BENTONVILLE -- There was no reason to settle for a tie Friday night.
Bentonville coach Barry Lunney elected to go for the win after Kasey Ford hit Dax Hale with a seven-yard touchdown pass with 39.9 seconds remaining. Ford went to his right and threw to Cody Scroggins, but the pass was short and fell incomplete, allowing Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst to escape with a 17-16 nonconference victory at Tiger Stadium.
How They Scored
Rockhurst^0^6^0^11^—^17
Bentonville^0^3^7^6^—^16
Second Quarter
Bent — FG Moehring 19, 9:43
Rock — Bazzle 61 pass from Green (kick fail), 2:10
Third Quarter
Bent — Gunn 32 run (Hunter kick), 9:37
Fourth Quarter
Rock — FG Terry 37, 8:50
Rock — Dunn 46 fumble return (Ritter pass from Green)
Bent — Hale 7 pass (pass fail), :39.9
"There's no overtime when you play an out-of-state opponent," Lunney said. "And goodness gracious, I didn't want a tie. We were either going to win it or lose it. If it was a playoff opponent or somebody in state, we could have gone into overtime and would have done it.
"I think the play went the way we planned it. I was watching a little bit on the inside receiver to see if we got a little rub on the guy. When I looked over, I think the ball was down and short of the goal line."
Rockhurst (2-1) took a 17-10 lead when Devin Dunn scooped up Dylan Smith's fumble and raced 46 yards for a touchdown, then T.J. Green threw to Luke Ritter for the two-point conversion with 5:53 remaining. Bentonville started its ensuing drive on its 43 after Derek Hembry's kickoff return and a 15-yard facemask penalty.
The Tigers (0-1) needed 12 plays to cover the distance, including a 7-yard run by Hekili Keliiliki on a fourth-down play from the Rockhurst 38. Bentonville had a first-and-goal from the Rockhurst 7 with just under a minute to play, but it took a fourth-down pass for the score as Ford rolled to his right and threw across the grain to Hale in the end zone.
Bentonville then tried for two, but the play went for naught. Will Bazzle then recovered the onside kick attempt, and the Hawklets took a knee twice to run out the clock.
"That's the way it ought to be. This was a great football team," Rockhurst coach Tony Severino said. "We had to come back from what we did last week. I just can't say enough about our kids and can't say enough about theirs.
"We finally got one play to go our way after three games. We just kept hanging in there. (Lunney) felt it must have been time to win it, and I might have went for two, also. I just told our guys to play the game."
Extra Points
• Special teams play haunted Bentonville, even though Bennett Moehring gave the Tigers an early 3-0 lead with a 19-yard field goal in the second quarter. He missed wide left on a 48-yard attempt with 4:34 left in the third quarter, then a bad snap ruined a 38-yard try early in the fourth quarter.
• Rockhurst took a 6-3 lead at halftime thanks to Green's 61-yard pass to Will Bazzle, who used a hitch-and-go route to get past Bentonville's secondary.
• Bentonville needed only three offensive plays in the second half, as Kahlil Gunn bolted 32 yards for the score with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Up Next: Bentonville returns to nonconference play next weekend with a trip to Broken Arrow, Okla. The two teams -- both Tigers -- split their two previous meetings, with the road team winning each time. Bentonville won 20-10 in 2012, while Broken Arrow claimed a 24-17 victory last year.
Sports on 09/06/2014