SPRINGDALE — Bentonville Black erased a season of frustration on one drive Thursday night, as the Tigers scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the final minute of play to edge Springdale Central 8-7 in Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.
The Tigers (3-4, 3-4 Northwest Arkansas Conference) converted two fourth downs on their final drive. Quarterback Jake Sisson completed three passes for 37 yards on the drive and scored the conversion following a 6-yard touchdown run by Clay Wallace.
Bentonville also won the eighth-grade game 14-7.
“We haven’t had a lot to be happy about this season in terms of wins and losses, but this was a huge moment for us tonight,” Bentonville coach Chris Hutchens said. “The decision to go for the two-point conversion was a no-brainer. We didn’t have anything to lose and we just wanted to leave everything on the field on that last drive.
“This win is just one example of how hard these kids work. Our program doesn’t measure the junior high players in terms of wins and losses. We are doing our best to develop future Tigers and these kids showed tonight what that means.”
Central (6-2, 5-2) had won four games this season by one touchdown or less and it looked to have Black beaten after scoring a touchdown with under 5 minutes left in the game.
That turned out to be plenty of time for Black.
Sisson completed an 11-yard pass on fourth-and-9 to keep Black’s hopes alive, then the Tigers converted a fourth-down run to set up the touchdown by Wallace.
The conversion was a designed pass, but pressure by the Central defense forced Sisson to roll out of the pocket, where he barely reached the right pylon to put Bentonville in front 8-7.
“We just did things tonight that we don’t normally do and it killed us,” Central coach Fred Hartsfield said. “There were far too many mistakes and missed opportunities, but we still had a chance to come out with a win.”
Central, which hadn’t lost a fumble all season, turned the ball over four times. The Warriors had three turnovers on their first five plays, including two fumbles.
“I must have bragged on us too much this week about how well we’ve been taking care of the ball, because it looked like we were jinxed tonight,” Hartsfield said.
“The turnovers, especially the ones in the first half, made it hard to establish any kind of a rhythm on offense. When we finally did take care of the ball we put it in the end zone.”
The Warriors out gained Bentonville 147-82 on the ground. Black only had one first down all game before its final drive.