Rebels Well-Grounded
BENTONVILLE EXPECTS FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE TO RUN, RUN, RUN
Posted: November 18, 2009 at 5:31 a.m.
BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville Tigers aren’t anticipating any surprises Friday night. They know exactly what to expect from their quarterfinal foe in the Class 7A playoff s.
Fort Smith Southside ran for 203 yards on 55 carries in its 31-21 home victory over the top-ranked Tigers on Oct. 2. The Rebels handed Bentonville its only loss this season because of their physicality and their commitment to their running game.
So the Tigers surely aren’t having problems preparing for the Southside off ense. “That’s what they do, and they don’t make any bones about it,” Lunney said. “They’re very deliberate in what they do.
They line up and run it at you, and their mentality is, ‘This is what we do. Try and stop it.’ They’re big and physical, and we know they won’t come out and throw it 40 times.”
Bentonville’s defense has thrived this season, ranking first in the 7A-West Conference in points allowed and second in rushing defense. But the Tigers (9-1) failed to adequately stop the run in Jim Rowland Stadium against a Southside team sporting the conference’s second-best rushing attack.
They struggled to contain senior David Adair, who rushed for 108 yards on 24 carries, and junior Lee Hollis, who carried 20 times for 93 yards.
“The No. 1 thing we did in that game was we took care of the ball and we held onto the ball for a long time,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “We were able to run the ball well, so we kept their explosive off ense off the field. We also got some breaks. The ball bounced our way and we got some turnovers.”
Southside’s running game has a slightly different appearance these days than back on Oct. 2. About three weeks ago, Williams suspended Adair for the season.
Since then, Hollis’ carries have increased, and sophomore Julius Jones has stepped in for Adair.
Hollis ranks fifth in the conference in rushing yards with 730 yards on 167 carries. And Jones started to receive a bulk of carries in Southside’s 9-7 loss to Rogers Heritage on Oct. 31. Jones had a breakout performance Friday night in the Rebels’ 35-24 fi rst-round playoff win over Bryant.
Williams said Hollis and Jones present diff erent challenges to opposing defenses. Hollis is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and Jones is 5-8, 145.
“It’s nice to have two backs like that who are diff erent,” Williams said. “We’ll put Julius in there to change speeds on the defense, and then we’ll bring in Lee when the defense is tired and pound the ball.”
Lunney, who drove down to Bryant with his assistant coaches for last Friday night’s game, said Jones impressed him. Jones rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns, including a 66-yarder.
“He’s very effective for a sophomore,” Lunney said. “He’s not a tall kid, but he’s a little stockier, and he has great, great speed. We’ll need to be physical with him and (Hollis) to win this game.”
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