It was a very near thing, though. The last possession was Parkers Chapel’s with just over a minute left. It began on Spring Hill’s 36-yard line after a popped-up kickoff by Spring Hill.

On their drive, making use of a short throw and several runs by its quarterback Dyson Dougan, Parkers Chapel did get as close as the 20 yard line, making two first downs in the process. But Spring Hill finished the game with three impressive defensive plays in a row: first, a sack, then a defensed pass by Karson Hamilton and finally, a quarterback hurry on Dougan that caused his pass to fall incomplete with the time-clock reading all zeros. 

Spring Hill had gotten a go-ahead score with a 43-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jaxon Smith to Karson Hamilton, who caught the football just before his feet crossed into the Parkers Chapel endzone.  This put Spring Hill up 20-16 after most of the second half the Bears had remained down 16-14. A quick run to the right made good on the two-point conversion to put Spring Hill up to stay 22-16. 

The entire first quarter of the game passed with no score, but early in the second Spring Hill broke an Alex Arriaga touchdown run from their own 46 yard line. The two-point conversion, a keeper by Smith was good to make the score 8-0. 

Parkers Chapel’s next drive began at their own 36, only to be halted by an illegal motion penalty and by Spring Hill forcing Dougan out of bounds.  The Trojans punted. 

The next Spring Hill drive was brief, starting from their own 37.  On first and ten, Smith threw the first of the evening’s two long passes for Bears touchdowns, hitting Zane Minton in stride as he displayed his blazing speed on his way in for six.  The ensuing conversion attempt was stopped by Parkers Chapel, the score at nearly ten minutes remaining in the first half standing at 14-0. 

The Trojans would use nimble running from Dougan and power runs by its running and full backs to capitalize on two Spring Hill fumbles to take the lead by two minutes left until halftime, scoring on both conversion attempts. 

The third quarter featured an extended period of non-scoring back and forths as neither team could capitalize on its occasional first downs. Nor could they take advantage of each others’ penalties. The peak of the frustration came when on a Parkers Chapel kickoff, fights broke out among at least four players who were tossed from the game. A total of six flags lay on the field afterward. 

About twenty minutes went by of referees conferring before the referees imposed several offsetting penalties and play could resume with Spring Hill starting a drive on their own fifteen. This drive lasted to the end of the third and nearly halfway into the fourth, stalling in a turnover on downs on the Parkers Chapel 16. 

The Trojans tried to put the game away on its drive, in which they ran 11 plays, but ultimately got pushed back to a fourth and 12 at the Spring Hill 43. They went for it, but Dougan’s pass fell incomplete with two minutes left. 

Spring Hill’s Smith started the drive with a long throw and incompletion, but Parkers Chapel interfered with the receiver, giving Spring Hill a new first down at the Parkers Chapel 43.  The next play was the go-ahead touchdown from Smith to Hamilton. 

After the game, Coach Greg Smith praised his team’s resilience through turnovers, but was especially pleased the team had finally gotten past its bad luck with long pauses in games which seemingly plagued last season’s Bears: “We have a history of the last couple years of those long delays, helicopters landing and things like that, and afterwards not staying in it and focused. But this team right here did.” He added that second and third-string players had stepped up.” 

Smith said the Bears’ defense had also done an outstanding job in limiting to 16 a Parkers Chapel team that had scored 70 in last week’s game against Dermott. 

About the fight in the third quarter and the long delay as the referees decided what to do, Smith said, “They did the best they could.  I’m going to watch the film myself [to figure out what happened.] There's just no telling what that what all that was. That was out of control, the whole thing. And you hate to see that in high school sports.  But the way that the game finished, the rest of that quarter, and everything else that happened, it really turned out pretty positive.” 

Indeed the traditional line up and end-of-game handshake between the teams went without a hitch. 

Quarterback Jaxon Smith described watching his team’s defense hold up against the Trojans potent attack to preserve the win. “Defense has always been our thing, but they really stepped up. They've been getting better throughout the year.” 

For his many outstanding defensive plays that helped preserve the win, Tucker Vickers was named Arkansas Farm Bureau’s Player-of-the-game and presented with the ceremonial Farm Bureau’s football on the field as cameras clicked. 

Friday was senior night for Spring Hill. Before the game, senior players and cheerleaders were escorted to the front of the field by parents to have their photos taken by Spring Hill photographers. Those photos will be featured in this story once they are received.

The Bears are now 2-1.