Football Recap: Van Buren Makes It Four in a Row at Home

Pointers

Lowest Scoring Games

10/17/25 vs Southside	17-10
09/12/25 @ Greenbrier	34-48
10/10/25 vs Lake Hamilton	36-7

Van Buren and Southside pushed the score to 42-28 the last time they played Southside, but on Friday defenses reigned supreme. The Pointers came out on top against the Mavericks by a score of 17-10. Those 17 points were actually the fewest the Pointers have put up all season, but given the result they're probably not too concerned.

The critical scores for Van Buren came from Tristan Ray and Darren Mays.

Van Buren's run defense was locked in: Southside could only muster 3.3 yards per carry. While two picked up at least 12 total tackles, Mays stood above the rest. He made 12 total tackles (1.0 for loss) and snagged an interception which he returned one-yard for a touchdown. Van Buren's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.63 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 4.8 on average over their last three games.

Van Buren didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Ray, Mays, and Talen Jones picked up one apiece. Mays has been hot recently, having also posted ten or more total tackles the last four times he's played. He got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.

Van Buren's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 5-2. As for Southside, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-3.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Van Buren is set to square off against their familiar foe Greenwood at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. That contest will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: Hayden Williford and Kane Archer. Meanwhile, Southside will face off against rival Russellville at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.