Jacob Brower

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2012 SPORTSDaily CitizenThe

BISONS HEADED TO PLAYOFFS

Harding Academy Football

The Wildcats secured their first playoff win by defeating Smackover 21-14 on Friday. The Wildcats, who were un-defeated during the regular season, will host Lamar at 7 p.m. on Friday.

White County basketball

White County Central boys: 2-4, 62-47 win against Midland on Friday

White County Central girls: 2-4, 52-47 win against Midland on Friday

Bradford boys: 3-3, 72-41 win against Rural Special on Friday

Bradford girls: 3-3, 61-39 loss against Rural Special on Friday

SECTION BSports Editor Harrison Keegan

501-268-8621 [email protected]

White County Central boys Head Coach Danny Starkey knows his team picked a good time for its best game of the sea-son.

The Bears (2-4) are feeling confi dent as they prepare to host Rose Bud on Monday thanks to a 62-47 win against rival Midland on Friday. Starkey is hoping six games of experience will give his team the edge against a Rose Bud team playing its fi rst game of the season.

“I was real pleased with the ef-fort that we brought to the game,” Starkey said. “Every time they made a run, we matched it. It was a good win for us for sure.”

Starkey said his team played with more aggressiveness than it has all season on Friday, which was good to see.

“We got to the rack a lot and fi nished,” Starkey said. “We’ve been needing to do that.”

The White County Central girls (2-4) also bring some momentum into Monday’s date with Rose Bud. The Lady Bears defeated Midland 52-47 on Friday behind 26 points from Careagain Finley.

The Bradford boys and girls basketball teams have had up and down seasons so far in 2012. The Eagles and Lady Eagles hope to get things going when they play

Local teams finding

identities early on

BY HARRISON [email protected]

The black uniforms that Har-ding Academy donned during Friday night’s game marked the beginning of a new school tradi-tion.

“Harding Academy is loaded with traditions,” said Roddy Mote, Wildcat head coach, “It is an honor and a privilege to be at the front of a new tradition.”

The black uniforms were the result of a tradition implement-ed by Mote this week. The team will wear the black uniforms during the fi rst playoff game each season the team qualifi es.

After a tough fi rst half, how-ever, Wildcat fans may have feared the black uniforms were jinxed. For the fi rst time all year, Harding Academy was shut out and trailed in the fi rst half, 14-0, to the Smackover Buckaroos.

However, the Wildcats man-aged to score 21 unanswered second half points to keep their state championship hopes alive.

During the fi rst half, the Wildcats gained only 92 yards of offense. Two big plays put the Buckaroos in good scoring positions. A 41-yard run by Kev-ante Lowery took the Bucka-roos to the 5-yard line, leading to the game’s fi rst score. A 67-yard catch and run by Shaquille

Harding Academy starts new tradition

BY M.A. WEBBSpecial to The Daily Citizen

Harding senior quarter-back Kelvin Martin set a goal after the Bisons’ season open-ing win at North Alabama in September: Get back home.

After Harding picked apart a Top-25 North Alabama team 31-10, the Florence, Ala., native decided he want-ed to play his fi nal college game back at Braly Munici-pal Stadium in the Division-II National Championship.

“My church said they were going to feed us steak next time we come down,” Martin said. “We’ve made it this far, but make no mistake, we’re not satisfi ed at all.”

Martin and the Bisons took one big step toward realizing their lofty goal by whipping Southwestern Oklahoma State 38-7 on Saturday. With the win, Harding improved to 9-1 and secured a spot in the NCAA Division-II playoffs for the fi rst time in school history.

If the pressure of making football history or the weekly Super Region rankings or the cheers of 2,600 fans at First

Security Stadium was weigh-ing on the Bisons Saturday af-ternoon, they certainly didn’t show it.

The Bisons won in quintes-sential Harding fashion, by running the ball hard, dominat-ing on defense and generating big plays on special teams.

“I’m so proud of our guys,”

said Ronnie Huckeba, Hard-ing head coach. “It would have been so easy to get distracted with all of the playoff talk, but they came out and played great today. I’ve said it several times, this is the most talented group in the 27 years that I’ve been as-sociated with coaching at Har-ding, and they’ve proven me

right.”Senior defensive end and

special teams nightmare Ty Powell came up with the game’s fi rst big play, blocking a short Colton Rainey fi eld goal on Southwestern Oklahoma State’s fi rst drive.

Harding qualifies for first-ever D2 playoff gameBY HARRISON [email protected]

The Harding University women’s basketball team wast-ed no time showing fans why it was picked to fi nish fi rst in the Great American Conference this season.

The Lady Bisons ran the fl oor early and often and were never tested in a 73-50 win against Christian Brothers at the Rhodes Field House on Sat-urday.

After a challenging exhibi-tion season that saw the Lady

Bisons notch a win against Division-I Oral Roberts, Hard-ing (1-0) looked in mid-season form when it fi nally played its fi rst home game.

“I think when you play teams that are hard, you learn so much that will help you later on and right now,” said Kristen Celsor, junior forward.

Celsor, a former Searcy High School standout, scored 14 points and collected fi ve re-bounds and two steals — one of which earned her a scratch on the forehead and a butterfl y

bandage.Harding Head Coach Tim

Kirby said the fi rst game can set the tone for the rest of the sea-son and he was pleased with his team’s effort on Saturday.

“We’ve gone through a long preseason, but we are still fi nd-ing our mentality,” Kirby said. “I thought we played hard to-night and we are developing a level of intensity.”

Sophomore Shana Holmes led Harding with 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting and Mon-tana Lewis, last season’s Great

American Conference Fresh-man of the Year, added 11 points and six rebounds.

Celsor said the Lady Bisons have a long way to go, but they did a lot of things right on Sat-urday, including out-rebound-ing Christian Brothers 49 to 27.

“We rebounded really well and we played to our strengths,” Celsor said. “We ran the fl oor really well and we got the ball to our 3-point shooters when they were open but we also did

Lady Bisons basketball team gets off on right foot in GACBY HARRISON [email protected]

The Searcy football team was all smiles when Siloam Springs quarterback Austin Van Poucke threw the ball into the turf on the fi nal play of the second quarter on Friday night.

The Lions (6-5) had all but secured a spot in the second round of the playoffs after a 28-0 drubbing of Siloam Springs in the fi rst half that could have easily been 42-0.

More importantly, it ap-peared as though the already thin and now banged up Lions

would be able to rest some of their overworked starters in the fourth quarter.

That all went out the window a few minutes into the second half thanks to a pair of unpre-dictable bounces.

A touchdown away from being mercy-ruled, Siloam Springs (1-10) surprised the Li-ons with an onside kick to open the second half.

The Panthers recovered the ball with great fi eld posi-

tion and four plays later, VanPoucke dove in from a yard outto make the score 28-7 Searcy.

Still down by three scores,Siloam Springs again opted toonside kick, again recoveredand again scored a touchdown,this time fi ve plays later.

“I thought we were going torun away with it and end upputting our JV in and we wouldbe able to rest up for next

Lions could have used restBY HARRISON [email protected]

Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Harding defensive end Ty Powell leaps over Southwestern Oklahoma State running back Aaron Wilson in an acrobatic at-tempt to sack Bulldogs quarterback Dustin Stenta during the Bisons’ 38-7 home victory Saturday. With the win, Harding qualified for the playoffs for the first time in school history.


Harding wide receiver Donatella Luckett secures a touchdown catch against his helmet as Southwestern Oklahoma State defensive back Brandon Washington looks on during the Bi-sons’ 38-7 home victory Saturday.

Please see HARDING | 3B

Please see LOCAL | 2B

Please see LIONS | 2B

Lions football

Record: 6-5Last result: 49-48 win

against Siloam Springs on Friday

Next up: The Lions play at El Dorado Friday at 7 p.m., in the second round of the playoffs.

Please see BASKETBALL | 2B

Please see PLAYOFF | 3B

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2012 SPORTSDaily CitizenThe

5 PLAYS LEAD TO LIONS’ MIRACLE

BulldogsSignificance: Bald Knob’s

first-ever game against River-view

Outcome: Bulldogs won 21-20

Harding Academy volleyball

What: The Lady Wildcats played at the Arkansas State University Play Day Saturday

Results: The Lady Wildcats went 3-3 in pool play and ad-vanced to the quarterfinals

SECTION BSports Editor Harrison Keegan

501-268-8621 [email protected]

The Harding Academy vol-leyball team did not lose a game during the fi rst half of the con-ference season, but Head Coach Michal Giboney knew her team still had a lot of room for im-provement.

On Saturday, the Lady Wild-cats played at the Arkansas State Play Day. Giboney said it was a long day as Harding Acad-emy played eight sets, but she thought the experience her team gained was invaluable.

“Every team we played today was bigger than us, so that can only help us,” Giboney said. “My girls are tired. They battled, they competed and they got some wins.”

Harding Academy went 3-3 in pool play. The Lady Wildcats split two sets with Brookland 25-16, 22-25, then the Harding Academy girls defeated Wynne 25-17, 25-10 before dropping two sets against Paragould 17-25, 23-25.

The Lady Wildcats then ad-vanced to the quarterfi nal where they were beaten by Mountain Home 25-17, 25-23.

The Lady Wildcats only had one loss on the season before Saturday’s tournament but Giboney said the losses don’t matter, it’s the experience that does.

“They just stepped up and

Lady Wildcats gain experience at tournament


If the fi rst installment was any indication, Bald Knob vs. River-view is going to be an exciting rivalry game to watch.

For now, Bald Knob is enjoy-ing bragging rights in the teams’ fi rst-ever contest. The Bulldogs pulled out a nail-biting 21-20 victory Friday in the the 2-3A opener for both schools that was decided late in the fourth quarter.

“I believe that we started that rivalry with this game.” said Paul Johnston, Bald Knob head coach.

Riverview coach Stuart Hill worked with Johnston from 1998 until 2002 as part of the Bulldogs coaching staff. The similarities in the aggressive coaching styles were evident when failed fourth down at-tempts by both coaches led to touchdowns for the other teams.

“You roll the dice and some-times you win,” Johnston said. “I believed in the defense and that is why we called those plays.”

The Bulldogs scored fi rst

Bulldogs relish

conference triumph

BY M. A. WEBBSpecial to The Daily Citizen

When a defensive lineman gets an interception, that’s an unlikely play.

When the kicker recovers his own onside kick, that’s an unlikely play.

When a quarterback with four completions on the night throws a 40-yard touchdown pass as time expires, that’s a very unlikely play.

When all three of those

things happen in the last sev-en minutes of a game, that’s something else entirely.

“It felt like we won the state championship or something,” said Searcy senior wide re-ceiver Darius Bowman after he hauled in Antwan Arnold’s Hail Mary pass and fell into the end zone as time expired to give Searcy an improbable 19-14 win against Little Rock Central Friday night at Lion Stadium.

Bowman caught two touch-down passes in the fi nal 1:30, but those were just two of fi ve

incredible plays that saved Searcy (2-2) from its third heartbreaking loss in a row.

■ Play No. 1: This is the one most fans don’t remember. Early in the fourth quarter, the Lions were down 14-7 and backed up to their own 13-yard line. The offense had been spinning its wheels since Arnold’s 17-yard touchdown run in the opening period.


Rose Bud Head Coach Steve Rose knew his team would have its hands full with Barton Fri-day night.

The Bears came into the sea-son ranked No. 2 in the 2-3A preseason polls and they have speed at all of the skill posi-tions. It was to be a good test for Rose’s 2-0 Ramblers.

Rose left Barton High School

Friday night impressed with both teams after a 41-14 Ram-blers loss.

“We thought we played hard, we just didn’t ex-ecute,” Rose said. “I’ll be surprised if we see a team as good as Bar-ton the rest of the year. I was very

impressed by them.”The Rose Bud offense didn’t

get on the board until junior quarterback Christian Reyn-

olds found senior wideout Dil-lon Reesnes on a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes. And by then it was too late as the Bears broken enough big plays to run away with the win.

“We kept it bottled up pretty well in the fi rst half,” Rose said of Barton’s speed. “But when we scored to make it 27-7 early in the fourth we had a little down

Ramblers look ahead to Harding AcademyBY HARRISON [email protected]

The Harding University wom-en’s soccer team comes into to-day’s game at Southern Naza-rene feeling good.

The Lady Bisons won their second straight overtime thriller Friday night against East Cen-tral and they are looking to stay undefeated in Great American Conference play with a win to-day.

It took the Harding women’s

soccer team extra time to get the result as they defeated East Central 2-1 in the second half of overtime Friday in GAC action.

The Lady Bisons improved to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the GAC.

Harding got on the board fi rst in the 32nd minute when senior Lauren Scharf took it herself, dribbling halfway down the fi eld before fi nding the back of the net for the second straight game. Scharf scored her fi rst goal of the season Tuesday in a 4-3 over-time win at Lyon.

After trailing 1-0 at halftime, East Central (0-6-1, 0-1 GAC) got the equalizer in the 72nd

minute when Carla Rodriguez found Taylor Graves on a free kick for her fi rst goal of the sea-son.

The Lady Bisons defense then held off the fi nal push by the Lady Tigers. ECU took four shots in the fi nal fi ve minutes of regulation but only one was on frame.

East Central had the only op-portunity to score in the fi rst half

Lady Bisons soccer play on the road again todayBY NATHAN LOONEYSpecial to The Daily Citizen

The Bisons are 3-0 for the fi rst time since 2004 after a third straight dominant road win to open the season.

This time, Harding Universi-ty played at Southern Nazarene and beat the Crimson Storm 42-13 Saturday night in Betha-ny, Okla.

The Bisons scored fi rst as sophomore wide receiver Do-natella Luckett took a reverse

hand off and went 21 yards untouched for a fi rst quarter

touchdown to make it 7-0.The Crimson Storm came

right back with a 32-yard touchdown on a fake punt on their next possession to make it 7-7.

Southern Nazarene (0-4), playing one of their two home games this season, looked poised to take the lead after a Harding fumble set the Crim-son Storm up in Bisons terri-tory.

But redshirt freshman cor-

nerback Trendall Stevenson came up with a huge intercep-tion at the Bisons 6-yard line.

From there, the Harding of-fense got going and churned out an impressive 15-play, 94-yard drive capped by D’Nico Jackson-Best’s fi rst Harding touchdown run from 11 yards out.

He rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

Bisons dominate againBY HARRISON [email protected]

Please see WILDCATS | 2B

Please see BULLDOGS | 3B


Searcy junior defensive back Karonce Higgins jumps for joy after sacking Little Rock Central quarterback Cooper West-brook Friday night. The Lions won the game on a 40-yard touchdown pass as time expired.

Rose

Surprising heroes emergefor Searcy in fourth quarter

Ramblers football

Record: 2-1 (0-1)Last result: 41-14 loss at

BartonNext up: The Ramblers

play at home against Hard-ing Academy Friday at 7 p.m.

Lions football


against Little Rock Central Friday night.

Next up: The Lions play at Mountain Home Friday at 7 p.m.

Please see SEARCY | 4B

Please see RAMBERS | 3B

Please see BISONS | 3B

Lady Bisons soccer

Record: 2-3, 1-0Last result: 2-1 win

against East Central FridayNext up: The Lady Bisons

play today at Southern Naza-rene at 2 p.m.

Bisons football


against Southern Nazarene Saturday

Next up: The Bisons play at home against East Cen-tral University Saturday at 6 p.m.

Please see HU | 3B

By Harrison [email protected]

LITTLE ROCK — There were seven players on the Harding Academy

roster with at least one touchdown catch this sea-son.

Caleb Spears was not one of them.

During the first 47:50 of Saturday's 3A state cham-pionship game, six different Harding Academy players hauled in at least one recep-tion.

Caleb Spears was not one of them.

But with the Wildcats down 45-42 against Glen Rose on Saturday with 10 seconds on the clock, it was Spears who made the biggest catch of the season.

The senior hauled in a Will Francis pass at the 10-yard line, turned upfield, broke a tackle and dove into the end zone with 6 seconds on the clock to cap a stun-ning fourth-quarter drive and give the Wildcats their fifth state championship and the first since 2002 with a 49-45 win.

"If you would have told me with a minute to go that Caleb Spears was going to catch the game-winning touchdown, I wouldn't have believed you," said Francis, the game's most valuable player. "We were trying to go back side, but Caleb was wide open. I took a chance, and it paid off."

Spears made his mark this season as a hard-hitting safety and dutifully played behind standout junior receiver Kohl Blickenstaff on offense. He wasn't even on the field when the Harding Academy offense took over at its own 27-yard line with a 4-point deficit and 63 sec-onds to save its undefeated season.

But when Blickenstaff, Harding Academy's leading receiver on Saturday, came up limping after his 14-yard reception set the Wildcats up with first down at the Glen Rose 32-yard line, Spears was rushed onto the field.

Two plays later, he was lying on the edge of the end zone with his first catch since October.

"I knew we were going to get it done," Spears said "I just didn't know it was going to be me."

Francis carried Harding Academy all afternoon. The senior completed 35-of-48 passes for 499 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for another score, but he was never better than on that final drive.

He calmly completed 5-of-6 passes, ran for a first down and led the Wildcats 73 yards in less than a min-ute against one of the top defenses in the state.

"This is the drive that you

dream about," Francis said. "State championship game, you've got one minute to go and two timeouts. It's the perfect situation."

Harding Academy (14-0) and Glen Rose (13-2) went back and forth all afternoon, with each offense trying to outshine the other one.

The Beavers thought they

had the game won after senior quarterback Collin Hunter found wide receiver James Petersen in the end zone to give them a 4-point lead with 1:11 on the clock.

But that was too much time for Francis and com-pany.

Sunday, december 9, 2012 SportSseCTion B

sports editor Harrison Keegan501-268-8621

[email protected] Citizen

The

Wildcats Win state!ArkAnsAs ClAss 3A FootbAll stAte ChAmpionship gAme

Please see CHampions | 3B

harding Academy beats glen rose on last-minute touchdown, 49-45

Harding Academy junior Kohl Blickenstaff celebrates as the final second ticks off the clock during the Wildcats' come-from-behind 49-45 state championship victory over Glen Rose at War Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon. Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Harding Academy junior Trey Davis drops to his knees and cries tears of joy as time expires during the Wildcats' comeback win over Glen Rose in the state championship game Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats finish the year 14-0. Jacob Brower/[email protected]

Harding Academy senior wide receiver Caleb Spears cele-brates after scoring the Wildcats’ game-winning touchdown with 6 seconds left during his team's 49-45 championship win over Glen Rose Saturday afternoon. It was Spears' first touchdown catch of the season and his only catch of the game. Jacob Brower/[email protected]

CitizenDailyThe

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Vol. 158, No. 160©2012 The Daily Citizen

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is freedom’s road.

JOHN F. KENNEDY35th President of the United States

Contact us: 3000 E. Race, Searcy, AR 72143, (Phone) 501-268-8621, (Fax) 501-268-6277

THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2012 75¢

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WHITE COUNTY RINGS IN THE FOURTH

CITIES CELEBRATE NATION’S INDEPENDENCE Hundreds attended Fourth of July celebrations in Beebe, Russell and Pangburn Wednesday. — PAGE 2A

LIONS HOPE TO GO OUT ON A HIGH NOTESearcy’s baseball team is hoping for revenge against Conway in tourney play today. — PAGE 1B

The future of the Highway 36/67 Connector Route project is safe for now, but that could change after the upcoming leg-islative session.

Arkansas Highway and Trans-

portation Department spokes-person Randy Ort said the state highway commission decided at its most recent meeting that there would not be any changes made to the 2013-16 Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

The plan lists all projects that the highway department plans to accomplish during the three years listed, includ-ing the Searcy project.

However, the commission

Bypass project in state’s plansBY MOLLY M. [email protected]

Plans could be altered after legislative session Searcy bypassThe Highway 36/67 Con-

nector Route project has been included in the State-wide Transportation Improve-ment Plan for 2013-16. The highway commission has decided to not make any changes to that plan until the legislative session in January


Shelley Lincoln’s aim is true as she dunks her husband, White County Judge Mi-chael Lincoln, at the Pangburn Fourth of July festival dunking booth Wednesday morning. Hundreds attended for the city’s annual celebration. Turn to Pages 2A and 3A for more photos from the Pangburn, Beebe and Russell festivals.

Children have been known to feed their broccoli to the dog under the ta-ble and later sneak into the cabinet for a cookie.

Elementary students in Searcy Pub-lic Schools, h o w e v e r , have learned to appreci-ate the taste and wholesomeness of health-ful foods through a program established by the United States

Schools approved for USDA

grant again

BY MARISA [email protected]

What began as a creative way to teach her daughter a lesson resulted in the publishing of a children’s book for one local woman.

Carol King Kennard is a registered dietitian and self-employed health and w e l l n e s s coach. In ad-dition, she is a certifi ed children’s etiquette trainer. She lives in Ro-mance with her husband, Piper, and their three children, Celine, 11, Yana, 6, and Luke, 4.

Three years ago, Kennard said, Yana had trouble going to sleep and, instead, disturbed her fam-ily with a lot of noise.

“I remember getting up with Yana several times,” Kennard

Local dietitian publishes first book

BY MARISA [email protected]

Kennard

Davis

USDA grantWho: Sidney Deener and

McRae elementary schoolsWhat: Will again receive

USDA grant money through the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program

Why: To provide healthful snacks each day to students

Funds provide fruit, vegetables to

students at 2 Searcy elementaries

BY CHUCK BARTELSAssociated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Three people were arrested on felony charges after they allegedly set a Lonoke County home on fi re by shoot-ing fi reworks Wednesday, de-spite authorities' statewide plea to not use incendiaries on Inde-pendence Day.

The Lonoke County Sheriff's Department said the home in Cabot, along with several out-buildings, caught fi re about 3:30 p.m., around the time that authorities were alerted to three people were riding all-terrain vehicles in the area and lighting fi reworks.

The sheriff's department said a state trooper arrested Katlynn Mayfi eld, 23, Samantha Ash-ley Mayfi eld, 21, and Matthew Mayfi eld, 24, all of Cabot. They are charged with felony crimi-nal mischief, but hadn't been booked into jail yet Wednesday evening.

A sheriff's dispatcher couldn't address questions about wheth-er the three were cited and re-

House fire blamed on fireworks

Please see GRANT | 2A

Children’s book

Who: Carol King Kennard of Romance

What: Will have a book signing for her new book “I Can Be Quiet”

Where: Hastings Entertain-ment in Searcy

‘I Can Be Quiet’ teaches children to

consider others

Please see BOOK | 3A

BY SCARLET SIMSAssociated Press

CONWAY — For years, the University of Central Arkansas has put off giving professors pay raises while the struggling university tried to climb out of fi scal distress, offi cials said. Now, just as UCA is on the cusp of recovery, faculty members are starting to think about leav-ing unless they get pay raises soon.

"It hasn't happened yet, but it's going to begin to directly impact students as they show

up and see their favorite pro-fessors are gone," UCA Faculty Senate President Kevin Browne said.

Faculty pay has taken the brunt of UCA's efforts to bal-ance its budget and climb out

of fi scal mess brought on by years of prior mismanagement, Browne said.

In 2008, after years of over-extending itself by buying property out-of-pocket, UCA found itself struggling to pay

its bills month to month with-out borrowing, President Tom Courtway said.

"We spent more than we took in for a period of years," he said. "Other times, we took money in the checking account and paid for capital expenditures, and we just shouldn't have done it."

This May, UCA's Board of Trustees approved raising the university's tuition rate and fees to pay for critical needs, rising costs and a salary ad-

UCA faculty looking for pay raises“There is a limit to our idealism. People

are leaving. People are looking (for other jobs).”

Kevin BrowneUCA Faculty Senate president

Please see UCA | 2A Please see FIRE | 2A

Please see BYPASS | 3A

Jacob Brower

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