PLAYOFF NOTES: Wallace Closes Deal When Tigers Need It

Tearris Wallace, left, a Bentonville senior running back, eludes the grasp of Fort Smith Southside senior Garrett Wolfe on Friday at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville.
Tearris Wallace, left, a Bentonville senior running back, eludes the grasp of Fort Smith Southside senior Garrett Wolfe on Friday at Tiger Stadium in Bentonville.

— When it comes to closers, often they are the quirkiest members of the team.

Brian Wilson has his jet-black beard. Mariano Rivera trots out to the mound as Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” pumps over the Yankee Stadium speakers.

Bentonville senior running back Tearris Wallace doesn’t have any of that. He doesn’t need it. But make no mistake ... he is a closer in every sense of the word.

Wallace only scored once Friday night in Bentonville’s 28-21 win over Fort Smith Southside in a Class 7A state semifinal. His one-yard plunge gave the Tigers (12-0) a 28-14 lead with 4 minutes, 23 seconds left. Although Southside (8-4) scored a late touchdown to close within seven, Wallace’s touchdown effectively sealed Bentonville’s third straight trip to the state championship game.

“I’m dog tired,” Wallace said following his career-high 41-carry, 175-yard night.

He was fresh enough to trot across the Tiger Stadium turf following the game to shake hands with Southside coaches. The firm grip Rebels coach Jeff Williams was about the most physical contact Southside had with Wallace all night.

Williams praised the performance of the 5-foot-10, 211-pound Wallace, who had several runs of 15-plus yards and ran over would-be tacklers more than once.

“He’s a great, big back,” Williams said. “He reminds me a lot of a back we had a couple of years ago, Daniel McGee. Big, physical guy and runs well.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of containing him. Nobody’s stopped him all year long.”

Heading into next Saturday’s title game, Wallace ranks third in the state’s largest classification in career touchdowns with 65, one behind D’Arrius Howard of West Memphis and Dedrick Poole of Little Rock Central, who each had 66. He is the 7A-West’s all-time rushing leader with 4,664 yards.

The Tigers will take on Fayetteville for the third straight year in the state title game next at 6:30 p.m. next Saturday in War Memorial Stadium.

Home Domination

Bentonville has made home games almost a certain win over the past three seasons.

The Tigers have won 21 consecutive games at Tiger Stadium dating back to the 2010 season. The win over Southside was also Bentonville’s 25th consecutive over a nonconference opponent.

Turning The Tables

The benchmark for success in the state’s largest classification has always been Fort Smith Southside. The Rebels’ long history of state titles was built largely with Barry Lunney as the head coach.

When Lunney came to Bentonville from Southside in 2005, he knew that the Tigers would have to learn to knock off Southside if it wanted to reach elite status.

Mission accomplished. Lunney is now 7-3 versus his old program and headed to the title game for the fourth time in the past five years with state titles in 2008 and 2010.

West Still The Best

The 7A/6A-West will again have two teams in the title game on Saturday. For the seventh consecutive year the conference will have two teams playing for the title.

The last time the state championship game included a team from another conference was 2005 when Springdale High defeated West Memphis.

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