An intercepted pass thrown by the Bears led to the Outlaws knocking at the door of the endzone midway through the first quarter, but a Bears goal line stand that ended with a fourth down running play for the Outlaws that did not reach the first down marker before it went out of bounds kept the score knotted at zero. The next drive by the Bears came down to a fourth and five at their own 38. The Bears decided to punt, pinning the Outlaws back at their own six due to a favorable roll.
The Outlaws would make good time in the last 1:30 of the first quarter, with a passing attack that earned two first downs and got Dierks to their own 30 before the quarter expired with the score 0-0.
The beginning of the second quarter was more eventful, with Dierks quarterback Peyton Boeckman scrambling right and, seemingly at the last moment before a sack, finding Colton Gadbury running along the right sideline. Making the catch, Gadberry looked to have stepped out of bounds before reaching paydirt but was ruled to have scored a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed and the score one minute into the second quarter was 0-6. The near-capacity crowd of Dierks fans, most clad in pink t-shirts that said 5G, was now raucous.
The Bears would receive the kickoff at the Outlaws’ 33. Their drive would include short passes and runs, mainly by Levi Askew, who took a handoff for a big gain that lit up the visiting fans and the Bears defenders enough to earn a warning. The next down would be first and goal. A penalty set the Bears back on the ensuing play, but Spring Hill kept threatening. Karson Hamilton caught the nine-yard touchdown pass from Smith. An attempted conversion on a screen pass also crossed into the end zone, making the score 8-6 Spring Hill.
The next drive for the Outlaws stalled near mid-field. The Dierks punt was received at the Spring 33. The Bears then mounted a drive based heavily on Levi Askew’s runs and Jaxon Smith’s keepers. In fact, it was a Smith keeper from near the goal line that finished things. The conversion was a pitch to the Bears’ scatback, who quickly found the endzone. So the halftime score was 16-6 Spring Hill.
It was a celebratory halftime for Dierks, though, despite the score. Over the PA System, the announcer explained that the school had been awarded an additional $25,000 by T-Mobile, having already received $5,000, and had the chance based on the number of votes cast to win $1 million to redo Outlaws stadium, refurbish the school gym, a renovated weight room and a trip for several people to the SEC Title game. Dierks is the only Arkansas school in the running. Voters can register and cast votes once a day until the contest ends October 24th. The winner will be announced October 30th. Dierks presented a T-Mobile representative with a helmet painted by Chad’s Collision Center.
When play resumed in the third quarter, it looked like the Outlaws heard their coaches well in the locker room. Receiving the kickoff, the Outlaws mounted a drive that started at their 36. MacLane Smith, in at quarterback, got a long run on a keeper, bringing the ball to the Bears’ 23. The Bears would capitalize on the big play with a running touchdown. After a failed two-point conversion attempt, the score was now 16-12, the Bears clinging to their lead.
The Bears’ drive could not answer, but were able to punt the Outlaws back to their own 16. A 15-yard personal foul penalty against the Bears got the Outlaws out of the shadow of their own goalposts and helped launch a campaign that had numerous first downs chalked up after late down and short distance situations. But it would end in an interception, caught by a Bears DB.
The Bears would be unable to parlay the interception into a score, the drive bogging down in a fourth-and-goal within six yards of the end zone ending with a touchdown-saving tackle in the first minutes of the fourth quarter. The Outlaws would get a short pass completion on the second play of their next drive that the receiver ran all the way to six points, allowing Dierks to retake the lead 20-16. The ensuing conversion attempt was no good.
On their next possession, the Bears would lose the ball on attempted pitch to a running back who was not ready. The Outlaws got the ball at the 42 of the Bears and proceeded to milk clock. This seemed to stall the momentum, though. The Outlaws needed to convert one fourth-down play to keep the drive going. When they tried for another at the Bears’ ten, the running-play was stuffed for a loss.
That would prove Dierks’ last opportunity to put the game away as the next drive by the Bears marched down the field in short order, ending with a pretty pass from Smith to receiver Jackson Putz. The conversion attempt was no good, leaving Spring Hill two points ahead, 22-20.
The Bears defense held, though, and when the Bears got the ball again with about two minutes left in the game, a Jaxson Smith run sweep clinched the game-ending first down that allowed Smith to kneel on second down and take possession of what will strike some observers as a surprising road-victory, given that Hooten’s Coaches’ Poll ranked Dierks third in the conference to the Bears’ seventh. Now the Bears have struck down the poll’s third and fourth-place choices for finishers.
After the game, Coach Greg Smith spoke to his team about how they’d not allowed fear to touch them Friday night. Asked about the quarterback keeper play he called for his son which clinched the game, Smith said, “We knew they'd be running to the pitch man, because of the fumble that happened earlier in the game. My quarterback is a senior. We told him not to pitch it. ‘You're just going to keep it. You're going to get the first down, or we're going to pop the ball to them. Either way, we're going to get the clock under 40 and delay it.’ Once we got it under 40, we could take the knee. So that was a big play. We left it in the hands of the senior.”
About Smith’s spectacular throw to Putz for the go-ahead touchdown, Coach Smith said, “On our option game, it was really good to us the whole night out of that set, because the linemen were doing a great job, and we knew when they pressed down hard the second half, we could probably get our receivers past them, behind them. We just got behind them and made the play. It was a good ball to catch and [the receiver had] good speed.”
As for the meaning of defeating Dierks on the road, Smith said, “It's just real special. I mean, it's hard to go into other people's facilities and win. Just to get this one on the road, that's special for our seniors and the kids are really bonding, and they're coming together, and it's going to be a great year ahead of us. Great year. “
Though Dierks wants to redo its stadium, Smith called the atmosphere “electric” and said the game was “one of the many classics I’ve been through.”
Next week, Spring Hill hosts Lafayette County. The game will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Bears Stadium Friday October 10th.