CLASS 7A : Har-Ber still looking hard to stop
Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2008
SPRINGDALE — The defenses of the 7 A-West are hereby warned: Springdale Har-Ber’s offense looks frighteningly good.
The Wildcats concluded nonconference play with a 41-14 thumping of Coweta, Okla., at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium on Friday, breaking the 40-point barrier for the third time in as many games this season.
Also for the third week in a row, Har-Ber (3-0 ) put it away early. The Wildcats led 17-0 less than eight minutes in and were up 38-0 at halftime, evoking the sportsmanship rule and its continuously running clock in the second half.
Har-Ber outscored its nonconference opponents by a combined score of 124-39.
“I think we’re improving,” Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood said. “That’s the key. I don’t see us moving backwards; that’s where you want to be.
“ We’re not peaking right now. We’re just moving forward. From Greenwood [in Week 1 ] to now, I can say our offense continues to get cleaned up. We’re executing pretty solid.”
Har-Ber quarterback Zach Faust was sharp right from the beginning. He launched a 65-yard pass to Josh McKinney on the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage, which led to the first of a pair of 33-yard field goals by Oscar Escobar.
Coweta (1-2 ) was stopped on three plays, and the Wildcats quickly drove 70 yards for their first touchdown. Senior running back Derek Brinker took a short pass from Faust and sprinted into the end zone, making it 10-0.
After Berkley Cox recovered a Coweta fumble caused by a huge hit from free safety Houston Pruitt, Brinker scored his second touchdown. This time he did it on a 2-yard run — coming two plays after the Wildcats converted a fourth-and-9.
Brinker had nine carries for 74 yards. His 2-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter gave Har-Ber a 31-0 lead.
“We’ve run that Spread offense [in practice ],” Coweta Coach Bubba Burcham said. “We know how to defend it. We just obviously didn’t do a dang good job of it.
“ Anytime you line up, you can’t have big plays, you can’t have turnovers, you can’t have penalties. Those are everything that we did. It’s easy to be up 38-0 when the other team does that.”
Faust — who like Brinker didn’t play in the second half — rarely missed, going 14 of 18 for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns. Less than a minute into the second quarter, he made it 24-0 when he hit Trenton Moser for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Faust completed eight passes for at least 12 yards. Three of those passes were to junior Caleb Vaughn, whose 42-yard reception set up Brinker’s third touchdown.
Vaughn caught a 15-yard pass on third-and-12 late in the first half, and Tre Tyler followed with a 9-yard touchdown run, giving the Wildcats a 38-0 lead.
“I thought [Faust ] was real clean,” Wood said. “There were some pretty big windows to throw into. The receivers caught the ball well.
“ Josh McKinney really set the pace on the first play, getting behind him.”
The Tigers were held to just 85 yards of offense in the first half. Most of that came on their final drive, when they got into scoring range before Jacob Bundrick snuffed out the threat with an interception.
Trailing 41-0 late in the third quarter, Coweta got on the board when Jarel Draper scored on a 6-yard run.
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