BENTONVILLE — Stunned by their season-ending defeat Friday night, Bentonville’s players hugged one another inside the Tiger Athletic Complex, tears streaming down many of their faces.
Only an hour before Fort Smith Southside finished off a 27-24 Class 7A playoff upset, such a scene seemed nearly unthinkable. The Tigers led 21-7 late in the third quarter, carrying all the game’s momentum, appearing close to sealing a quarterfinal victory.
But too many mistakes gave the Rebels too many opportunities, resulting in too many tears.
“It’s really sad,” Bentonville running back Shane Boedeker said. “I mean, I think we should’ve gone a lot further than just this game. I think we could’ve won state. But I guess it’s not what you think, but what actually happens.”
Bentonville entered Friday’s contest hoping to avenge its only loss this season, a 31-21 defeat Oct. 2 at Southside (8-4). Instead, the Tigers saw their season abruptly end in a way that won’t be easily forgotten.
The Tigers (9-2) gained 439 total yards to Southside’s 333 and 18 first downs to Southside’s 13. But the statistical advantage didn’t result in a victory, likely because of four costly errors.
Pearson Gean completed 12 of his 19 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns, but the junior quarterback also committed three turnovers. Southside also set up the go-ahead touchdown with a 53-yard pass from Hunter Whorton to Thomas Meares on fourth-and-6 in the final minute.
“(Whorton) just saw a guy running open,” Williams said. “They came up on the underneath stuff, and we just got behind (the defender).”
Southside’s junior quarterback then scored his third rushing touchdown, on a 1-yard sneak, with 42 seconds left to provide the winning points.
“I’m very disappointed for our kids,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “We just made too many mistakes. They made plays at the time they needed to, and we didn’t. The team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins, and that’s what happened tonight.”
The Tigers came through with enough quality plays to take a 14-point lead, even though Gean fumbled away a snap at the Southside 1 with 10 seconds left in the first half. Southside took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in 15 plays to take a 7-0 advantage.
But Bentonville dominated until late in the third quarter. With senior Courtney Haskell hindered by a hip injury — and receiving only eight carries — Boedeker shouldered the ground-game responsibilities. He ran hard and gained 92 yards on 19 carries for the night.
Meanwhile, Gean clicked with his receivers, throwing a 20-yard touchdown to Tyler Trudo and a 9-yard score to Austin Molitor. That second touchdown toss put Bentonville up 21-7 with 7:32 left in the third, but Southside outscored the Tigers 20-3 the rest of the contest.
Gean’s first interception set up Southside’s second score, and 2:22 later, Trevor Scott’s 62-yard interception return for a touchdown tied the score with 10:10 remaining. Chad Levin’s 34-yard field goal put Bentonville up 24-21, and he had an opportunity to tie the game because Southside missed the extra point after Whorton’s go-ahead score.
His 38-yarder missed wide left as time expired, cementing the shocking defeat, keeping Bentonville from achieving its goal of back-to-back state titles.
“Obviously we didn’t want to go out like that,” senior linebacker Arthur Flowers said. “That’s just the way it is, though. We made way too many mistakes, and we just didn’t play up to our potential. It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
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