FAYETTEVILLE -- Seven weeks into the season, Fayetteville was still in search of a complete performance.
The search might be over.
The Bulldogs jumped on Springdale Har-Ber early by forcing two turnovers that led to touchdowns and never looked back in a 49-14 victory Friday night at Harmon Stadium.
"Very proud of our kids," Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. "All week long we work on it and harped on it, and we came out here and created turnovers, and we didn't turn it over. Just a couple penalties, and one was real questionable. We just played really well all around."
The Wildcats (2-5, 2-2 7A-West) moved across midfield on the first possession of the game before a fumble led to Fayetteville's first touchdown, a 21-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Powell to C.J. O'Grady.
One play after the Bulldogs went up 7-0, Fayetteville linebacker Ridley Weeks intercepted a pass by Caleb Daniels and raced 40 yards for another score and a 14-0 lead with 7:06 left in the first quarter.
"We had two turnovers the first two possessions and got behind the eight ball," Springdale Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood said. "I thought we answered and got within 14-7, but we couldn't get them slowed down there. Then on the offensive side of the ball we couldn't get anything going.
"You've just got to give credit to Fayetteville. They came out and had a lot of fire, and I thought they did a great job being very aggressive defensively and they got after us."
In addition to Week's interception return for a touchdown, Fayetteville also scored on special teams when Dre Greenlaw extended the lead to 42-7 in the third quarter with a 52-yard punt return. Har-Ber scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns after falling behind 49-7 with 11:52 left to play.
"Springdale Har-Ber is not a bad football team, but our kids played really hard tonight and kept the pressure on them," Patton said. "So it was a good win for us."
Fayetteville finished with 392 total yards on just 44 offensive plays. Springdale Har-Ber totaled 310 yards on 61 plays, with 157 yards coming in the fourth quarter after the sportsmanship rule had gone into effect.
Fayetteville tight end C.J. O'Grady finished with 5 receptions for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns, all in the first half.
BENTONVILLE 38, SPRINGDALE 7
SPRINGDALE — Dylan Smith’s 78-yard touchdown run on Bentonville’s first play from scrimmage set the tone as the Tigers (3-4, 3-1 7A-West) defeated Springdale (0-7, 0-4) for their third consecutive victory.
Smith’s touchdown was the first of four Bentonville scores in the first quarter as it built a 38-0 halftime lead. Bentonville outgained Springdale 294-38 in the first half as the Tigers ran for 218 yards.
Smith finished with 6 carries for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Quarterback Fuller Chandler scrambled 14 yards for Springdale’s lone touchdown. Chandler ran for 21 yards and completed 8 of 22 passes for 112 yards with 2 interceptions.
FS NORTHSIDE 52,
ROGERS 27
ROGERS — Quarterback Grant Hood ran for 151 yards and 3 touchdowns and passes for 172 yards and another score as Fort Smith Northside (6-1, 3-1) hammered Rogers (1-6, 0-4) in a 7A-West Conference game at Whitey Smith Stadium.
Northside also forced 5 fumbles, 3 of which led to 21 points.
Hood was 7 of 7 for 144 yards in the first half as the Grizzlies took a 28-21 halftime lead.
Hood rushed for 129 yards in the second half, which included three third-quarter touchdowns.
Rogers fullback Bryan Grigsby rushed for 149 yards on 21 carries as the Mounties finished with 394 yards rushing in the game.
FS SOUTHSIDE 38,
ROGERS HERITAGE 17
FORT SMITH — D’erek Fernandez ran for 64 yards and 3 touchdowns and quarterback Clay Tyler added 29 yards rushing and 167 yard passing as Fort Smith Southside (5-2, 3-1) held off Rogers Heritage (3-4, 2-2) in a 7A-West Conference game at Jim Rowland Stadium.
Joey Saucier became the first back to gain more than 100 yards rushing against the Southside defense this year as he ran for 153 yards and 1 touchdown on 15 carries.
Southside finished with 317 yards of total offense.
Sports on 10/18/2014