“We just weren’t clicking,” Wood said. “It was a block here or a route there. It was just one or two things. The kids were playing hard. It was just a matter of getting some things down.”
Friday’s performance was the first 400-yard outing of the conference season for Har-Ber and a season high for scoring.
Top Showdown
Bentonville set up the showdown for the conference championship in the regularseason finale with a 28-0 win over Springdale High.
Bentonville will host the game that also features the Associated Press poll’s top two teams, the No. 1 Wildcats of Har-Ber against the No. 2 Tigers.
Since losing to Southside five weeks ago, Bentonville has rebounded. The Tigers have scored 170 points in the past four games and averaged 414 yards per game.
Last year, Bentonville entered the final week of the regular season ranked No. 1 and lost 20-6 to Har-Ber. The Tigers managed just six first downs in the loss.
Bentonville still won the outright conference title and went on to win the state title.
The Tigers are trying for a third straight conference title.
The only other time Bentonville has won three straight league titles was in 1961-63 under Robert Fuqua, sharing the first and winning the championship outright the final two years.
Five Are In
Har-Ber and Bentonville have already secured the top two seeds in the conference and first-round byes in the Class 7A state playoffs.
Fayetteville and Rogers Heritage are each 4-2 and will play Friday night, with the winner securing the third seed and a first-round game against the loser of Thursday’s game between Conway and Little Rock Catholic. The loser of Friday’s game between Fayetteville and Heritage will receive the fourth seed and will play the winner of the Conway-Little Rock Catholic game.
Fort Smith Southside is the fifth seed regardless of the outcome of Friday’s game against Fort Smith Northside and regardless of the outcome between Fayetteville and Heritage since the Rebels lost to both of those teams in conference play.
Springdale can earn thesixth and final playoff spot with a win against Rogers. If Springdale loses and Northside defeats Southside, the Grizzlies will be the sixth seed. If Rogers defeats Springdale by at least four points and Northside loses, then the Mountaineers will garner the final playoff spot.
Another Rivalry
Springdale-Fayetteville and Rogers-Bentonville are the two most played rivalries in the state, but Springdale and Rogers have played each other almost as much.
Friday’s game between Rogers and Springdale will mark the 107th meeting between the two schools, with Springdale holding a 57-38-11 lead in the series, which began in 1913 with Springdale winning, 87-0, according to Springdale football historian Ron Bradshaw.
Remember When
The last time the top-ranked teams in the Associated Press met?
Friday night’s showdown between Har-Ber and Bentonville will feature the top two teams in the state, according to the Associated Press statewide poll.
Cabot’s loss to Bryant two weeks ago propelled Har-Ber and Bentonville into the top spots.
Friday’s game will mark the 12th meeting between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the state since the merger of the big-school conference into the current playoff system in 1983. The No. 1 team holds a 7-4 edge over No. 2 during that time.
Sports, Pages 8 on 11/03/2009
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