FAYETTEVILLE -- Move over, Brandon Allen. There's a new Class 7A career passing touchdown leader in town.
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Fayetteville's Taylor Powell broke former Bulldog and Arkansas Razorback quarterback Brandon Allen's record at Harmon Stadium on Friday night as Fayetteville defeated Van Buren 52-17 to lock up the 7A-West Conference No. 1 seed.
With 10:11 left in the second quarter, Powell found Brennon Lewis in the corner of the end zone, giving the Fayetteville senior 99 career touchdown passes and the Class 7A record.
Powell would add his fourth and fifth touchdown passes on the night for 101 in his career before leaving the game late in the second quarter with Fayetteville (9-1, 6-1 7A-West) ahead 42-7.
"You try not to think about that stuff, but sometimes you can't help it," Powell said. "I mean it's a cool record to have. The biggest thing was helping the team win the conference championship, and that's what I was really excited about.
"It was a special moment. I've played with a lot of great coaches, great teammates and great receivers, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a lot of great guys. It's just a great group I've been surrounded with the last three years, and it's been a great group effort."
Fayetteville closed the regular season with six consecutive victories and earned a share of its first conference title since 2003, locking up the No. 1 seed for the Class 7A playoffs.
"The big thing about getting the conference [title] and being the No. 1 seed to me is it's part of the process," Fayetteville Coach Bill Blankenship said. "I'm really proud of the guys because they kept their focus, and I thought we actually executed pretty well.
"This is a tough offense [in Van Buren] to get ready for, and except for one or two passes, I thought we handled it pretty well."
Van Buren (2-8, 1-6) had little success on a night which was all about Powell and the Bulldogs. The Pointers were forced to punt on their first four possessions and didn't prevent Fayetteville from scoring on any of its seven first-half possessions.
Powell finished 7-of-10 passing for 178 yards and 5 touchdowns. He has now passed for 8,584 yards in his Fayetteville career, second on the Bulldogs' all-time list to Brandon Allen's 10,071 yards from 2008-10.
"Records are something I'm not big on chasing, but I love when they come our way," Blankenship said. "And I celebrate them if it's in the natural process of playing team ball.
"[Taylor] was a long ways toward the record before I got here, but what I appreciated was stats were never a big deal to us and he was a part of that."
Lewis had 3 receptions for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns for Fayetteville, and Walter Green led Van Buren with 111 rushing yards on 18 carries and one 13-yard touchdown reception.
Fayetteville will receive a first-round bye in the Class 7A playoffs next week before facing the winner of next week's first-round game between Conway and Rogers High on Nov. 18.
Sports on 11/05/2016