Miserable Weather Doesn’t Stop Tigers’ Passing Game

COMMENTARY

Saturday, December 14, 2013

LITTLE ROCK

Kasey Ford thought he was finished for the night after he took a knee on the final play of the Class 7A state

championship game Friday. That was before he was

called to midfield to accept the trophy for Most Valuable Player.

Not bad for a sophomore who didn’t make his first start until the third game of the season.

Ford threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns to lead Bentonville to a 39-28 victory over Cabot in the Class 7A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium. It is the fourth state championship game for the Tigers (11-2), who lost to Fayetteville in the finals the past two years.

Both teams threw surpris- ingly well during a miserable night as a cold, hard rain intensified as the game progressed. It didn’t appear that way when Ford threw well short on his first pass attempt in the first quarter. But the big sophomore, 6-foot-5, finished 11 of 18 with touchdown passes of 9, 19 and 44 yards. Almost as important, he did not fumble or throw an interception.

“The rain bothered me, for sure,” said Ford, who is already drawing interest from Division I schools. “But I was able to keep playing, and we won the game. It’s a feeling I can’t describe. I’m thankful for my teammates.”

The public address announcer summarized the miserable weather conditions when he misspoke minutes before Friday’s kickoff.

“The temperature is 79 degrees,” he said before correcting himself. “I mean 39 — I wish it was 79 degrees.”

Delayed a week because of ice and snow, there was still snow behind the goal posts in the south end zone. A crowd of about 800, mostly Benton- ville fans, looked particularly small in a stadium with a capacity of 54,000.

The nasty weather was similar to the championship game in 1999, when Fort Smith Northside defeated Springdale High 12-6. An early winter storm blew through War Memorial Stadium that day and delayed the game for about a hour. Springdale quarterback Will Hunt was held to 4 of 22 passing, and the Bulldogs failed to score a touchdown after recovering a fumble at the Northside 6.

Neither team committed a turnover until the second half when Tyler Nichols recovered two fumbles for the Tigers. But those mistakes were costly for the Panthers (12-1).

“Those two fumbles, that’s the difference in an 11-point game,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “We also didn’t intercept two passes that we had our hands on. Those are plays we didn’t make.”

Ford had plenty of help from his receivers, including tight end Jack Kraus, who showed why has was offered by Arkansas on the Tigers’ first touchdown. Ford threw a floater under duress to Kraus, who caught the ball and muscled past two defenders for a 9-yard touchdown that put the Tigers ahead 10-7.

Ford later threw touch- down passes of 19 yards to Cody Scroggins and 44 yards to Jimmie Jackson to put the Tigers ahead 32-14 early in the fourth quarter.

“Kasey did a great job tonight in this weather,” Bentonville offensive coor- dinator Aaron Danenhauer said. “He took care of the football and showed the progress he’s made since then start of the season.”