Slow Start, Injuries Don’t Deter Bulldogs

Brice Gahagans, a Fayetteville junior running back, is tackled by Bentonville linebacker Garrett Kaufman during last year’s Class 7A state championship game in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The two players return for the third consecutive title showdown between the two Northwest Arkansas rivals Saturday night.
Brice Gahagans, a Fayetteville junior running back, is tackled by Bentonville linebacker Garrett Kaufman during last year’s Class 7A state championship game in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. The two players return for the third consecutive title showdown between the two Northwest Arkansas rivals Saturday night.

— The bigger picture is all that mattered.

Expectations were sky-high for Fayetteville’s football team before a single game had been played this season. Fresh off a Class 7A state championship the year before and returning a wealth of talent at key positions, the Bulldogs were ranked preseason No. 1 and expected to be much more than a sleeper title contender this time around.

Saturday’s Ticket

Bentonville vs. Fayetteville

KICKOFF: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock

RECORDS: Bentonville 12-0; Fayetteville 9-3

HOOTEN’S RANKING: Bentonville is No. 1 in Class 7A; Fayetteville is No. 2.

HOOTEN’S LINE: Fayetteville by 1.

Then came back-to-back losses to Memphis University School and Jefferson City, Mo. to open the season. And suddenly, the Purple’Dogs had to regroup.

“Going into the MUS game we were where we felt like we needed to be,” Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. “But we don’t have our free safety Alex Brignoni for that game. Then the next week we have a good week of practice, but our free safety is out again and we’re playing Jefferson City.

“Coming back from that game I was worried about the team’s confidence a little. But at our next meeting after those two losses, the players all said it was nonconference and it didn’t matter. The important thing was to just keep getting better.”

Fayetteville kept getting better, indeed, as the Bulldogs (9-3) would reel off seven straight wins before a Week 10 showdown with Bentonville. And despite a 24-17 loss to the Tigers, the pieces were finally starting to fall back into place for Fayetteville.

Most of the season the Purple’Dogs played with notable starters out of the lineup. Brignoni missed the first two games with an hamstring injury, linebacker Brooks Ellis was out the next two weeks with a dislocated kneecap. And senior tailback Brice Gahagans fought nagging hamstring and knee injuries the entire regular season, missing four games in all.

“It seems like it’s gone the same way the last three years,” Patton said. “About Week 10 in 2010, 2011 and 2012 we started to get healthy going into the playoffs.”

A defense that was suspect in the first two losses of the season has now become Fayetteville’s best asset as it prepares for another Class 7A finals brawl with Bentonville.

“There was never any panic in this room,” Fayetteville defensive coordinator Brian Early said. “There’s no doubt that getting healthy was the most important factor, but we knew even back in the spring when we played our offense pretty tough that we had a chance to be good on defense.”

Patton admits other Fayetteville teams might not have handled the 0-2 start as well as this year’s group. But with the Bulldogs always keeping their eye on the main prize, a slow start was just a small roadblock.

“We have a veteran team and they’ve been through a lot,” Patton said. “I think with some of our earlier teams in 2008 and 2009, going undefeated or starting well out of the gate was a big deal.

“But we knew playing teams like MUS and Jefferson City was good for our players. In other years we might play some team we’d beat by 40 points in the nonconference. And at the end of the day, our players realize those two losses don’t really matter anyway.”

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