Alma Football
Airedales fall late to Pointers
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Alma football coach Rusty Bush saw plenty of good things in Friday’s 40-29 loss to Van Buren. Like most non-conference games, the veteran Airedale coach also saw room for improvement.
“Obviously, it’s disappointing to lose a rival football game like that,” Bush said. “(But) I’m extremely happy with some things we saw this early in the season. We’ve got a young, inexperienced team that I thought played a lot further ahead. We had several explosive plays offensively, but we turned the ball over too much.”
Alma gave up a short Van Buren scoring drive by fumbling inside its own 10. The Pointers had a scoop-and-score on the game’s final play.
First-year starting quarterback Chase Parker completed 11-of-22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns, including a pretty 80-yarder to Samuel Schlegel. Junior Dylan Jackson caught two touchdowns and had five receptions for 145 yards.
Alma spotted the Pointers a 14-0 lead before scoring 22 unanswered points.
“I think he (Parker) did some really good things,” Bush said. “I don’t think the game was too big for him. He went out there and let the game come to him. He’s just going to get better, just like all of them. We’ve got some inexperienced guys out there, with a mix of guys who have played before. The Sam’s (Schlegel), Easton Daily, and Lockland Flanagans, who are going to have to be good leaders and push us through this non-conference season.”
Schlegel had a remarkable game for the Airedales, throwing a 40-yard TD pass to Jackson, catching an 80-yarder, and adding a short rushing touchdown. He’s the first Airedale to throw a touchdown and catch a TD in the same game since Gregg Grant threw a TD and caught a touchdown pass during a 34-6 win over Sallisaw on Sept. 17, 1978.
“That’s especially hard to do for a non-quarterback,” Bush said. “That’s probably fairly common with a quarterback. But when you’re talking about a guy who plays wide receiver 95 percent of the snaps, who rushed for one, threw for one, and caught one. He averaged a little over 30 yards on punts and had three good returns for us on kickoff. I’m really proud of Sam; he let the game come to him.”
Photo Courtesy of Ron Green - Alma junior linebacker Izaac Plourde led the defensive unit with 16 tackles, including one of the team’s three TFLs.
Defense
Junior Izaac Plourde led the team with 16 tackles, including one of the team’s five TFLs (tackle for loss). Not to be outdone, Demetrius Humphrey added 13 stops, including a team-high nine solo tackles and two TFLs. He also added a sack.
Owen McCoy and Tristan Nutt had 11 tackles apiece, with McCoy snatching one of three Alma interceptions. The Airedales forced six turnovers in all, with senior John Crump recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass near the goal line to thwart a Van Buren drive.
Tristan Nutt also had two tackles for loss.
Ashton Milsap had an interception.
“Defensively, we created a bunch of turnovers, but we also gave up five or six explosive plays that hurt us,” Bush said. “(But) we had some good stops, too. But it goes back to last year; we’re not playing well enough in the second half.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to come out and finish.”
Andrew Bush and Brooks Belcher had nine and seven tackles, respectively. Bush also recovered a fumble.
Special Teams
Junior Daniel Rodriguez kicked a 22-yard field goal for the Airedales, the seventh of his career.. He kicked six field goals in 2024.
Adam Daily holds the school record for field goals with 13 (1995-97).
Next Up
The Airedales and Siloam Springs Panthers will face off for the 40th time this week. Alma leads the all-time series, 31-8.
Last season, Israel Towns-Robinson had two rushing touchdowns, and Jacob Dollard and Brayden Polecat scored first-half touchdowns to pace the Airedales to a 28-14 win over Siloam Springs.
The Panthers have beaten Alma just twice (2007 and 2014) since 1963.
This Day In Airedales History
Sept. 2, 2022: Sophomore Israel Towns-Robinson raced 46 yards for a touchdown, and senior defensive standout Jaden Mahar had seven TFLs (tackles for loss) during the Airedales’ dominating 38-7 win over former 5A-West foe Siloam Springs.