BENTONVILLE -- Payton Copher admitted that he froze for a moment after teammate Blaze Brothers unexpectedly pitched him the ball Friday night.
The Springdale Har-Ber sophomore regrouped in time to race the length of the field for a touchdown after a teammate blocked Hayden Moehring's field-goal attempt, setting the stage for the Wildcats' 31-21 victory over Bentonville in a 7A-West Conference game at Tiger Stadium.
Moehring was attempting to break a scoreless tie when Har-Ber (5-1, 3-0) blocked the 26-yard attempt. Brothers grabbed the ball near the goal line and pitched it to Copher, who ran untouched to the end zone with 8:48 left before halftime.
"It wasn't that I didn't know I was supposed to run," Copher said. "It was one of those moments when the ball ends up in your hands and you're just froze for a second. It's like, 'Oh, I've really got the ball.'
"After that I look over at the sideline and they're saying, 'Run, run.' "
Bentonville's mistakes on special teams resulted in Har-Ber's early 17-0 lead. Brady Patrick recovered a Tigers fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which led to Luke Hannon's 4-yard touchdown run, and the Wildcats added a 43-yard field goal by Jesus Zimumbo after Austin Henderson blocked another field-goal try by Moehring, this one from 36 yards.
"We couldn't protect on the field goals," Bentonville Coach Jody Grant said. "It cost us, ultimately, a 10-point swing and maybe more if you start looking into it.
"It's some stuff we have to get cleaned up. It's disappointing that we can't protect."
Bentonville (5-1, 2-1), which had its 14-game winning streak snapped, made a charge in the second half. Jacob Clark scored on runs of 23 and 25 yards in the third quarter to pull the Tigers within three points, but Hannon proved to be too much.
Har-Ber's tailback, who finished with 34 carries for 192 yards, scored from 6 yards out to give the Wildcats their final cushion with 8:48 remaining. The Wildcats defense sealed the victory with two turnovers -- a fumble recovery by Parker Baugh and an interception by Brothers with 1:23 remaining.
"We got up on them, then we weathered the storm," said Har-Ber Coach Chris Wood, whose team broke a seven-game losing streak against Bentonville. "They're a championship team, and we told our kids at halftime that they were going to come out like champions and hit us with everything they've got.
"I thought our kids were resilient."
Sports on 10/10/2015