Bentonville Advances

Scroggins Gives Tigers A Boost

Nate Gneiting, left, a Bentonville senior defensive back, deflects a pass intended for Fort Smith Southside senior Reece Strickland in the first half Friday at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville.
Nate Gneiting, left, a Bentonville senior defensive back, deflects a pass intended for Fort Smith Southside senior Reece Strickland in the first half Friday at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville.

— The play called for Cody Scroggins to see what Fort Smith Southside’s safety was going to do concerning pass coverage, then make his countermove.

Bentonville’s sophomore receiver made his cut toward the center of the field, and Reese Dollins hit him with a strike right at the goal line Friday night. The 17-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left in the first half gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished en route to a 28-21 semifinal victory over the Rebels in Tiger Stadium.

“I was running and had to see if anybody was in the middle of the field,” Scroggins said. “Reese threw a great ball to me. I had one guy behind, and another one to pop me if I didn’t catch it.”

The win moves Bentonville (12-0) into the Class 7A State Championship for the third consecutive year, and once again Fayetteville — a last-second 30-28 winner at North Little Rock supplies the Tigers’ opposition. The two teams — who split the past two championship games — will meet each at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Gamebreaker

Bentonville 28 Fort Smith Southside 21

Why the Tigers won

Cody Scroggins’ 17-yard touchdown pass from Reece Dollins with 26 seconds left in the first half gave Bentonville the lead for good. Scroggins had another touchdown catch in the third quarter that briefly extended the Tigers’ lead.

Why the Rebels lost

Southside couldn’t convert a pair of fourth-down pass plays in Bentonville territory in the third quarter, and Austin Haggard’s interception of Austin Jackson’s pass in the fourth quarter set up Bentonville’s final score.

Austin Haggard’s set up the go-ahead score with his 32-yard punt return to the Southside 29. The Tigers appeared to be stalled when Dollins was sacked on a second-down play, then an incomplete pass intended for Scroggins made it fourth-and-15 at the Rebels’ 34.

Bentonville opted to go for it, and Dollins hit Jimmie Jackson with a 17-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Two plays later, Dollins connected with Scroggins, and Dillon Wade’s extra point gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead.

“It was a great play, good execution and a good throw,” Bentonville coach Barry Lunney said. “Cody ran a nice route. I think I heard (receivers) coach (Kevin) York suggest the play because of the coverage.

“Those of the things we’ve been doing all year, and I probably should have trusted my coaches more. I take the credit for reeling them in.”

Scroggins added an 8-yard touchdown pass on a bubble screen to give Bentonville a 21-7 lead with 9 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Southside (8-4) refused to go down easily as Austin Jackson connected with Reece Strickland for touchdown passes of 30 and 33 yards in the fourth quarter.

“I'm real proud of our football team,” Rebels coach Jeff Williams said. “We had about six guys out injured. It would have been easy to come in here and lay an egg and our guys stepped it up.”

Haggard also had a pair of crucial plays in the second half. His interception of a Jackson pass attempt set up Bentonville’s final score, which came on a 1-yard touchdown run by Tearris Wallace — who finished the game with 175 yards on a career-high 41 carries — with 4:23 remaining. He also came away with the onside kick recovery in the closing seconds.

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