FAYETTEVILLE -- Taylor Powell threw three first-half touchdowns and Fayetteville's defense pitched in a stingy performance as the Bulldogs bounced back Friday night from their first loss with a 59-0 victory over Rogers Heritage at Harmon Stadium.
The Bulldogs jumped in front early with Powell finding Tyson Morris with a touchdown pass from 11 yards out, Terrance Rock with a 55-yard TD pass and Drake Wymer with a 5-yarder to give Fayetteville a 21-0 lead.
The defense did its share as well, stuffing Rogers Heritage's running game while holding the War Eagles to 13 rushing yards.
"I'm really proud of our guys," Fayetteville Coach Daryl Patton said. "It was really about us tonight. We came out and started really well on offense, and our defense played well all night."
The War Eagles (0-8, 0-5 7A-West) were limited to 20 total yards in the first half, including minus-4 rushing. Seven first-half possessions resulted in five punts, a turnovers on downs and another muffed punt that set up Fayetteville for an easy score.
Powell completed 18 of 25 passes for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half and finished 23 of 33 for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Morris led all receivers with 7 catches for 76 yards, and Luke Rapert contributed 83 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 6 carries.
"Last week was last week and we have to move on past that," Powell said. "That was a great game, but we had to move on. We always talk about playing a faceless opponent and focusing on ourselves, and that's what we did."
Fayetteville (7-1, 4-1) took a 31-0 lead into halftime and it only increased in the second half with plenty of help from Rogers Heritage. After two third-quarter scoring drives by the Bulldogs, a muffed punt by Heritage resulted in another Fayetteville touchdown. Heritage committed its fourth turnover of the night on its next possession that led to Fayetteville's final touchdown.
"They gave us some stuff, but I'm proud of the way we played and our defense played well," Patton said. "We hadn't seen what they were showing us, and we did a good job with that."
NO. 7 BENTONVILLE 55, ROGERS 3
ROGERS — Kasey Ford passed for 246 yards and a touchdown and Bentonville (7-1, 4-1 7A-West) scored on all eight of its possessions in an easy victory over Rogers (1-7, 1-4). Ford completed all 10 of his passes in the first half as Bentonville took a 21-3 lead into halftime. He finished 15 of 18. Eight different receivers caught passes for Bentonville, with Clay Barganier leading the way with five catches for 94 yards.
Sports on 10/24/2015