It's the start of the football season in Fordyce, Arkansas. And the excitement isn't just in the air, it's painted all over town.
"It's very, very rich in tradition," Fordyce High School principal, and former Redbug football player, Chase McCollum said.
You can't go five feet down Main Street without seeing a window, a banner or a sign supporting the Redbugs.
"The town has really gotten behind them this year," said head football coach, Tim Rodgers. "We hope that can just go out there and keep the town happy."
The Redbugs have been playing football in Fordyce for over a century.
"The program started in 1904," said McCollum. "I mean, there's some really, really big names and people that have touched hundreds and hundreds of lives."
They start them young in Fordyce. And each new generation grows up knowing that one day they'll be a Redbug too.
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Roughly three years after the Dripping Springs Tigers shocked the Vandegrift Vipers with a walk-off field goal to open the 2022 season at Vandegrift, they did it again. Only this time, they did it convincingly in all phases to knock off the defending 6A DII State Champion Vipers 41-14 in front of an enraptured crowd at Tiger Stadium on Friday (8/29).
Junior running back Lawson Attaway opened the scoring with a bullrush into the end zone from 4-yards out to cap off a well-executed 1st quarter drive. With the Dripping Springs defense keeping the Viper offense off-balance, Tigers quarterback Chase Ames found senior Cooper Reed (5-83, TD) for a 26-yard strike and the Tigers led 14-0 after Ian French’s PAT.
After the Drip defense came up with a huge stop on 4th down with the first half winding down, Ames connected with Merrik Bloomgren (3-42, TD) for 21-yards out and the Tigers led 20-0 after the PAT doinked off the upright. Ames (17-24, 244 yds., 4 TDs), looked like anything but a rookie making his first career start, finding open receivers and consistently navigating the Tigers offense through multiple third and fourth-and-long situations.
But the Vipers came back to life.
Senior quarterback Miles Teodecki suddenly began finding his receivers Brock Chilton, Gavin Koeseter and Thomas Buechler while senior running back Justin Moore started finding some holes in a masterful 2-minute drive. Teodecki (17-34, 199 Yds., TD, INT) somehow squeezed the ball into the hands of unheralded senior tight end Arnav Sagi amidst a mass of humanity in the end zone on the final play of the first half. Wiley Olson’s PAT sent the game into the half at 20-7.
Vandegrift picked up where they left off in the second half. Following a long Teodecki-to-Koester pass play, Moore pinwheeled to paydirt from 6 yards out and the Vipers were back in it at 20-14.
But Dripping Springs went right back to work, with Ames finding running back Jaceton Gotta on an 11-yard wheel route to up the Tiger lead to 27-14. Gotta also had a solid rushing night with 66 yards on 21 carries for the Tigers.
After the Tiger defense plucked a ricocheted pass out of the air to stymie the Vipers’ next drive, Attaway (9-43, 2 TDs) capped off another grinding drive with his second touchdown run to rebuild the hosts’ 20-point edge. Situational quarterback Mateo Perez capped off the scoring with a 47-yard pass to Will Foreman.
Vandegrift (0-1) will look to bounce back and avenge their only loss last season when they host their oldest rival Cedar Park Friday night (9/5) at Ed W. Monroe Memorial Stadium. Dripping Springs (1-0) will look to avoid a letdown when the Tigers travel to San Antonio to face Wagner.
