No breaks yet for 0-3 Bentonville

BENTONVILLE — Nunzio Campanelli would like to say the play Bergen Catholic called to score its final touchdown was run the way he had called it.

It was nowhere close, but it didn’t matter. It still did what it was supposed to do and put enough distance between Bergen and Bentonville.

Corey Gaarn saw Emmanuel Appiah’s fumble roll into the end zone and picked up the loose ball just before it rolled out of bounds as the team from Oradell, N.J., posted a 21-10 victory in Bentonville’s final nonconference game Friday night at Tiger Stadium.

“Obviously, you tell your guys that you have to play until the whistle blows,” Campanelli said. “Corey just happened to be Johnny on the spot and hustled to the ball. He got to it within a foot of the sideline, so it was pretty tight.”

Bergen Catholic (2-1) could have attempted a field goal on fourth and 5 from the Bentonville 18, but the Crusaders wanted to get a first down and get a little closer. Jarret Guarantano hit Appiah with a pass that easily secured the first down, but Tyrone Mahone hit him as he dove toward the goal line and the ball squirted loose.

Had the ball rolled out of bounds, it would have been a touchback and Bentonville (0-3) would have had the ball on its 20. Instead, Gaarn raced into the end zone and recovered the fumble for a Bergen Catholic touchdown, and Joseph Difilippo’s extra point gave the Crusaders a 21-10 lead with 17 seconds before halftime.

“We didn’t play the play very well,” Bentonville Coach Barry Lunney said. “We weren’t up on the ball and challenging the throw as aggressively as we should have been.

“I wish it could have rolled out of bounds, obviously. That’s the way it’s been for us the first game, then this one. We’ve been very close, but you have to make your own breaks. We haven’t done that yet.”

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