7A/6A NOTEBOOK: Central Poised To End West Run

John Donald, Bentonville linebacker, sacks Kody Frasure, West Memphis quarterback, Friday during the Tigers’ Class 7A playoff game against the Blue Devils at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville. Bentonville defeated West Memphis 42-0, recording its third shutout of the season.
John Donald, Bentonville linebacker, sacks Kody Frasure, West Memphis quarterback, Friday during the Tigers’ Class 7A playoff game against the Blue Devils at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville. Bentonville defeated West Memphis 42-0, recording its third shutout of the season.

The 7A/6A-Central is again knocking on the door to the state championship game.

Every year since the major split of the state's largest classifications into two classifications in 2006, the 7A/6A-West has placed both teams in the state football championship game.

Patton
Patton

Friday night, the Central will have two chances to end that streak.

Bentonville will host Fort Smith Southside in a renewal of old West rivalries in one semifinal.

“They're by far the best team we've played all year,” Southside coach Jeff Williams said. “We'll have to play mistake-free to have a chance.”

Defending state champion Fayetteville travels to North Little Rock in the other semifinal.

“It's a huge chore, but our football team is very confident,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. “They're ranked second, we're ranked third, so let's go down and play and see who goes to Little Rock.”

North Little Rock won the 7A/6A-East, which is placed with the 7A/6A-Central teams for playoff seedings, while Southside finished as runner-up in the 7A/6A-Central behind Greenwood, which is playing in the Class 6A playoffs. Southside was moved to the Central as part of this two-year realignment cycle.

This is the first year since 2009 that only two West teams are in the semifinals when Springdale Har-Ber beat Cabot, and Southside beat North Little Rock.

In 2010, Bentonville beat Springdale Har-Ber, and Fayetteville beat Southside in the all-West semifinals.

Last year, Fayetteville beat Southside, and Bentonville beat North Little Rock in the semifinals.

In 2008, Bentonville beat Central runner-up Russellville, and Southside beat Springdale Har-Ber.

In 2007, Fayetteville beat Bentonville, and Har-Ber beat Central runner-up Russellville.

In 2006, Southside beat North Little Rock in two overtimes, and Rogers beat Fayetteville.

In all during that time, the West is 6-0 against the Central in semifinals.

DEFENSE

Defense played a major part of all four second-round victories.

Bentonville recorded its third shutout of the season, blanking West Memphis, 42-0.

“West Memphis had a good plan like we knew they would,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “We knew they'd do what they do with a full-house backfield and run it right us. They had some success. We adjusted to it and started penetrating and making some plays. We forced a couple of turnovers. When they got behind that got them out of what they were doing. I was really pleased with the defense.”

Bentonville allowed just 150 yards on the ground in 45 attempts. West Memphis completed one pass for 11 yards for 161 yards of offense.

Linebacker Garrett Kaufman had 19 tackles, including 12 solo takedowns, and a sack.

The Tigers have only given up 67 points in 11 games, including a touchdown or less in 10 of those games.

Fayetteville gave up a lone field goal to Conway through three quarters, and just 57 yards in the first half in the Bulldog's 38-17 win.

At A Glance

THAT FIGURES

227 - wins for Bentonville head coach Barry Lunney, which last week moved him ahead of Clinton Gore into 12th place all-time

53 - playoff wins all-time for Southside, which is the most for any team currently playing in 7A, 6A and 5A

25 - running plays and passing plays for Fayetteville on Friday night

“We started getting healthy the last couple of weeks,” Patton said. “We played well at Bentonville, so we've played well the last three or four weeks of the year. We're getting healthy, and that's what you have to do to make a run at the title and start peaking. That's what we're doing.”

Brooks Ellis' sack, his first of two in the game, on third down forced Conway to settle for a 44-yard field goal.

Both Bentonville and Fayetteville applied the Arkansas Activities Association's Sportsmanship Rule, which invokes a continuously running clock with a second-half lead of at least 35 points.

Southside stopped a two-point conversion by Har-Ber with 18 seconds left, preserving a 24-22 win.

“It's a war every time we play them,” Williams said. “We're about as evenly matched as we have been in a long time. That's the second time we've played them that it's come down to a two-point conversion in the playoffs. It's just always a great football game. We probably played the best game we've played all year. We beat a good football team.”

North Little Rock blanked Cabot, 28-0, in the other quarterfinal game.

North Little Rock only led 7-0 at the half but held the Panthers to just six yards on the first four possessions of the second half.

It was the Wildcats' second shutout of the season. Only Jonesboro and Longview, Texas, scored more than two touchdowns on them this season.

FAMILIARITY

While the two semifinal games are not rematches from this year, they are between very familiar opponents.

Southside was moved to the 7A/6A-Central this season, but the Rebels and Bentonville competed in the 7A/6A-West from 1991 through last year.

Southside holds the all-time series lead 14-9, but Lunney holds a 6-3 advantage over his former team since going to Bentonville in 2005.

Fayetteville and North Little Rock have also played recently.

“We have, but I don't know if we've played them as good as they are right now,” Patton said. “They're a really good football team. They have outstanding athletes at all positions. They have size. They are very disciplined and sound in all three phases.”

The Bulldogs beat North Little Rock, 23-7, in the first round of the playoffs in 2010.

Fayetteville also won all four nonconference games between the two schools from 2000 through 2003.

RUNNING BACKS

The one commonality of the semifinal teams are big, powerful running backs.

Bentonville has the all-time leading rusher in 7A/6A-West history in Tearris Wallace, Southside has bruiser David Price, North Little Rock has Alabama-commitment Altee Tenpenny, and Fayetteville has healthy Brice Gahagans.

Wallace has rushed for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. In his three-year career, he has 4,449 yards and 65 touchdowns.

Price has rushed 141 times for 866 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. Last year, Price ran for 1,203 yards and 16 touchdowns. As a sophomore, Price ran for 475 yards and 10 scores. In his career, Price has rushed 419 times for 2,544 yards and 39 touchdowns.

Tenpenny missed all of last year due to an ankle injury, but has been a force this season. He has rushed 172 times for 1,215 and 19 touchdowns this fall.

Gahagans missed four full games during the middle of the regular season due to an injury, but has rushed for 279 yards and four touchdowns on just 58 carries. In his career, Gahagans has scored 35 touchdowns on the ground.

“He is a home-run threat,” Patton said. “Every time he touches it, he has the ability to take it to the house.”

CHALLENGE

All four semifinalists face fierce challenges this week, which is expected.

Bentonville faces the most versatile quarterback the Tigers have seen this week in Southside's dual-threat Isaac Jackson.

Van Buren's Jacob Eason was also a dual-threat as well as Heritage's Josh Qualls.

“Van Buren's did run and throw, that's a very good comparison as far as what they do,” Lunney said. “Josh Qualls is a great scrambler and makes things happen with his feet. (Jackson) is a really good athlete with tremendous speed and then with his arm.”

Jackson has rushed for 751 yards and 11 touchdowns, and passed for 1,260 and 15 touchdowns.

Fayetteville's only challenge isn't just Tenpenny. Juan Day has emerged as a major threat running the ball, too, for North Little Rock.

“Tenpenny is very good,” Patton said. “He has great ability to stop on a dime and go laterally, then hit that second burst and hit the hole. He's a phenomenal running back. As good as he is, they have another one that may be even better. They're got a great 1-2 punch.”

Southside, of course, as a former member of the 7A/6A-West knows all about Wallace, who ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns against the Rebels last year in Bentonville's 38-0 win. Bentonville has scored 436 points and gained 3,998 yards.

“Wallace is a seasoned veteran and then they bring Kaufman in,” Williams said. “They're a big powerful unit.”

North Little Rock's challenge will be facing Fayetteville quarterback Austin Allen, who went over the 3,000-yard passing mark for the season on Friday. Allen has thrown for 3,094 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. For his career, Allen has now thrown for 7,342 and 75 touchdowns.

7A/6A-WEST CONFERENCE STATISTICAL LEADERS

TEAM OFFENSE

TEAM RUSH PASS TOTAL AVG/GM

Fayetteville 1126 3121 4247 386.1

Rogers Heritage 1840 2400 4240 385.5

Bentonvillle 2218 1780 3998 363.5

Springdale Har-Ber 2271 2024 4295 357.9

Van Buren 1529 1903 3432 343.2

Rogers High 3520 225 3745 340.5

Springdale High 2238 945 3183 318.3

Siloam Springs 1254 2220 3474 315.8

TEAM DEFENSE

TEAM RUSH PASS TOTAL AVG/GM

Bentonville 1220 832 2052 186.5

Fayetteville 1551 1380 2931 266.5

Springdale Har-Ber 1801 1563 3364 280.3

Springdale High 1589 1869 3458 345.8

Rogers High 2061 1920 3981 361.9

Rogers Heritage 2011 2195 4206 382.4

Siloam Springs 2454 1953 4407 400.6

Van Buren 2367 1820 4187 418.7

OFFENSIVE SCORING

TEAM RUSH PASS DEF SPEC TOTAL

Bentonville 35 21 3 1 60

Rogers Heritage 25 26 2 1 54

Fayetteville 22 27 3 0 52

Rogers High 44 2 0 1 47

Springdale Har-Ber 19 28 0 0 47

Van Buren 18 19 2 0 39

Springdale High 26 8 1 2 37

Siloam Springs 20 15 0 0 35

DEFENSIVE SCORING

TEAM RUSH PASS DEF SPEC TOTAL

Bentonville 5 1 2 1 9

Fayetteville 16 11 1 2 30

Springdale Har-Ber 16 13 2 0 31

Springdale High 20 21 0 0 41

Rogers High 25 23 1 1 50

Rogers Heritage 28 21 0 1 50

Van Buren 38 17 0 0 55

Siloam Springs 37 26 5 1 69

TURNOVER RATIO

TEAM TAKEAWAYS GIVEAWAYS TOTAL

Bentonville 33 6 +27

Fayetteville 30 15 +15

Rogers Heritage 29 23 +6

Rogers High 10 9 +1

Springdale High 17 23 -6

Van Buren 16 22 -6

Siloam Springs 17 27 -10

Springdale Har-Ber 11 23 -12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

PASSING

PLAYER, SCHOOL PC PC INT YDS TD

Austin Allen, Fayetteville 190 297 4 3094 27

Josh Qualls, Rogers Heritage 162 297 10 2371 27

Kyle Pianalto, Springdale Har-Ber 125 213 8 1882 26

Austin Van Poucke, Siloam Springs 134 250 16 1846 13

Jacob Eason, Van Buren 155 274 12 1712 15

Reese Dollins, Bentonville 117 160 5 1705 20

Will Whatley, Springdale 75 145 10 945 8

Lampton, Siloam Springs 34 78 4 374 2

Nick Wary, Rogers High 9 24 1 209 2

Pierce Phillips, Springdale 10 17 2 122 2

RUSHING

PLAYER, SCHOOL ATT YDS TD

Tearris Wallace, Bentonville 235 1537 21

Deandre Murray, Springdale 189 1421 17

Tucker Lee, Springdale Har-Ber 211 1321 10

Brandon Gates, Rogers Heritage 211 1251 14

Nick Wary, Rogers High 143 1120 22

Jacob Eason, Van Buren 178 816 11

Scout Alexander, Siloam Springs 160 798 10

Ty Galyean, Rogers High 93 768 8

Will Whatley, Springdale 115 490 3

Austin Van Poucke, Siloam Springs 115 432 9

Preston Young, Rogers High 74 400 5

Braydon Cook, Fayetteville 91 399 6

Dylan Smith, Bentonville 66 399 5

Deverick Fimple, Van Buren 84 358 2

Kyle Pianalto, Springdale Har-Ber 88 356 6

Brandon Workman, Rogers High 30 315 3

Jacquille Franklin, Van Buren 62 303 4

Brice Gahagans, Fayetteville 58 279 4

Stokes Wenzler, Rogers High 24 256 1

Forrest Johnson, Rogers Heritage 36 243 3

Austin Allen, Fayetteville 76 159 8

Garrett Kaufman, Bentonville 18 120 2

RECEIVING

PLAYER, SCHOOL NO YDS TD

Forrest Johnson, Rogers Heritage 72 1396 15

Cole Harris, Fayetteville 58 1118 5

Jordan Dennis, Fayetteville 53 861 9

Chandler Gregory, Siloam Springs 45 631 6

Bradley Eversole, Van Buren 45 463 3

Nick Byrne, Springdale Har-Ber 44 715 10

Scout Alexander, Siloam Springs 36 616 2

Bronson Tucker, Siloam Springs 34 472 4

William Walton, Van Buren 34 382 5

Wayce Connor, Van Buren 32 530 4

Gus Vitt, Springdale Har-Ber 29 464 8

Trey Perkins, Bentonville 27 496 6

Carlos Hernandez, Rogers Heritage 24 385 3

Wyatt Whatley, Springdale 24 309 2

Jeremy Spickes, Rogers Heritage 22 236 5

Brice Gahagans, Fayetteville 20 256 1

Cody Scroggins, Bentonville 19 225 2

Matt Garrison, Springdale Har-Ber 18 239 3

Chadd Holmes, Fayetteville 17 260 3

Edwin Magana, Siloam Springs 17 145 1

Brandon Gates, Rogers Heritage 17 86 2

Garrett Tallman, Springdale 16 236 3

Jack Kraus, Bentonville 16 205 3

Jordan Herring, Siloam Springs 16 199 0

Jacquille Franklin, Van Buren 16 169 2

Jimmie Jackson, Bentonville 14 193 1

Anthony Gibbons, Van Buren 14 85 1

Deandre Murray, Springdale 13 132 0

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