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Faust Wants To Redeem Himself
Last updated Thursday, November 13, 2008 11:16 PM CST in Prep Sports
By Matt Jones
Special to THE MORNING NEWS
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SPRINGDALE — Springdale Har-Ber coach Chris Wood has helped coach some of the state’s best quarterbacks.
The third-year Wildcats’ has watched as an assistant as veteran quarterbacks Rhett Lashlee of Shiloh Christian and Mitch Mustain of Springdale High led their teams to state championships.
This year, Wood has another senior quarterback at the helm in Zach Faust.
“Every one of those quarterbacks are different,” Wood said. “It’s hard to rank them when all their strengths and attributes physically are different. But they all had great leadership, and Zach is right there with them.
“It’s good having Zach there, especially being a senior that’s been through the playoffs before.”
Faust has passed for 2,321 yards and 19 touchdowns as a senior in helping the Wildcats (8-2) to the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Their quest begins tonight with a matchup against North Little Rock in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
Faust split time at quarterback for the Wildcats in the 2007 postseason, helping to lead Har-Ber to the Class 7A State Championship Game, where it lost to Fayetteville.
“Last year we got all the way to Little Rock and lost to Fayetteville,” Faust said. “I didn’t play well in the state game, so I want to get back and redeem myself.”
Faust (5-foot-10, 189 pounds) has had a consistent season for the most part, he said, but he admits it has been topsy-turvy at times.
After struggling in a win over Rogers High, Faust passed for 428 yards and seven touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 49-17 Homecoming win over Rogers Heritage in Week 7, but followed it up one week later with a two-interception performance in a loss at Fort Smith Southside.
“Against Southside we just couldn’t find a rhythm,” Faust said of the 27-22 loss on Oct. 24. “I had a tough time finding open receivers to throw the ball to.”
Faust has bounced back from the loss in Fort Smith, however, helping lead the Wildcats to consecutive wins, first over defending state champion Fayetteville and a 20-6 win over No. 1 Bentonville last week.
That loss at Southside helped the team refocus, Wood said.
“It taught us we can’t take anything for granted and we can’t just show up,” Wood said. “It showed us we’ve got to be very disciplined — not only on Friday nights, but in the week getting ready for the game. That lesson was for everybody from the coaches to the players.”
Wood said it was important for the team to head into the playoffs with momentum.
“Our biggest goal (going into the last two weeks) was to start playing better and more consistently in terms of games together,” Wood said. “If you struggle and aren’t consistent week-to-week, there’s a good chance you’re going to lose in the playoffs.
“I think we’re moving forward. We’ve improved the last two weeks.”
In those two games, Faust played better, he said, completing more than 50 percent of his passes for 358 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Tonight won’t get any easier.
The Charging Wildcats (7-3) have a tough defense. North Little Rock had shutout wins over Texarkana and Little Rock Central during the regular season and didn’t allow a touchdown until the fourth week of the year.
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