BENTONVILLE — Reese Dollins faked the handoff and drifted to his left. With no pressure, Bentonville’s quarterback had all the time he needed to find an open receiver.
The wait wasn’t a long. Trey Perkins found the open spot behind the West Memphis secondary near the left sideline, and Dollins hit him with a 22-yard touchdown pass in the opening minute of the second quarter.
It was just the beginning for Dollins, who threw for 170 yards and four touchdowns as Bentonville rolled to a 42-0 victory over West Memphis in the quarterfinals of the Class 7A playoffs in Tiger Stadium.
Dollins completed 9 of 10 passes and threw touchdown passes to four different receivers as Bentonville (11-0) advanced to next week’s semifinal game at home against Fort Smith Southside, a 24-22 winner over Springdale Har-Ber.
“We got that level of being comfortable, which is crucial out there,” Dollins said. “When that comes, it all comes easy. The game slows down, and the receivers are wanting to make big plays. ”
Dollins threw three of his touchdown passes in the second quarter as Bentonville stretched its lead to 28-0 going into halftime. He dropped back and hit Cody Scroggins with an 18-yard touchdown pass, then rolled to his right and fired across the field to tight end Jack Kraus, who turned it into a 33-yard scoring play with 2:13 left in the half.
Dollins then made the most of the only time West Memphis got pressure on him, breaking out of the pocket to hit Nate Gneiting with a 37-yard pass to the Blue Devils 9. He connected with Chase Morse on a 6-yard touchdown toss three plays later.
“West Memphis is very aggressive up front and made it tough to run at times,” Bentonville Coach Barry Lunney said. “You have to try to take advantage of the things that are working.
“We felt we had the opportunity to hit some passes and throw it around a bit. We did a good job of executing the passing game. The kids also caught the ball well.”
West Memphis turned the ball over twice in its first five offensive plays. The second turnover was a fumble by Kendall Allen that Bentonville’s Austin Haggard picked up and returned 24 yards for Bentonville’s first touchdown.
The Blue Devils’ serious scoring threat came after the fumble when they drove from their 12 to the Bentonville 27 in 12 plays. But Bentonville’s defense stiffened on fourth down after West Memphis had been successful on two fourth-down attempts earlier.
“We had a few penalties, and that’s hard to overcome against a good defense,” Blue Devils Coach Lanny Dauksch said. “They have such a fast defense, and we’re running right at them. You just can’t do that all the way up and down the field.”
Sports, Pages 24 on 11/17/2012