Offense and defense put up points to lead Fayetteville to victory over Fort Smith Southside in Razorback Stadium

The Bulldogs rolled 60-20

By Steve Andrews | Photo by Sadie Rucker 

FAYETTEVILLE – It was a nostalgic venue for both head coaches Friday night, but after a sluggish start, Casey Dick’s Fayetteville Bulldogs got five touchdown passes from Drake Lindsey and a pair of Pick-6 interception returns by his defense to outlast Kim Dameron’s Fort Smith Southside Mavericks, 60-20, inside Razorback Stadium.

Both coaches once roamed the legendary stadium as players at Arkansas, but this time around it was all about their players and giving them an opportunity to play a 7A-West clash on the hallowed grounds.

“I’m just glad our kids got to play here, because they were really excited about it,” Dameron said. “We just continued to do the things that you can’t do to win games, which is throw it to the other team and miss tackles that we shouldn’t. Obviously, not the outcome I wanted, but this place, I love.” 

Southside (1-4, 0-2) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after Evan Shelby jumped on a Fayetteville fumble at the Bulldogs’ 34. The Mavericks’ short, 6-play drive ended with a 2-yard scamper to the end zone by Greyson York.

Fayetteville (4-2, 2-1) wasted little time in tying the score as Lindsey completed six straight passes, including a 9-yard scoring strike to Greyson Garrett.

After Lindsey hit Kaylon Morris on a 44-yard touchdown pass the following drive, Southside got as 34-yard field goal from Jackson Delassus to cut the lead to 14-10 early in the second quarter.

Photo by Steve Andrews 

Lindsey then tossed his third TD of the first half, hitting Jaison DeLamar with a 35-yard strike. Lindsey finished 24 of 37 through the air for 327 yards, putting him at 2,056 yards for the season.

Southside was driving on its next possession until Fayetteville linebacker Brooks Yurachek step in front of a Mavericks pass and took it back for an 84-yard touchdown return.

“I was watching him and saw his eyes, and I knew he was throwing that slant because I had watched it on film, and I just took that thing to the house,” an elated Yurachek said. “It was one of the most exciting things of my career. I looked up at the scoreboard to see if anyone was behind me, but I was going.”

A 7-yard run by Jeremyah Harjo then made it 34-10.

Southside tacked on another touchdown before the half, as Isaac Gregory scooted in from 15 yards out to make it 34-17 at the break. Gregory, who came in averaging over 150 yards per contest, tallied 140 against Fayetteville on 24 carries.

“It was awesome to be back out here tonight and was just an awesome experience to see our kids’ faces when we got in here,” Dick said. “It was a great team win in all three phases of the game. I thought we executed well and I’m really proud of how we played in the second half. We came out and played really clean football.”

Delassus booted a 30-yard field goal for Southside early in the third period, but from there, it was all Bulldogs.

Lindsey hit York for a 25-yard touchdown, then Christian Setzer added a 1-yard TD plunge to make it 47-20 heading to the fourth quarter,

Lindsey polished off his night with a 24-yard touchdown to Morris, who ended with 8 catches for 140 yards and those two scores.

The final points came from Bulldogs defensive back Jacob Nelson, who jumped a route for an interception and returned it 83 yards to put the game on ice.

“We got those two defensive touchdowns that were really big and got us in and out of some opportunities that allowed us to play really free,” Dick said.

The Mavericks have battled injuries and inexperience all season, but Dameron hopes to turn the corner soon. They host Rogers Heritage next Friday.

“We just shoot ourselves in the foot too much,” he said. “We’ve got some experienced players up front, but our skill players are just trying to grow up right now. They are working awfully hard, so hopefully we continue to get better.”

Photo by Sadie Rucker 

After bouncing back from last Friday’s narrow loss to Rogers, Fayetteville finds itself right back in the mix for the 7A-West crown, with a trip to Bentonville – still unbeaten in the conference – next Friday night.

“We’ve just got to continue going back to the fundamentals, and making sure everybody does their jobs,” Dick said. “There are always things we can work on to get better.”