High school football report

STAFF PHOTO J.S. WEDGEWORTH
Chris Wood, Har-Ber High coach, walks the sideline Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, while taking on Rogers High School at Rogers.
STAFF PHOTO J.S. WEDGEWORTH Chris Wood, Har-Ber High coach, walks the sideline Friday, Oct. 7, 2011, while taking on Rogers High School at Rogers.

Repeating the repeats in playoffs

Among the quirks, or dysfunction, of the well-publicized split between Class 7A and Class 6A in the postseason is rematch after rematch after rematch.

Ask Springdale Har-Ber, which, for the third consecutive year, will host Little Rock Central in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs tonight at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium.

Har-Ber beat Central 38-0 in 2010 and edged the Tigers 21-16 last season.

Har-Ber (6-4) is the No. 3 seed from the 7A-West. Central (4-6) is the sixth seed from the 7A-Central.

“It is strange,” Wildcats Coach Chris Wood said. “But this is what happens when you only have 16 schools and 12 make the playoffs.

It’s going to happen. This our 11th game, but we feel like it’s just another conference game as many times as we’ve played Central.”

Wood said he’s seen improvement from Central throughout the impromptu series.

The Tigers, who broke a 25-game losing streak during the 2010 season, are potent in the skill areas.

Senior wide receiver Reggie Harris has caught 55 passes for 661 yards and 5 touchdowns this fall.

Quarterback Cooper Westbrook has completed 111 of 240 passes for 1,401 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Senior Malcolm Robinson is averaging 33 yards on kickoff returns. Sophomore Logan Moragne has returned 7 kickoffs for 224 yards - a 32-yard average - and 1 touchdown and leads the Tigers in rushing with 837 yards and 5 touchdowns on 131 carries.

“Central has some really good wide receivers,” Wood said. “The sophomore quarterback continues to improve. But what is really impressive is their kicking game.”CONWAY Assignment football

Conway opens the Class 7A playoffs tonight at home against Rogers, the only school in the state’s largest classification that runs a triple-option scheme.

Rogers, the sixth seed from the 7A-West, is based out of a Doubleslot attack patterned after Georgia Tech and Navy.

The Mounties (6-4) averaged 351 total yards per game during the regular season, including 328.5 rushing.

Five players have at least 256 yards rushing, led by senior quarterback Nick Wary, who has carried 117 times for 979 yards and 21 touchdowns.

“Man, it’s true triple option,” Conway Coach Clint Ashcraft said.

“It makes your stomach hurt. All you’ve got to do is have one guy slip or not get off a block or get his eyes out of place, and it’s a big play.”

The Wampus Cats (7-2) are the No. 3 seed from the 7A-Central.

Senior tailback Jeff Anderson led 7A in rushing during the regular season, carrying 196 times for 1,495 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Ashcraft said Anderson, 6-1, 210 pounds, received his first scholarship offer last week fromCentral Arkansas.

“I’m proud for him,” Ashcraft said.

BENTONVILLE All-around night

Top-ranked Bentonville (10-0) clinched its sixth consecutive conference championship last week after beating Fayetteville 24-17.

Senior linebacker Garrett Kaufman came up big for the Tigers, recording 10 unassisted tackles, including a sack, 1 pass breakup, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble.

Kaufman, who has orally committed to Arkansas State, also rushed 4 times for 40 yards and 1 touchdown and threw a 38-yard touchdown pass that gave Bentonville the lead for good, 21-17, with 11:25 remaining in the game.

Bentonville had gained possession one play earlier after Kaufman forced a fumble.

On Bentonville’s next series following the touchdown, Kaufman’s 22-yard run set up a 28-yard field goal by Dillon Wade with 3:32 remaining.

Kaufman then made a touchdown-saving tackle on the ensuing kickoff, said Bentonville co-defensive coordinator David Pollard, a former assistant at Fort Smith Southside.

“The best all-around performance I have seen in my 19 years of coaching,” Pollard wrote in an e-mail. “And I have seen a lot of good ones at both Southside, and especially in the last five years at Bentonville.”

Kaufman is Bentonville’s leading tackler this fall with 87, including 64 unassisted.

The victory gave the Tigers their 35th consecutive regularseason victory, 26th consecutive conference victory, a No. 1 playoff seed from the 7A-West and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Bentonville will host the Rogers Heritage-West Memphis winner in a quarterfinal game Nov. 16 at Tiger Stadium.

The Tigers have won 19 consecutive home games.

Sports, Pages 24 on 11/09/2012

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