Arkansas high school football notes: Mills, Pine Bluff played another instant classic with emotions flaring at the end
PINE BLUFF. ARKANSAS — Friday night’s matchup between Mills (6-1, 4-1 5A-Central) and Pine Bluff (5-2, 4-1) figured to be a tight showdown. Unfortunately, things got a little too heated in the postgame and put a damper on another classic game between the two league foes.
With the two conference rivals battling to stay on Joe T. Robinson’s heels in the conference race, the game lived up to the billing, though, as the Comets won 24-21 in double overtime on Ricardo Gaytan’s 20-yard field goal. Mills won in OT last year on a PAT.
Mills won a thrilling game over Pine Bluff, but emotions spilled out after the game with two fights. (Photo by Tommy Land)
With 1:35 left in regulation, Austyn Dendy (11 rushes for 44 yards), who earlier in the week, committed to Missouri, ran 57 yards around the right side for the go-ahead touchdown, but a holding penalty wiped out the TD. The Zebras were forced to punt away with 29 seconds left and after an incomplete pass, Mills’ quarterback Achilles Ringo took a knee, and the game went into overtime.
In the second overtime, Dendy had a 3-yard touchdown run wiped out because of another holding call. Mills’ Charleston Collins sacks Pine Bluff’s Landon Holcomb for an 11-yard loss and Holcomb threw incomplete to a double-covered Courtney Crutchfield setting up Gaytan’s winning field goal.
“On the goal line, we got a couple calls against us to push us back,” said Pine Bluff head coach Micheal Williams. “We’ve got to execute in those situations to score the touchdown. That’s the thing, we had a couple touchdowns taken off the board when we could have won the game. Those are the things we talk about team wise. We’ve got to play as clean as possible to finish the games out.”
Collins, an Arkansas Razorback commit, and Crutchfield’s cousin, put his stamp on the game. Not only did he have the sack of Holcomb in the second overtime. He also pressured him in the second quarter when the Zebras were facing fourth and 16 from the Mills 21, forcing an incomplete pass.
The game featured 16 penalties for 134 yards with the Zebras getting flagged 9 times for 72 yards and two were costly. Mills was flagged 7 times for 62 yards.
After the heart-pounding finish, emotions ran high. After Mills players danced on the Pine Bluff logo at midfield, and the two teams were going through the handshake line, a pair of fights took place. One ignited on the Pine Bluff sideline and the other occurred afterwards near the Mills dressing room.
Both head coaches Cortez Lee of Mills and Williams were not sure how it got started but blamed it on the emotionality of a game that was tight from start to finish.
“I couldn’t see exactly what happened and it doesn’t matter what happened,” Williams said. “We’ve got to make sure we control ourselves and our sideline.”
Williams said he didn’t anticipate any suspensions whether by the school district or the Arkansas Activities Association but would be ready to deal with anything that gets handed down.
After addressing his team on the field afterwards, Lee took the Comets into the dressing room which was surrounded by local police and security personnel. Media members were not allowed into the dressing room, and the players were kept in there until it was time to board the buses. And when they were told they could come out of the locker room, they were instructed to get on the buses immediately.
“Charlie Collins made some big plays tonight,” said Lee. “He came up with a big-time sack.”
Crutchfield, Collins’ cousin caught 4 passes for 49 yards including a 27-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and was facing double coverage most of the night. He returned 2 kickoffs for 44 yards.
Mills has a week off before its plays at Robinson. Pine Bluff plays at White Hall Friday night and Crutchfield has vowed there will be a different result.
“Next week, we win by 30,” said Crutchfield.
Wolverines attack in crucial 7A-West showdown
Consecutive victories for the first time in a season are always nice, but it is even more enjoyable when it is over a Top 10 opponent. Bentonville West (4-2, 2-1) currently sits tied for third place with Har-Ber in the 7A-West standings, a game behind Bentonville and Fayetteville following a 31-25 over Rogers behind a 25-point fourth quarter.
Senior quarterback Dalton Rice has led the offense amidst a tough situation with starting qurterback Casey lost for the season over the summer. Rice completed 25-of-41 passes for 241 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Harris Vinson had a big night and was on the receiving end for eight of those passes, and both scores, while also adding a touchdown on the ground. West’s defense held a powerful Mounties offense to just 220 total yards, while Wolverines safety Laynce Stroud had a 64-yard interception for a touchdown.
The Wolverines’ two losses are to Cabot and Fayetteville, both ranked in the SBLive Arkansas Top 25. They are up against a favorable two-game stretch with home matchups against Har-Ber and Rogers Heritage before closing the regular season with a road trip to Fort Smith Southside, followed by what should be a big one against visiting cross town rival Bentonville on senior night, which has the potential of being for the conference championship.
–Kyle Sutherland | @k_sutherlandAR
Springdale Har-Ber takes advantage of Springdale turnovers for second straight win
After Springdale Har-Ber struggled to find it’s footing in the season’s first four games, under first-year Head Coach Brent Eckley, the Wildcats have played more manageable competition and reeled off back-to-back wins in the 7A-West.
On the arm of senior quarterback Braden Spraque, who threw four touchdown passes Friday night, Har-Ber knocked off intra-city rival Springdale, 41-24 at Wildcat Stadium.
The win comes just one week after Har-Ber (2-4, 2-1) rolled over Rogers Heritage, 61-13, for Eckley’s first victory at the helm. The two-game win streak also sets the Wildcats up for a likely playoff berth, with Springdale (2-4, 1-2) and Heritage (1-4, 0-2) on the outside, looking in.
Har-Ber quarterback Braden Sprague passed for four touchdowns in a win over crosstown rival Springdale on Friday night. (Photo by Steve Andrews)
"I'm really proud of our players, our coaches," Eckley said. "It's always special when you can get on a streak, and we're on a little bit of one now. We'll see if we can compete moving forward."
Har-Ber was able to take advantage of three Springdale fumbles in the first half, scoring three second-quarter touchdowns to take a 21-3 lead.
The Wildcats began to break things open, while facing a 4th-and-1 at the Bulldogs’ 49. Sprague faked a handoff up the middle, then threw a dart to senior Evan Curry, who caught the ball across the middle and rambled for a 49-yard touchdown.
Although Springdale was able to mount a little offensive momentum in the second half – cutting the lead to 10 on quarterback Jack Pounders’ 11-yard strike to Carson Hayter – Har-Ber continued to answer the bell.
The Wildcats got an 80-yard touchdown run by senior Ashton Stewart, then a pair of scoring passes to Curry and junior Tryston Bass.
"It was just guys making plays," Eckley said. "I'm proud of them for that."
--Steve Andrews
Youthful Charleston defense secures third straight win
Charleston only needed one quarter to score all of its points and the defense that has grown from cubs to Tigers did the rest in their 14-7 3A-1 win over previously undefeated Mansfield.
The defensive unit for the Tigers has allowed just under 10 points per game through the past three contests. Though pleased, head coach Ricky May feels there is still plenty to work on.
“Defense has been getting better,” May said. “ They played their tails off and have to continue to get batter.”
Linebacker Hunter Little led Charleston with 14 total tackles, while Reese Merechka compiled 124 total yards of offense in his first game back since getting injured against Ozark on September 8. Maddix Terry, who is just a sophomore, also enjoyed a productive night, hauling in seven catches for 47 yards and two scores, along with five tackles and a fumble recovery.
It is worth revisiting that a slow start was expected after graduating 15 seniors from a 3A state championship squad, but it did not make it easier that every nonconference game was against quality Class 4A competition. Against Elkins, Ozark and Nashville, Charleston (3-3, 3-0) was outscored 103-41, but proved in the road non-conference finale against Nashville that they were ready to turn the corner.
Since that time, the Tigers are 3-0 and tied for first place in the 3A-1 standings with rival Booneville. Charleston travels to Hackett this week before hosting Booneville on October 20.
–Kyle Sutherland | @k_sutherlandAR
