SPRINGDALE — Springdale High senior T.C. Barkey walked off the field in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium on Friday night with his helmet held in the air.

For one of the few times this season, the senior running back hugged his teammates, congratulated his coaches and pointed to a few of Springdale's fans, showing his gratitude for their constant support.

It was only a few minutes earlier that Barkey caught a crucial 3-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Joseph Calcagni on third-and-goal to give the Bulldogs the needed score to defeat Rogers High 29-22.

The victory for Springdale (4-6, 2-5 7A-West Conference) was the medicine it needed to forget about a season full of misfortunes, including two last-second conference losses, a freak bus accident in Fayetteville on Oct. 2 and coach Kevin Johnson's ongoing battle with lung and colon cancer.

Barkey's game-winning reception wouldn't have been possible if senior Cole Sizemore didn't recover a Rogers fumble -- the Mounties' only turnover of the game -- with 3 minutes, 27 seconds left.

"We finally overcame the hump. We finally broke through and won a game with everything finally going our way," Barkey said. "It's been a long season, but we did it; we all did it. And this is the greatest feeling in the world."

Springdale, which will be the West's No. 6 seed in the Class 7A playoffs, will play at Russellville, the Central's No. 3 seed, in the first round next week.

Barkey finished with a team-high 71 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards Friday, capping off an impressive two weeks where he's combined for 244 total yards of offense.

"These kids have never quit. They've kept fighting," Springdale interim coach Dennis DeBusk said. "I kept telling them that something good will eventually happen, and they got it (Friday). Our defense played great and got the job done to help us win the game."

Throughout the first three quarters, Rogers (2-8, 0-7) controlled possession of the ball with its running attack and even had a 22-14 lead with 11:05 left in the game.

But Springdale managed to tie the game with a 12-play drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Calcagni and a crucial two-point conversion pass from Calcagni to sophomore Kempys Robinson.

Led by a team-high 103 rushing yards from senior Brandon Austin and 73 from Bronson Carpenter, the Mounties combined for 276 yards of total offense and 17 first downs.

"Obviously the fumble was the difference in the game," Rogers coach Ronnie Peacock said. "I told our players at halftime that in a game like this, let's not come away wishing we didn't do this or that -- and that's exactly what we did. It was a game about field position, and Springdale happened to come away with the breaks it needed."

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