Bulldogs End Turnover Streak
ROGERS — Things went so smoothly for Fayetteville football coach Daryl Patton on Friday that he didn’t mind joking about his team’s lone turnover.
The Bulldogs (6-2, 3-2 7A-West Conference) had committed only one turnover heading into their game at Rogers High — a fumble against Russellville in the second week of the season.
But Fayetteville’s streak of five consecutive games without a turnover came to an end in the fourth quarter of Friday’s 42-14 win over Rogers, when backup wide receiver Anthony Noto had the ball stripped from him.
Rogers linebacker Bryan Gibby returned the fumble 45 yards for a touchdown, but by that point Patton had pulled his starters and Fayetteville was on the verge of clinching a winning season.
“Noto’s fired,” Patton joked. “He’s a sophomore, he tried to cut up and they stripped him. We hate turnovers, we preach it and he’s going to learn from it.
“It’s good. Our first offense is still hanging in there with no turnovers (on the season).”
Fayetteville quarterback Brandon Allen has yet to throw an interception this season, tossing three more touchdowns Friday to give him 23 touchdowns without a pick.
— ALEX ABRAMS
Wildcat Added To Tigers Offense
BENTONVILLE — Add Bentonville to the list of football teams beginning to use the “Wildcat” formation.
The Tigers used their version of the offense for the first time and ran it on several occasions during Friday’s wild 69-41 victory over Fort Smith Northside in Tiger Stadium.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for quite some time,” Bentonville offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. said. “We just put it in this week.”
Bentonville has yet to come up with a catch name for the new formation. Lunney just calls it “31 personnel” when he runs something out of the formation.
Sophomore running back Tearris Wallace takes the snap from center, while quarterback Dallas Hardison lines up as a wide receiver. With one exception, Wallace faked the handoff and kept the ball each time, running for a good amount of yardage each time.
On the lone exception, it was Demarcus Murphy who took the handoff from Wallace. He then ran for 18 yards and Bentonville’s final touchdown, helping the Tigers invoke the mercy rule for the final eight minutes.
“I thought we executed it very well,” Lunney said. “It’s something we can build off of and be effective. We moved the ball a little bit, and Tearris could throw the ball some out of it.”
— Henry Apple
Rogers Offense, Defense Find End Zone
ROGERS — Rogers High took a step forward Friday night in a 42-14 loss to Fayetteville in a 7A-West Conference game.
Entering the game, Rogers had failed to score a touchdown in four league games and the Mounties had suffered back-to-back shutouts.
But Rogers finally put together a mistake-free drive and scored when junior running back Brandon Blume capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run in the second half. The score was just the sixth touchdown of the year for Rogers.
Rogers converted five first downs on the drive and Blume rushed for 29 yards on seven carries. Quarterback Nick wary completed all four passing attempts for 29 more yards.
“It was a good drive,” said Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan. “Nick was composed and he didn’t force things. I think it’s good to get points on the board for the guys. I’d much rather see a win because we are ready for that.”
Not to be outdone, the Mounties defense got in on the scoring when linebacker Bryan Gibby stripped a Fayetteville running back of the football and raced 45 yards for a touchdown. Austin Griffin hit both PAT kicks.
“That’s fun when you can get a defensive touchdown,” Flannigan said.
Another bright spot was on special teams as Mason Young had kickoff returns of 52 and 29 yards.
— PAUL NIELSEN
Goal Remains The Same For Har-Ber
SPRINGDALE — A national ranking in the USA Today Super Prep Poll is probably gone for Springdale Har-Ber after Friday’s 38-31 loss at Fort Smith Southside.
So too, it appears, is the chance at an outright 7A-West Conference championship, with Bentonville one game ahead of the Wildcats with two weeks left in the regular season.
Despite its first setback of the season, Har-Ber still believes everything remains the same as it plugs ahead.
“It’s not affected anything for us really in the big picture,” Wildcats coach Chris Wood said. “We go to Fayetteville next week and try to win that one and we go on from there.”
Har-Ber still could be anywhere from the first to fourth seed out of the West in the Class 7A playoffs, depending on the outcome of the next two weeks. But obviously, the Wildcats have their sights set on a share of the crown.
“Nothing has changed,” Wood said. “We just made more mistakes and that’s something we’ll clean up and we’ll move onto next week.”
— Vernon Tarver
Red’Dogs On A Roll
SPRINGDALE — More than three weeks ago, Springdale High was still searching for answers following two straight losses to open 7A-West Conference play.
Now three weeks later, the Red’Dogs (5-3, 3-2 7A-West) have won three straight games against Fort Smith Southside, Fort Smith Northside and Rogers Heritage, respectively, to get right back in the middle of the league standings.
And one more win this season against either Bentonville or Rogers High will also lock up a home playoff game for Springdale in the postseason.
“It’s really good any time you can win three consecutive weeks in any conference,” Patrick said. “We beat Southside at their place, and look what they’ve done the last two weeks. Heritage is going to be right in the thick of this thing, that’s a tough team to play in the playoffs.
“Everybody can beat anybody, and to win three in a row in this conference is really special.”
On Friday, Springdale rallied in the second half against Heritage, mostly because of an effective running attack from junior Rahmon Taylor and a few big stops on defense, including a key interception from Kevin Martinez with 1 minute, 47 seconds left in the game.
Patrick said for his team to ride its current wave of success, the Red’Dogs have to stay focused and play to the best of their ability, especially when they host No. 1-ranked Bentonville on Friday night.
“It’s not going to be easy, but we’re in a good spot right now,” Patrick said. “If we can keep playing well and make necessary plays, who knows what could happen for this football team.”
— Nathan Allen