BENTONVILLE — Tearris Wallace ran into the record books Friday.
Wallace rushed for 97 yards and four touchdowns and became the 7A-West’s all-time leading rusher in Bentonville’s 56-0 win against Siloam Springs at Tiger Stadium.
Wallace needed only 68 yards coming into the game to surpass Fort Smith Southside’s Daniel McGee, who previously held the record with 3,570 yards from 2006 to 2008.
By the end of the first quarter, Wallace had 61 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns as Bentonville led 28-0.
His 23-yard touchdown run on his eighth carry with 10:26 left in the second quarter gave Bentonville a 35-0 and set the record.
Gamebreaker
Bentonville 56
Siloam Springs 0
Why the Tigers won
Senior running back Tearris Wallace scored four first half touchdowns and the Tigers had three more scores before half.
Why the Panthers lost
The Panthers couldn’t keep up offensively or defensively with the No. 1-ranked team in Class 7A. Bentonville had 274 yards of offense at halftime and a 42-0 lead, which led to a running clock in the second half.
Wallace said he wasn’t keeping track of his yards Friday night but was honored by the achievement.
“It’s a big accomplishment for me, but that’s a small goal compared to the one at the end of the year,” he said. “That’s what we’re all working towards. I have to give credit to my offensive line and my fabulous running back coach, Coach Rachel, and our offensive coordinator and our whole team. We go out there and we work.”
Bentonville coach Barry Lunney, who has coached the bulk of his long and storied coaching career in the league, can attest to what an accomplishment it is.
“In this league, it’s such a good defensive league,” Lunney said. “To be able to do it in a league that’s known for defense and great defensive players, it’s even more of an accomplishment.”
Wallace scored his fourth touchdown of the night by leaping over a pair of Siloam Springs defenders on the goalline to make it 42-0.
Beginning the night with 3,503 yards plus his 97-yard effort on Friday, Wallace now has 3,600 yards for his career.
Bentonville (5-0, 2-0) also got a 17-yard touchdown pass from Reese Dollins to Jack Kraus and a 55-yard punt return from Austin Haggard for its other two first half scores.
Dylan Smith had a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, and Jordan White intercepted Siloam Springs sophomore quarterback Chris Lampton and returned the pick 89 yards for a touchdown to set the final score.
Reese Dollins completed 10 of 13 passes for 144 yards, all in the first half.
Siloam Springs (1-4, 0-2) finished with 210 yards of offense and played without starting quarterback Austin Van Poucke, who was out with back spasms. The Panthers were also missing several other starters due to injury. Senior running back Scout Alexander rushed for 45 yards and had 77 yards receiving. Lampton passed for 139 yards and rushed for 46.
“I was proud of the kids,” said Siloam Springs coach Bryan Ross. “They played hard for four quarters, and there’s a lot of teams that wouldn’t do that. They’re doing everything we ask of them. We’ve got seven or eight kids banged up. ... I’m very, very proud of their effort.”