BENTONVILLE -- When Destyn Adkins fell on a fumble that ended Fayetteville's first possession, it just appeared to be a simple break for Bentonville.
It turned out to be a sign of things to come Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
Bentonville's defense accounted for five turnovers and turned one into a score as the Tigers rolled to a 45-2 victory over Fayetteville in the regular-season finale for both 7A-West Conference teams.
"You never think that this is going to happen," Bentonville Coach Barry Lunney said. "You never sit and think the other team is going to turn the ball over so much.
"When you play fast -- and we've really been playing fast the last few weeks -- and carry out your assignment, sometimes good things happen. We were in the right place at the right time early, and somebody might have got a hand in there on the fumble.
"Regardless, the positive thing is that we came in and scored."
Bentonville (6-4, 6-1) struck four plays later on Hekili Keliiliki's 1-yard touchdown run with 8 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter, but the Tigers weren't done yet. Cody Scroggins scored from 19 yards out on a reverse with 4:41 remaining on the clock, and the defense struck again less than a minute later.
Senior inside linebacker Harrison Rooney leaped in front of a Fayetteville receiver to intercept Taylor Powell's pass for Bentonville's first interception. Then he pulled away from two Fayetteville players and ran 23 yards for his first career touchdown with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
"Coach showed me that play on the film, and I saw the right combination," Rooney said. "It's such an emotional night. I ran it back, and I'm still awestruck right now. It's fun to have the first one on senior night."
With the exception of one drive in the second quarter, Fayetteville (8-2, 5-2) could never get its offense untracked. The Bulldogs moved the ball from their 41 to the Bentonville 5 midway through the second quarter before Bentonville's defense stiffened.
Fayetteville lost a yard on a second-down run, then Powell overthrew C.J. O'Grady twice in the end zone as the Bulldogs turned over the ball.
"We walked into a hornet's nest," Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. "We couldn't ever get the momentum stopped."
ROGERS 43, SPRINGDALE 42
ROGERS — Jeb Brain scored on a 20-yard run with 52 seconds left and then added the two-point conversion run as Rogers (2-8, 1-6 7A-West) escaped with a victory over Springdale (0-10, 0-7).
Bryan Grigsby ran for 242 yards and 3 touchdown on 24 carries for Rogers.
Quarterback Fuller Chandler passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns for Springdale, which has lost 13 consecutive games dating to last season. It marked the first winless season for Springdale since it went 0-0-3 in 1916.
Chandler rallied the Bulldogs from a 28-0 deficit late in the first half, leading Springdale to four touchdowns in less than eight minutes spanning the second and third quarters. Springdale took a 35-28 lead on a 9-yard run by Chandler in the third quarter.
Springdale receiver Zach Burton caught eight passes for 143 yards.
Sports on 11/08/2014