quarterback Michael Tibbs (knee) were both sidelined with season-ending injuries. Third-string quarterback Austin Young was also hobbled with an injury down the stretch.

Couture came back for his senior season fully recovered from a torn thumb ligament, but was lost for the season last week after suffering his second concussion in three weeks. In all, five different Mounties have suffered concussions this year.

Peacock said he and the Rogers staff have looked at each major injury, but can’t find a reasonable explanation for the trend.

“Why?” Peacock asked. “Is there something we are not doing? Is it our helmets, is it the turf, is it something we are doing? No, we have brand new helmets. We lift weights during the season, offseason to help with injuries.”

A Different View

North Little Rock coach Brad Bolding said the number of Rogers quarterbacks that have been injured over the past few seasons is mind boggling and something he has not witnessed in the 7A-Central Conference. Bolding was an assistant under Peacock at both Greenwood and Rogers before getting his first head coaching job at Mayflower. Bolding is in his third season in North Little Rock.

“When you look at the numbers, it is something that will shock most people,” Bolding said. “You can’t do anything about the freaky injuries and when you look at this (Rogers), you say, ‘wow, they have been unfortunate and unlucky.’”

Dr. Scott Cooper has been on the Mounties’ sidelines for 10 years and agrees with Bolding’s assessment.

“I think what appears to be an increased incidence of concussions this year is just random bad luck for the Mounties,” Cooper said. “It’s certainly true that more attention is being paid to what are now called traumatic brain injuries, but that is not new this year. For as long as I’ve been on the sideline, more than 10 years, and really longer than that with (athletic trainer) David Roller, who is very knowledgeable, professional, and conscientious, the care with which we address head injuries hasn’t changed much. These kids are wearing high-quality helmets. This year is just a strangely bad one for this type of injury.

“As for what seems like a high number of all injuries the last few years, I see no common denominator, because the injuries are so varied. Head, knee, ankle, shoulder, you name it. If I knew of something to change, we’d certainly fix it. Maybe it’s not that many. Maybe it’s just that so many higher-profile athletes have been affected.”

Learning Lesson

Regroup and move on is what Peacock is preaching to the Mounties as the team tries to move past losing Couture. There is still a lot of football left and with six teams from the West advancing to the playoffs, Peacock knows the season is far from over.

A year ago, and despite losing Tibbs and Couture, Rogers missed a trip to the playoffs after a pair of two-point losses to eventual state champion Bentonville (17-15) and Fayetteville (31-29).

“When you have an injury, there isn’t anything you can do about it,” Peacock said. “We do what you are supposed to do. We regroup and fight harder. What an unbelievable lesson for these kids. It’s important that I use this to teach these kids about life. This is a great teaching moment and a great learning lesson for these kids.

“What do you do when you get knocked down? You have to continue and go on.”

Unfortunately for Peacock and the Mounties, this is one lesson that keeps repeating itself.

ROGERS — Graham Parker and Andrew Conley will split time at quarterback when Rogers High visits Bentonville on Friday night.

Rogers (2-4, 0-3) lost starting quarterback Andy Couture for the season during last week’s 27-14 loss to Springdale Har-Ber. Couture suffered his second concussion of the season against the Wildcats.

Rogers may also be without receiver Lucas Gartman Friday. Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock said the senior is hampered with a hamstring injury.

One bright spot in last week’s loss was the play of linebacker D.J. Smart, Peacock said. Smart finished with 25 points on the Mounties’ tackle chart.

“(Smart) is just a key player for us,” Peacock said. “His presence at 240 (pounds) makes a statement.”

Couture completed 11 of 16 passes for 89 yards and had a 43-yard scoring run before being hurt. Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock was left to only wonder what the final outcome would have been if Couture hadn’t been hurt.

Rogers had minus-18 yards on the ground in the second half and completed just four passes for 38 yards in the final 24 minutes.

“I know what would have happened if we had Andy but we didn’t have Andy,” Peacock said. “When he went down, it was like we couldn’t snap the ball. We just fall apart a little bit.”

Wood agreed that the outcome may have been different if Couture had played the entire game.

“It probably would have been a different story if seven (Couture) doesn’t go down,” Wood said.

Despite the lack of offense in the second half, Rogers had several chances to tie the game, thanks in part to two Har-Ber turnovers.

Rogers was poised to get good field position after stopping the Wildcats at the Har-Ber 16 but the Mounties were called for roughing the punter. Har-Ber used the change of field position to punt the Mounties back into their own territory and Rogers never threatened again.

“We thought we needed a big play, we needed something to change things and we thought we would maybe block a punt,” Peacock said. “Of course, we were close but it was not a good executed play.”

Luther completed 9 of 18 passes for 167 yards and two scores and most of that came in the first half. Luther hooked up with Stith for touchdowns of 45 and 47 yards to give the Wildcats a 21-14 lead at the half.

Rogers led 7-0 early after Har-Ber lost a fumble on its first possession and the Mounties later tied the game at 14-14 on Couture’s long touchdown run.

SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 27, ROGERS HIGH 14

Har-Ber    7    14    0    6    —    27
Rogers    7    7    0    0    —    14
First Quarter
Rog — Parker 7 pass from Couture (Dunlop kick), 9:24
Har — Vaughn 8 run (Escobar kick), 5:51
Second Quarter
Har — Stith 45 pass from Luther (Escobar kick), 7:23
Rog — Couture 43 run (Dunlop kick), 6:40
Har — Stith 47 pass from Luther (Escobar kick), 3:17
Fourth Quarter
Har — Sayarinh 4 run (kick failed), 1:27

Har    Rog
First Downs    17    11
Rushes-Yards    48-229    23-8
Passing Yards    167    127
Comp-Att-Int    9-18-1    15-31-1
Punts    5-36    8-33
Fumbles-Lost    3-2    3-1
Pentalies-Yards    10-97    2-20

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Har-Ber, Welch 23-105, Vaughn 11-65, Pruitt 5-30, Sayarinh 4-16, Vongvone 3-9, Vowell 1-7, Luther 2-(minus 3). Rogers, Couture 7-8, Oller 5-13, Austin 1-(minus 1), Melton 1-(minus 1), Conley 9-(minus 11).
PASSING—Har-Ber, Luther 9-18-1-167. Rogers, Couture 11-16-0-89, Conley 4-15-1-38.
RECEIVING—Har-Ber, Stith, 3-97, Pruitt 2-33, Vaughn 2-11, Welch 1-14, Nicholson 1-12. Rogers, Parker 5-61, Melton 3-21, Oller 3-2, Caton 2-8, Carpenter 1-23, Austin 1-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Rogers, Dunlop 34; Har-Ber, Escobar 42.

ROGERS — Rogers High quarterback Andy Couture has been cleared to play against Springdale Har-Ber Friday night. The Mounties (2-3, 0-2) will be looking for their first 7A-West Conference victory when the top-ranked Wildcats visit Mountie Stadium.

Couture missed Friday’s 24-9 loss to Rogers Heritage after suffering a concussion in the Mounties’ loss to Fort Smith Southside the previous week.

“We struggled,” said Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock. “We knew without Andy that we needed to run the ball and we couldn’t run it enough. There were some crucial times we could stay close to them, but offensively we just didn’t have enough power.”

Rogers started with a bang as Parker went 33 yards on the game’s first play and the Mounties drove to the Heritage 23 before settling for a 46-yard field goal by Dunlop for a 3-0 lead.

Heritage then reeled off 14 straight points after putting together drives of 93 and 75 yards. Brown hit Jordan Snoderly for a 26-yard touchdown on the first drive and then completed six straight passes on the second drive before rushing in from the one for a 14-3 lead with 7 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first half.

The Mounties (2-3, 0-2) had two chances to cut into the lead late in the first half as the Mounties drove deep into Heritage territory but only managed a 45-yard field goal by Dunlop to cut the lead to 14-6 with 1:42 left in the first half.

But Heritage kicker Hayden Severs bested Dunlop’s first half effort with a 49-yard field goal with 35 seconds left that gave the War Eagles a 17-6 halftime lead.

Dunlop closed the gap to 17-9 with a 38-yard field goal but Stewart put the game away with a 20-yard touchdown early in the fourth period that upped the War Eagles lead to 24-9. Stewart rushed for 92 yards in the second half.

ROGERS HERITAGE 24, ROGERS HIGH 7

Rogers    3    3    3    0    —    9
Heritage    7    10    0    7    —    24
First Quarter
Rog — FG Dunlop 46, 8:36
Her-Snoderly 26 pass from Brown (Severs kick), :18
Second Quarter
Her — Brown 1 run (Severs kick), 7:12
Rog — FG Dunlop 45, 1:42
Her — FG Severs 49, :35
Third Quarter
Rog — FG Dunlop 38, 4:15
Fourth Quarter
Her — Stewart 20 run (Severs kick), 11:45

Rog    Her
First Downs    9    22
Rushes-Yards    33-147    43-185
Passing Yards    39    213
Comp-Att-Int    5-17-1    20-25-1
Punts    5-42    5-43
Fumbles-Lost    1-0    6-3
Penalties-Yards    6-51    3-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Rogers, Parker 14-88, Oller 8-44, Austin 7-20, Melton 1-11, Conley 3-(minus 16). Heritage, Stewart 28-129, Britton 8-44, Snoderly 1-11, Brown 5-1, TEAM 1-(minus 6).
PASSING—Rogers, Parker 2-8-1-23, Conley 3-9-0-16. Heritage, Brown 20-25-1-213.
RECEIVING—Rogers, Melton 3-29, Gartman 1-10, Oller 1-0. Heritage, Entwisle 8-51, Driver 7-89, Snoderly 4-60, Olinger 2-13.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

ROGERS — Rogers High quarterback Andy Couture has returned to practice and Mounties coach Ronnie Peacock is hopeful that the senior will play Friday night against Rogers Heritage.

Peacock also said that receiver Ethan Melton may also be available for the game in Gates Stadium.

Couture suffered a concussion during last week’s 38-21 loss to Fort Smith Southside while Melton suffered a shoulder injury. It was originally thought that Melton had suffered a broken collarbone.

“(Couture) has been practicing and we are going to try and protect him and see what we can do,” Peacock said. “(Couture) is not full speed, of course.”

Graham Parker will be the Mounties quarterback if Couture is not available. Graham is the Mounties top receiver but took most of the reps at quarterback during spring practice.

“Graham is a good athlete,” Peacock said. “He runs run well and he does a good job throwing. Obviously, Graham doesn’t have the three years of experience that Andy has.”

Rogers will also be without linebacker D.J. Smart on Friday night. Smart was ejected from the Southside game and has to serve a one-game suspension. In fact, Rogers officials were told by the Arkansas Activities Association that Smart can not even be in the stadium Friday night.

“(Rogers) had the momentum in the second half but we came back and got going,” said Southside coach Jeff Williams. “Then we hit the big bomb to Falleur. We just made plays to win it.”

Couture completed 20 of 35 passes for 223 yards and one touchdown but the senior left the game with a concussion early in the fourth period. He is doubtful for next week’s game. Rogers also lost linebacker D.J. Smart in the fourth quarter after the senior was ejected following a personal foul.

Smart will have to sit out next week’s game against Rogers Heritage. Receiver Ethan Melton was also knocked from the game with a shoulder injury and could be lost for the year.

“We went out there (in the second half) and struggled,” said Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock. “At times we did good, did some really good things. But like I told them (team), it just wasn’t enough.”

Southside benefited from a short field and jumped to a 14-0 first-quarter lead with scoring drives of 34 and 44 yards.

The Rebels seemed poised to turn the game into a blowout after they recovered a Rogers fumble at the Mounties 27 while leading 14-0.

Southside marched to the Rogers 1 but was stopped on downs just short of the end zone. Rogers then marched 99 yards and cut the lead to one touchdown when Couture hit Graham Parker for an 8-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter.

Southside countered with a quick 80-yard drive and upped the lead to 21-7 when Adair raced 35 yards for a touchdown.

But Mounties used another long scoring drive right before halftime to cut the Rebels lead to 21-14. Rogers took over at its own 28 with just over a minute left and needed just 39 seconds to go 72 yards.

Couture completed the drive with an 18-yard scoring strike to Graham. Rogers’ scoring march was aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty, which was the Rebels eighth penalty of the first half.

“We had a chance to jump on them early,” Williams said. “I thought a big play was getting to the one and not getting it.”

Southside then stole the momentum in the second half as the Mounties couldn’t slow the Rebels balanced attack.

FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 38, ROGERS HIGH 21

Southside    14    7    3    14    —    38
Rogers    0    14    7    0    —    21
First Quarter
South — Falleur 11 pass from Whorton (Gallo kick), 4:15
South — Whorton 1 run (Gallo kick), :52
Second Quarter
Rog — Parker 2 pass from Couture (Dunlop kick), 6:47
South — Adair 35 run (Gallo kick), 5:19
Rog — Melton 18 pass from Couture (Dunlop kick), :27
Third Quarter
Rog — Couture 31 run (Dunlop kick), 10:42
South — FG Gallo 22, :15
Fourth Quarter
South — Falleur 52 pass from Whorton (Gallo kick), 9:27
South — Hollis 2 run (Gallo kick), 5:49

South    Rog
First Downs    19    19
Rushes-yards    50-283    19-31
Passing yards    152    239
Comp-Att-Int    10-15-1    21-40-1
Punts    5-36    7-36
Fumbles-lost    2-0    2-1
Pentalies-yards    10-100    3-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Southside, Adair 28-195, Hollis 13-63, Nolan 3-21, Whorton 3-11, Jones 3-(minus 7). Rogers, Couture 14-43, Carpenter 1-4, Parker 4-(minus 16).
PASSING—Southside, Whorton 10-15-0-152. Rogers, Couture 20-35-1-223, Parker 1-6-0-16.
RECEIVING—Southside, Mears 5-36, Falleur 4-89, Nolan 1-27. Rogers, Parker 9-95, Gartman 5-61, Caton 3-44, Melton 3-17, Oller 1-22.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

Andy Couture is healthy, and it shows.

Couture rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns, and passed for 223 yards and one score to lead Rogers High to a 62-38 win against Van Buren on Friday. He is this week’s 7A-West Conference Player of the Week.

Couture worked his way into the starting role at quarterback the final six games of his sophomore season, and started the first eight games last year before a torn ligament in his right thumb sidelined him for the final two games.

“He’s overcome some injuries,” Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock said. “He’s played for us for three years. He started some as a sophomore and got hurt last year.”

Couture is the most experienced quarterback in the conference and is the only senior starting at the position in the conference.

“He’s a leader for us,” Peacock said. “He’s a real hard-working kid. He’s diligent in the weight room.”

Friday against Van Buren, Couture did most of his damage with his legs.

“We were just taking advantage of what Van Buren was giving us,” Peacock said. “They were mixing it up with their stunts and dropping people back. He rushed for 224 yards and four touchdowns, and he completed over 50 percent of his passes. He did a real good of running our offense.”

Couture also shredded Van Buren last year with 161 yards passing and a touchdown, and 115 yards rushing with two scores.

“He can run,” Peacock said. “He’s a double threat.”

Rogers has scored 62 points in each of the last two meetings with Van Buren.

Conference Play Begins

Conference play begins this week with Rogers hosting Fort Smith Southside, Fayetteville hosting Bentonville, Fort Smith Northside hosting Rogers Heritage, and Springdale High hosting rival Springdale Har-Ber.

Rogers yielded more than 500 yards twice in nonconference play, giving up 575 in the season-opening loss to Webb City, Mo., and 541 yards to Van Buren last week.

That’s certainly a concern for the Mountaineers.

“Yes, it is,” Peacock said. “We’ve given up some yards. We can’t hide that.”

Rogers is still smarting defensively from the loss of eight starters from last year.

“We can look really good against the run and then can’t stop them,” Peacock said. “We can look really good against the pass and then can’t stop them. We just need to be consistent.”

Southside leads the all-time series against Rogers, 29-13, which began in 1968.

Looking Ahead

The 7A-West teams will have a drastically difference look for nonconference schedules next season as a new two-year cycle begins.

Bentonville could have two new nonconference opponents next year. An appeal by Searcy will be heard this week by the Arkansas Activities Association for next year’s conference alignment. That will affect which conference Conway plays in, which will affect if the Wampus Cats stay on Bentonville’s nonconference schedule.

“The appeal could change a lot of things,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “There are a lot of tentative games.”

Bentonville and Fort Zumwalt, Mo., have verbally agreed to continue their series. Nettleton was only a two-year deal with both years being played in Bentonville. Kansas City Rockhurst, Texarkana, Texas, or a Tulsa school could fill a playing date as well.

With possibly Conway, Fort Zumwalt and then any of the other possibilities coupled with Fayetteville and Fort Smith Southside to open conference plays gives Bentonville no breathers in the first half of the season.

“That’s a brutal five-game stretch,” Lunney said. “It’s just tough getting games. People don’t want to travel.”

Situated in the corner of the state creates travel problems. Bentonville has also grown into one of the largest schools in the state, and the Tigers are coming off a state championship, so teams in lower classifications shy away from playing them as well. There once was a time when Bentonville was a choice as a lot of team’s homecoming opponent.

“I guess that’s better than everybody calling you up and wanting you on the schedule,” Lunney said.

Undefeated Again

Rogers Heritage is perfect again in nonconference play, but this time there’s a little different attitude.

“We’ve improved,” Heritage coach Perry Escalante said. “The kids are further along. We’re ahead of the game this year.”

Heritage was 3-0 last year in its inaugural season heading into conference play, too.

“Last year, we were so young and so small,” Escalante said.

Heritage’s offense with returning quarterback Reed Brown at the controls has been steady. Brown has already thrown 14 touchdown passes.

“We’re a lot more efficient this year,” Escalante said. “We’ve been consistent on offense and defense, and we’re not shooting ourselves in the foot.”

That may be the most pleasing aspect to Escalante and the War Eagles. Heritage has not committed a turnover this season.

Heritage committed 27 turnovers during the 10-game schedule last season and committed at least two in every game.

Offensive First

Bentonville’s 54-0 win against Nettleton added another entry in the Tigers’ history book.

Coupled with the previous week’s 50-19 win against Fort Zumwalt, it marks the first time in school history in which Bentonville has scored at least 50 points in consecutive games.

The school record for points scored in a game is a 122-0 win against Prairie Grove in 1921.

Remember When?

Springdale started the season atop the Associated Press poll in 2005, stayed number one throughout the season and finished 14-0 to win the state championship?

That was the last time a team went wire-to-wire No. 1 in the poll, and the last time a team started the season No. 1 and finished No. 1.

Bentonville will try to accomplish those feats this season after starting the season as the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll.

Bentonville is the 15th team from the 7A-West to begin the season No. 1 during the past 24 years. During that time, only nine teams that started the season ranked first actually won the state title.

With Class 4A Shiloh Christian being knocked off on Friday by Greenwood, the talk of a team from a lower classification being ranked No. 1 overall will end. The team that wins the state championship in Class 7A will now undoubtedly be the overall No. 1 at season’s end.

Leland Barclay is the author of the Almanac of Arkansas High School Football. His column appears each Tuesday. E-mail: barclayalmanac@yahoo.com.

At the start of the third period, it looked like Rogers would need every bit of those 62 points.

The Pointers took a 35-28 lead early in the third period. After a 47-yard punt return by Joseph Snapp, quarterback Tyler Spoon hit Snapp wide open down the left sideline for a 41-yard touchdown with 7:25 left in the quarter.

Then came the momentum breaker as Ethan Melton took the ensuing kickoff at the 2, broke a couple of tackles near the 40-yard line and raced into the end zone to knot the game at 35.

“We can play really good in the kicking game, but when we bust a coverage we can’t catch up,” said Pointer coach Mike Lee. “We had a guy unblocked ready to make the play and we miss the tackle. We don’t run well enough to catch them from behind.”

Rogers would never look back.

On Van Buren’s next possession, Rogers safety Coy Backus picked off a Spoon pass that led to the touchdown and the Mounties took the lead for good. Rogers marched 75 yards in seven plays capped by Couture’s 1-yard sneak with 4:04 left in the period and a 42-35 lead.

The Mounties had four interceptions, all of which led to touchdowns.

“We had a interception, a kickoff and a punt returned for a touchdown,” said Lee. “When people see the score, the think that the defense gave up 62 points and they didn’t. You can’t give a team like Rogers 21 points on returns and expect to win.”

Peacock said the Mounties needed all three phases to win the game.

“The kicking game and the defensive turnovers put the ball in the offense’s hands, and they made some big plays,” added Peacock.

After Jeremy Martin booted his second field goal to get within 42-38 after three quarters, Rogers put the game away in the first play of the final quarter. Melton took a punt near midfield and scampered down the right sideline 52 yards for a touchdown and a 49-38 lead with 11:46 left.

Spoon finished the game 23-of-39 for 322 yards and two scores while rushing for 100 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown to lead a Pointer attack that gained 541 yards.

The Pointers overcame a series of early defensive breakdowns and costly turnover to tie the game at 28-all at halftime.

Van Buren trailed 21-7 with 10:38 left before halftime after a 33-yard interception by Rogers linebacker David Smart. But the Pointer offense soon took control of the game, scoring on its next three possessions to take a 25-21 lead, the last on a 22-yard toss from Spoon to Drew White.

Thanks to a Casey Caton kickoff return to midfield, Rogers would strike quickly to regain the lead.

Couture completed two passes for 25 yards and ran three times for 25 yards, including a 2-yard keeper with 1:09 left in the half to put the Mounties back on top 28-25.

Van Buren, though, marched 75 yards in nine plays before Martin ended the half with a 23-yard field goal to tie the game at 28-all. A 19-yard pass from Spoon to Drew White got the ball to the Rogers 26 and a 21-yard pass from Spoon to Joseph Snapp got the ball to the Mountie 5 with three seconds left to set up Martin’s kick.

Spoon, despite two interceptions leading to Mountie touchdowns, finished the half 15-of-22 passing for 217 yards and a score.

ROGERS HIGH 62, VAN BUREN 38

Van Buren    0    28    10    0    —    38
Rogers        14    14    14    28    —    62
First Quarter
Rog — Couture 22 run (Dunlop kick), 6:09
Rog — Couture 2 run (Dunlop kick), 4:48
Second Quarter
Van — Jenkins 6 run (Martin kick), 11:53
Rog — Smart 33 interception return (Dunlop kick), 10:38
Van — Spoon 65 run (kick failed), 9:29
Van — Jenkins 3 run (pass failed), 5:07
Van — White 22 pass from Spoon (pass failed ), 1:57
Rog — Couture 2 run (Dunlop kick), 1:09
Van — FG Martin 23, :00
Third Quarter
Van — Snapp 41 pass from Spoon (Martin kick), 7:25
Rog — Melton 98 kickoff return (Dunlop kick), 7:11
Rog — Couture 1 run (Dunlop kick), 4:04
Van — FG Martin 32, 2:20
Fourth Quarter
Rog — Melton 52 punt return (Dunlop kick), 11:46
Rog — Caton 29 pass from Couture (kick blocked), 9:23
Rog — Carpenter 3 run (Dunlop kick), 4:55

Van    Rog
First Downs    24    23
Rushes-Yards    39-219    38-297
Passing    322    223
Comp-Att-Int    23-39-4    11-21-0
Punts        4-39    4-39
Fumbles-Lost    0-0    2-0
Penalties-Yards    5-35    5-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Van Buren, Spoon 11-100, Thompson 11-46, Joyce 10-41, Jenkins 7-32. Rogers, Couture 25-224, Carpenter 5-49, George 2-23, Conley 4-1, Oller 2-1.
PASSING—Van Buren, Spoon 23-39-4-322. Rogers, Couture 11-21-0-223.
RECEIVING—Van Buren, Snapp 8-158, White 7-116, Thompson 6-35, Jenkins 2-13. Rogers, Oller 5-99, Caton 2-45, Parker 2-34, Melton 2-31, Carpenter 1-14.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Rogers, Dunlop 41.