FORT SMITH -- Junior quarterback Derrick Wise showed his play-making ability Friday night for the Fort Smith Northside Grizzlies.

Wise, who converted from running back last year, led the way both in the air and on the ground in a 41-28 victory against Van Buren at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.

Wise finished with 22 carries for 184 yards with 3 rushing touchdowns. He also showed his ability to throw the ball, finishing 7 of 12 passing for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns.

"He did a good job," Northside coach Mike Falleur said of Wise. "He's got to be the leader for us on offense. He did that for us tonight. We just got to get him confident throwing the ball. He looked good with that. We'll look to throw it even more now."

Northside (1-1) took advantage of early opportunities then in the final seconds of the first half extended its lead out to 28-14 heading into the break.

The Grizzlies took over at their own 44-yard line with just 36 seconds left but needed just four plays to find the end zone to respond to a quick touchdown drive from the Pointers.

Wise capped the drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to J.T. Thorne with just two seconds left in the second quarter to take a 28-14 lead.

"That was big," Falleur said. "If you can get one like that, it gives you a lot momentum. You always want to be the last team to score there."

Van Buren (0-2) on the drive just before that needed eight plays to cut the lead to 21-14 with 42 seconds left in the first half.

Van Buren junior quarterback Christian Morrow connected with senior Isaac Lipe for a 23-yard touchdown.

Northside jumped out to a 14-0 lead with Wise leading the way for the Grizzlies.

Van Buren fumbled on its first play of the game then Wise made the most of it on the next possession. Wise rushed for a 20-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive to take a 7-0 lead with 10:32 left in the first quarter.

The Pointers lost another fumble on their next drive, and the Grizzlies took advantage again. Wise capped the 57-yard scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. That score gave Northside a 14-0 lead with 6:30 left in the initial quarter.

"You can't spot them two touchdowns and get back into the game," Van Buren coach Greg Werner said. "We just kept making plays though. In the end, they made more plays than we did. We got to go back to work."

Van Buren senior running back Walter Green lost Van Buren's first two fumbles but made up for it with a big special teams play after Northside's scores. Green helped cut the lead to 14-7 with a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Morrow finished 11 of 22 for 202 yards with 3 touchdowns to lead the way for the Pointers. Humphreys had 7 catches, including five in the second half, for 119 yards with a touchdown.

Green finished with 86 rushing yards on 24 carries along with his kickoff return for a touchdown for Van Buren.

Northside's Jackson King had 9 carries for 85 yards with a touchdown. Eli Bolton also added 89 yards on 15 carries.
