COMMENTARY

Football: Purple reign continues at Fayetteville High

Remember the uncertainty at Fayetteville following the stunning resignation of former coach Daryl Patton, who turned a sleepy football program into a state power?

It happened in May, a few months after the Bulldogs had won their fourth state title in 13 years under Patton, who admitted to an affair with another school employee at Fayetteville then found work at Class 4A Bauxite, where the Miners went 0-10 with Patton as coach. No reason here to beat on a man who's probably exhausted from beating on himself.

But even the largest, most sophisticated ships lack direction without a captain and Fayetteville moved quickly to find Patton's replacement. In came in Bill Blankenship, the veteran high school and college coach from Oklahoma who took over the helm and guided Fayetteville through the initial turbulent waters.

Nearly six months after he was hired, Blankenship and the Bulldogs are celebrating a second consecutive state championship after Fayetteville whipped North Little Rock 53-19 on Friday night in Little Rock.

That's five state championships since 2007 for Fayetteville and 12 consecutive titles for teams from the 7A-West Conference.

Remember, this was supposed to be the year a team from central Arkansas had a real opportunity to end the 7A-West stranglehold. The 7A-West was weakened with the departure of the two Fort Smith schools and the arrival of Van Buren and Bentonville West, a startup program comprised entirely of underclassmen.

North Little Rock entered Friday's game with 12 consecutive wins and the No. 1 ranking in the state. But Fayetteville broke open a close game by outscoring the Charging Wildcats 33-6 in the second half.

With Fayetteville's win, no team from outside the league has won the state championship since 2004, when Little Rock Central beat a Springdale team one year before the Bulldogs became dominant.

"It's been great," said Fayetteville quarterback Taylor Powell, who threw four more touchdown passes Friday to add to his record-setting total (113) in Arkansas' largest classification. "You have to give it up to all the guys who've been with me. It's all the coaching staff and the players. They've helped us to get to Little Rock for three years."

Seniors like Powell and assistant coaches like Benji Mahan and Wendell Harris held the Bulldogs together until Blankenship arrived. Fayetteville started strong before the first crack appeared in a 24-21 defeat at home to Bentonville to begin conference play.

That proved to be the only misstep for the Bulldogs (12-1), who ended the season with nine consecutive wins, including shutouts over Springdale Har-Ber and Conway.

Fayetteville averaged over 40 points a game, but the Bulldogs couldn't have won without a defense that contributed points every game following the Bentonville loss.

Fayetteville took control in the league after a dominant defensive effort in a 28-0 win at Har-Ber. Andrew Ellis led the charge with an interception and two fumble recoveries, including one he returned for a touchdown.

The Bulldogs won four more and eliminated Bentonville 46-21 in a rematch before turning in another dominating performance against North Little Rock. The defense again contributed greatly by scoring 20 points off turnovers in the second half to help the Bulldogs pull away.

"They've been known for offense here for a long time," Blankenship said. "But that group on defense was very senior-loaded. They were just special."

A season that began with uncertainty ended with the headline 'Dogs do it again' splashed across the sports page on Saturday. The words are a fitting tribute to a team and a staff of coaches that came together when the season easily could've unraveled.

"If we don't win," Powell said before Friday's game, "not many people are going to remember this (senior) class."

Oh, they'll remember, Taylor. They'll remember for a long time.

Sports on 12/04/2016

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