FAYETTEVILLE -- The rematch again goes to Fayetteville.
[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]
With another Bentonville vs. Fayetteville playoff bout hanging in the balance at halftime, the Purple Bulldogs turned all aspects of their play up a notch. From a defensive shutout in the third quarter, to quick-strike offense and even big plays on special teams, the Purple'Dogs turned a first-half slugfest into a knockout with a 46-21 win over the Tigers in the Class 7A semifinals on Friday at Harmon Stadium.
Class 7A Semifinals
Bentonville^21
Fayetteville^46
Bent^6^9^0^6^—^21
Fay^3^15^14^14^—^46
First Quarter
Fay — Young FG 34, 10:05.
Bent — Britton 2 run (kick failed), 8:39.
Second Quarter
Bent — Clark 3 run (kick failed), 10:07.
Fay — Shipley 27 pass from Powell (Young kick), 8:31.
Bent — Moehring FG 27, 2:00.
Fay — Lewis 33 pass from Powell (Powell pass to Lewis), :31.
Third Quarter
Fay — Powell 13 run (Young kick), 9:10.
Fay — Banister 29 pass from Powell (Young kick), 6:22.
Fourth Quarter
Fay — Banister 5 pass from Powell (Young kick), 7:36.
Bent — Clark 10 pass from Ross (pass failed), 5:43.
Fay — Hinton 24 run (Young kick), 1:34.
"A lot of guys were making plays for sure," Fayetteville coach Bill Blankenship said. "I know defensively we tweaked a few things and started making some more plays.
"But more than anything it was just a lot of guys playing with passion."
Bentonville (10-3) controlled much of the first half by controlling much of the clock. The Tigers ate up time of possession for the first two quarters with a 17-play, 91-yard drive that resulted in a Jacob Clark 3-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes, 7 seconds left in the second quarter, and a 14-play drive that was capped by a Hayden Moehring 27-yard field goal with 2:00 left before half.
But Fayetteville still was able to take an 18-15 halftime lead, as quarterback Taylor Powell found Harry Shipley on a 27-yard touchdown pass and Brennon Lewis on a 33-yard score in the second quarter.
In the second half, the Purple'Dogs' defense forced Bentonville into consecutive three-and-outs, with a blocked punt by Trey Coulter on the second forced punt leading the way to Fayetteville's runaway win.
The Bulldogs (11-1), while slowing down the Tigers' offense, began firing on all cylinders on offense.
Powell scored on a 13-yard keeper for a 25-15 lead with 9:10 left in the third quarter, then found Barrett Banister for a 29-yard touchdown for a 32-15 lead after Coulter's blocked punt.
Another Powell to Banister score with 7:36 left in the fourth increased Fayetteville's lead to 39-15 and put the game out of reach for good.
"When you get to this point in the season you've got two football teams slugging it out," Bentonville coach Jody Grant said. "One team is going to make mistakes and one is not. The team that doesn't make mistakes is going to move on and that team tonight is Fayetteville.
"Give a lot of credit to their kids. They won the line of scrimmage, their kids prepared them well and they just got after us."
Powell finished 20-of-31 passing for 318 yards with four touchdowns and rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown.
Jacob Clark rushed for 130 yards on 26 carries for Bentonville, but was held to 31 yards on 15 carries in the second half. Kam'rom Mays-Hunt had 12 receptions for 159 yards for the Tigers.
Fayetteville advances to its third consecutive Class 7A championship game and will face North Little Rock (12-0) next Friday at 6 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
"This is definitely a big win, but you don't get a ring for winning in the semifinals," Powell said. "North Little Rock is a great team and it's going to be great competition. So we'll see how it goes."
Sports on 11/26/2016