Heber Springs’ Seven Touchdown Passes Lift Panthers Past Dardanelle
Heber Springs 60, Dardanelle 41
HEBER SPRINGS — Heber Springs threw seven touchdown passes and scored on its first seven possessions Friday to defeat Dardanelle 60-41 at Panther Stadium.
Dardanelle quarterback CJ Cursh accounted for all six Sand Lizards touchdowns, rushing for five and throwing a 60-yard scoring pass to Brayden Mans. His touchdown runs covered 80, 39, 15, 80 and 35 yards, totaling 249 yards on those five carries alone.
Quarterback Spencer Sugg opened the scoring with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Graham. Cursh answered on Dardanelle’s first offensive snap, running 80 yards to tie the game 7-7.
Tight end Noah Engholm caught a 14-yard touchdown pass before Cursh’s 39-yard run tied it 14-14. Lane Bradley turned a screen pass into a 47-yard touchdown, and the Panthers added an 8-yard scoring run for a 28-14 lead.
Cursh found Mans for a 60-yard touchdown with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter. The teams combined for 49 points in that period.
Heber Springs added three touchdown passes in the second quarter. Cursh countered with scoring runs of 15 and 80 yards, the latter cutting the Panthers’ lead to 40-35 with 1:24 remaining. Heber Springs answered with a touchdown pass with 42 seconds left and intercepted a pass before halftime.
The Panthers led 47-35 at the break, then recovered a fumble at their 25 to end Dardanelle’s opening third-quarter possession. A 41-yard touchdown pass on third-and-30 extended the lead to 54-35.
Cursh’s 35-yard scoring run brought Dardanelle within 54-41 late in the third quarter. Bradley added an 11-yard touchdown run with 11:25 remaining to complete the scoring.
Heber Springs stopped Dardanelle on downs with 6:32 left and retained possession for the remainder of the game, converting a fourth down before taking a knee.
Heber Springs improved to 2-1. Dardanelle is 1-2 with an open date next week.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
- 10:46: Heber Springs – Tanner Graham 50-yard touchdown reception (Golden Tate kick), Heber Springs 7-0.
- 10:33: Dardanelle – CJ Cursh 80-yard run (Leo Martinez kick), tied 7-7.
- 9:38: Heber Springs – Noah Engholm 14-yard touchdown reception (Tate kick), Heber Springs 14-7.
- 8:33: Dardanelle – Cursh 39-yard run (Martinez kick), tied 14-14.
- 7:39: Heber Springs – Lane Bradley 47-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass (Tate kick), Heber Springs 21-14.
- 4:07: Heber Springs – 8-yard touchdown run, (Tate kick), Heber Springs 28-14.
- 3:03: Dardanelle – Brayden Mans 60-yard pass from Cursh (Martinez kick), Heber Springs 28-21.
2nd Quarter
- 9:11: Heber Springs – Touchdown pass, (kick blocked), Heber Springs 34-21.
- 3:49: Dardanelle – Cursh 15-yard run (Martinez kick), Heber Springs 34-28.
- 1:37: Heber Springs – 7-yard touchdown pass, (two-point pass broken up by Mans), Heber Springs 40-28.
- 1:24: Dardanelle – Cursh 80-yard run (Martinez kick), Heber Springs 40-35.
- 0:42: Heber Springs – 44-yard touchdown pass, (Tate kick), Heber Springs 47-35.
3rd Quarter
- 4:02: Heber Springs – 41-yard touchdown pass, (Tate kick), Heber Springs 54-35.
- 0:30: Dardanelle – Cursh 35-yard run (kick failed), Heber Springs 54-41.
4th Quarter
- 11:25: Heber Springs – Bradley 11-yard run (two-point run stopped), Heber Springs 60-41.
Players Who Stood Out
- Spencer Sugg, Heber Springs, QB: Threw first-quarter touchdown passes of 50 yards to Tanner Graham, 14 yards to Noah Engholm and 47 yards to Lane Bradley.
- CJ Cursh, Dardanelle: Five rushing touchdowns covering 249 yards on the scoring runs alone; threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Mans.
- Lane Bradley, Heber Springs, RB: Scored on a 47-yard screen reception and an 11-yard run.
- Brayden Mans, Dardanelle, WR/CB: Caught a 60-yard touchdown pass and broke up a two-point conversion pass in the second quarter.
- Tanner Graham, Heber Springs, WR/CB: Caught the opening 50-yard touchdown pass with 10:46 remaining in the first quarter.
- Noah Engholm, Heber Springs, TE: Caught a 14-yard touchdown pass that gave the Panthers a 14-7 first-quarter lead.